Ana de Armas plays a ballerina-turned-assassin on a quest for revenge in this John Wick spin-off.
After four successful movies in the John Wick franchise, it is now time to expand the universe with a spin-off.
Set during and after the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the spin-off Ballerina tells the story of Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas), a ballerina-turned-assassin raised within the Ruska Roma crime syndicate after the death of her father.
After discovering a clue that could take her to her father’s killers, Eve disobeys direct orders from her boss, The Director (Angelica Huston), and goes on a solo mission to track down a cult leader named The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne).
After giving us a small taste of her action prowess in No Time to Die, de Armas showcases her full set of action skills in Ballerina, from gun fights to high kicks, hand-to-hand combat and fighting with creative weapons.
Like the John Wicks, Ballerina is very action-heavy, but some of them are more effective than others. They get progressively more entertaining and exciting as the film goes along, with the best sequences taking place in a snowy Bavarian village and an armoury.
Some of the earlier ones feel generic, overly edited and self-serious, like director Len Wiseman couldn’t find the classic John Wick tone (the awareness that it’s all a bit ridiculous) until towards the end.
In addition to the lack of humour, the first half is also slow, dull and exposition-heavy. Those issues improve as the story picks up in the third act, but the character of Eve remains without personality for the entirety of the movie and that’s a big problem.
John Wick (Keanu Reeves) may not have buckets of personality but he had touches here and there.
Giving him a small appearance in Ballerina highlights how bland Eve is and how little we’ve invested in her.
It’s great to see Reeves as John and he’s involved in some great moments, but it does a disservice to the new character we’re supposed to care about because she just pales in comparison.
Other familiar faces return, including Winston (Ian McShane) and Charon (the late Lance Reddick), and there are new additions that also suffer from the poor writing.
Byrne is lumbered with the dodgy and cliched villain lines and The Walking Dead‘s Norman Reedus is barely in the film!
De Armas was the perfect choice for the lead role, so it’s a shame the film couldn’t match her talents.
In cinemas from Friday 6th June
By Hannah Wales
© Cover Media