Via IMDb
By Keith Walther
One-person army action films are a dime a dozen these days, and much of that is due to the success of the “John Wick” movies. “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina” is about as graceful as Jim Carrey in a tutu in “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.” The acting and storyline are subpar, not even Keanu Reeves’ appearance can rescue this production.
Orphaned at an early age, Eve (Ana de Armas) has followed in her father’s footsteps to become a lethal assassin. Trained through the Ruska Roma organization led by The Director (Angelica Huston), Eve has become elite, specializing in protection, even though she seems to lose her protectee to the enemy time and time again. After one particularly rough assignment where she was ambushed, she notices a familiar scar on their hand. In fact, it’s the same scar she saw as a little girl on the assassins who killed her father.
Going against The Director’s wishes, Eve seeks revenge, looking for any information on the whereabouts of this clandestine organization. Stumbling into a situation involving a former group member named Daniel Pine (Norman Reedus), she finds more than she bargained for, leading her straight into The Chancellor’s (Gabriel Byrne) crosshairs. It will take all of her considerable skills along with help from familiar faces like Winston (Ian McShane) and John Wick (Keanu Reeves) to avoid certain death.
Len Wiseman is not exactly a quality filmmaker with “Underworld” being his biggest claim to fame. He also directed the remake of “Total Recall” in 2012, which was a disaster. One of the biggest reasons franchises begin to fail is by incorporating filmmakers who were not involved in the prior films. Even though this is a spin-off movie, Wiseman needs to uphold the foundational elements upon which this world was built, but he neglects to do so. Instead, he generates a very formulaic and gimmicky production that is mundane and slow with an excessive amount of dialogue.
The one thing “John Wick” movies could be counted on for is the creative fight choreography and effects to pump up viewers’ adrenaline, but Wiseman comes up short in that regard as well. The cinematography is basic and simplistic with jump cuts and stationary shots. Without a compelling story or character development, the fight scenes already lack impact, and Wiseman further lessens their impact with silly gimmicks. For example, there’s a whole scene of overkill using hand grenades in addition to a face-off sequence of a flamethrower vs. a water hose. Wiseman overproduces these scenes incorporating excessive sound and visual effects that make a simple kick visually and audibly connect as if it were coming from a superpowered being.
Making matters worse is Ana de Armas, whose complete lack of ability to add any kind of meaningful depth to her character is appalling. In fact, she couldn’t even contain her accent, though she tried to match Victoria Comte who played the younger version of her character, making her line delivery laughable. Most importantly, she fails to convey any kind of emotional intensity at all, eliminating any kind of interest in her character and making this one of worst performances by an actress this year.
Luckily, the inclusion of Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, and Angelica Huston reprising their respective roles helps mitigate the damage done by Ana however misused they may have been. Despite having passed away in 2023, Lance Reddick also returns as Charon in this film for his final on-screen appearance. Norman Reedus (“The Walking Dead”) is a nice inclusion that will appeal to many, even though it would have been better to see him wielding a crossbow again.
Uninspired, unoriginal, and completely forgettable is the best way to sum up what is clearly a lazy cash grab. Produced by Lionsgate, this should come as no surprise. “Ballerina” tries to pirouette its way in the shadow of “John Wick,” but ends up taking a swan dive that not even the most diehard fans of the franchise can defend. If you’re looking for a good, female led one-person army flick, then check out 2017’s “Atomic Blonde” instead, as it is far superior in every way.
This movie earns
