In brief… a ballerina-assassin delves into her murky past to find answers and revenge, if her own mentors will get out of her way.
In BALLERINA, we meet young Eve Macarro (Victoria Comte) in the aftermath of a tragic loss. Clutching a music box with a ballerina in a glass tube, she has no one… until mysterious hotelier Winston (Ian McShane) comes to take her to her father’s family–the Ruska Roma, first seen in JOHN WICK 3: PARABELLUM. There, she meets the Director (Anjelica Huston) and enters a life of brutal training, leaving her bruised and bloody more often than not.
Twelve years later, Eve (Ana de Armas) is close to “graduating” and becoming a hired bodyguard. She encounters legendary hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) in the Ruska Roma theater (a clever callback to PARABELLUM), where she asks him about being a killer and gets a few portentous words of wisdom.
Her first assignment takes her to a nightclub, to protect a young Asian woman who is expected to be a kidnapping target, and sure enough, Eve ends up taking on a contingent of martial artists amid wildly gyrating club kids. She is not the “hell on wheels” killing machine that John Wick is; she’s a relative newcomer and thus not able to subdue a small army singlehanded. (This works in her favor as a character, since her ability to win against impossible odds is not assured.) Success leads to more assignments… until she finds a notable scar on one dead opponent, something that stirs up unfinished business.
The X-shaped wrist scar was the same as the ones on her father’s murderers.
This sets off a cat-and-mouse game pitting Eve against a very old and secretive murder-cult that has most of the underworld intimidated. The Director refuses to allow her to pursue this vendetta, since she has a truce of sorts with the cult-leading Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne), while Winston likewise urges her not to go. But, in the tradition of action loose cannons everywhere, Eve forges ahead…
While the action scenes are straight out of the John Wick playbook (with reshoots supposedly directed by longtime JW director/exec producer Chad Stalheski, redoing the work of credited director Len Wiseman), showcasing de Armas’ immense grace, athleticism and knack for hard combat choreography, the plot itself is a shade underdeveloped. Eve’s need for revenge is given less attention. Yes, she lost her only parent early on, but we don’t have much chance to see her dwell on this, to use this as fuel to power her through the punishing training that forged killers like Wick himself. It’s a deficiency that the script might have amended with an additional scene or two.
This movie showcases some honestly great action set pieces, including a neat flip on the “shopping trip” seen in nearly every action movie, and a final battle with some highly unusual weaponry. (Seriously, this last boss fight was pretty cool.)
The supporting cast is terrific, drawn from several Wick movies to substantiate this movie’s place in that world. McShane is his usual suave inside-operator self as Winston, Huston adds more shades to her curt and borderline-cruel Director, and Byrne gives us an interesting new antagonist, suggesting new layers and depths to the Wickian demi-monde.
And it showcases the last movie role of the late Lance Reddick, as concierge Charon, who is as droll, collected, and quietly competent as ever. It’s sad but delightful to see him behind the Continental’s front desk one last time, collecting a trademark gold coin.
To sum up: Fans of John Wick movies will certainly enjoy this outing and it does set up a promising sub-franchise for de Armas, who seems more than capable of carrying one. It could have been stronger with a bit of rewriting, but overall, the movie builds out the “Wickverse” and adds to the expansive underworld set up years ago with the killing of a puppy. Now to see where this dance goes next.
We’re giving this eight pairs of ballet slippers out of ten.
