Life is good for young Eve and her father, living a blissful experience and knowing full well that all they have in this world is each other. Eve’s father took her away, thinking that he could keep her safe from a life of violence. He was wrong.
The past comes looking for them in the guise of a dreadful cult led by The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). Eve‘s life is torn apart and her father murdered. But this is simply the beginning as Winston (Ian McShane) “rescues” young Eve from her misery. He puts her in the care of her new family, The Ruska Roma, a league of assassin ballerinas, as deadly as they are flexible. Under the eye of The Director (Anjelica Huston), Eve grows one step closer to understanding her father’s past.
As Eve grows, so do her skills, until the day her path collides with this cult once more. Refusing to obey The Director or the rules of their world, she sets out to learn the truth about her father. Who was he? Who killed him? Eve vows to return the favour but she may not like what she uncovers…
“From the world of John Wick” is the tag line used to sell the latest expansion to the “Wickiverse” or whatever you want to call it. From director Len Wiseman and co-writer of John Wick 3 & 4, Shay Hatten. John Wick‘s world of stylish assassins, non-existent police forces and logic free ‘gun-fu’ action is explored from a new perspective.
I have an up and down relationship with the John Wick franchise but generally, I am a fan. Particularly, I’m impressed with Keanu Reeves‘ consistent ability to push himself in performing his own stunts to such a degree, he showcases fellow action stars half his age how it should be done. The thin plot and preposterous action are selling points and fun is the name of the game. However, I was disappointed with the way John Wick 4’s was for just spinning its wheels and refusing to proceed towards the conclusion hinted in John Wick 3. I believe this was likely because wrapping up the series would prevent opportunities for further spin-offs.
This brings us to the ‘side-quel’ of Ballerina, a film set alongside the events of John Wick 3, delving deeper into the already established reality of ballerina assassins and beyond. A lot of time is spent to firmly establish Ballerina‘s place in the series canon, with numerous legacy characters returning. There’s even the highly anticipated revival of everyone’s favourite dog-person himself, John “The Baba-Yaga” Wick.
Keanu Reeves doesn’t seem at all like a “If the cheque clears, I’ll do it” kind of actor, yet here he is. It’s a smaller role, but not having missed a beat, Reeves jump kicks his way right back into things and fans will surely be pleased. The familiar faces are nice to see but this instalment’s original characters are a little underwhelming. Eve moves with such rapidity from one action set piece to another, meeting and bidding farewell to people just as quickly. By the time the script decides it wants us to see some of them as more important and work towards a finale, it’s difficult trying to remember who they all are, which is a pity as returning screenwriter Hatten introduces some interesting expansions to the lore.
The biggest problem is that it’s difficult to really care about Eve as a character. This is through no fault of Ana de Amas, who has proven herself an incredibly likeable presence in other films, But with Eve, who struggles to find solid footing as the protagonist, is only really defined by two things; her naivety and her brutality.
The franchise established that a charismatic actor with simple motivation was all we needed. I mean, Keanu shooting people because his puppy was killed has fuelled four films and counting! Ana de Amas does what she can, pulls off the action sequences decently, but the character itself still feels distant.
It’s not that she’s fighting people twice her age without getting a scratch on her, or that she perfected these ruthless skills seemingly in three months. What makes John Wick so intriguing is the mystery of his backstory and what it means for his future. In comparison, we see all of Eve‘s backstory in this film’s excessive opening and she’s just not that interesting.
Going past all that, what many are banking on are the action scenes. Len Wiseman jumps into the series with the first film not directed by stunt coordinator turned series director, Chad Stahelski. At least on paper anyway, as Wiseman filmed the movie several years ago, and Stahelski has handled reshoots in the interim. Regardless, Wiseman‘s a pro at action having led the Underworld franchise to great success and I also loved his efforts with Die Hard 4.0 (2007). His “neon gothic” style fits like a glove with the already established aesthetics of the franchise, making it hard to tell where one director’s vision ends and another’s begins.
The action scenes are filmed competently and in such a way to keep the fights flowing and intense. Although, the continued ‘shooty-shooty, stabby-stabby’ stuff can get a little dull after a few hours, an issue John Wick 4 also had. Thankfully however, Ballerina features several creative sequences, not just new for the franchise, but ideas that I doubt I’ve ever seen done before in an action film. It might drag on, but I tip my hat to anyone who can still find original ways to thrill audiences.
Ballerina doesn’t reinvent the wheel, nor does Eve threaten to leave much of a lasting impression. However, with well-choreographed action sequences and some nice surprises along the way, this is one spin-off that successfully delivers where it counts. Ballerina is a brutal, slick and ice-cold thriller which is certain to still please John Wick franchise fans.