Movie Review: Ballerina

 

Whatever happened during the extensive reshoots that delayed the release of Ballerina-the first feature spin-off of John Wick-by a full year worked really well (after seeing it, the rumor that Wick architect Chad Stahelski stepped in for credited director Len Wiseman certainly seems plausible). The project that introduces us to a new revenge-seeking assassin protagonist in Eve Maccaro (Ana de Armas)-who was taken in by the Ruska Roma (aka the ballerina assassin clan headed up by Anjelica Huston's The Director that was introduced in John Wick: Chapter 3) as a child following the murder of her father (David Castaneda) and trained in their ways for over a decade before deciding to go rogue after a successful job unexpectedly puts her on a collision course with her father's killer (Gabriel Byrne)-makes for an organic, exciting expansion of the Wick universe. de Armas is able to make Maccaro a crafty, scrappy badass assassin who is driven more by a naive sense of revenge largely brought on by her greenness in the contract killing game opposed to Wick's grizzled reluctance as someone who had hoped he escaped this life for good before the universe decided that wasn't possible, some more cool Wick lore is introduced (Byrne plays the head of a sadistic assassin cult that has formed an uneasy centuries-long truce with the clans of the High Table-which gives them the freedom to operate as an independent entity that occupies an entire secluded village community in Austria) and the increasingly relentless parade of fight scenes are the exact kind of creative, amusing and breathtakingly choreographed bursts of pure adrenaline-fueled action movie bliss that the Wick brand was built on. While Ballerina may not reach the dizzying heights of the latter two entries in the main franchise, it's absolutely in the same ballpark of quality as the first two installments. Ballerina is without question the first great pure action movie of 2025 and demands to be seen on the big screen by anyone that considers themselves a fan of the John Wick franchise.        

Grade: B+