Ballerina

... Hollywood is mainly concerned with churning out pre-sold, pre-packaged, pre-digested, product to feed the maw of streaming media. Korea, on the other hand, still encourages uniqueness and individuality among its creators. Plus, Korean cinema has a reputation for producing some of the best rom-coms, and best revenge thrillers, on the planet. It is easy to criticize Ballerina for being too artsy, too slow-moving in the middle act, and too reliant on flashbacks. Fact is, however, flaws and all, it is still one of the best thrillers of its kind to emerge this year. Notice also also that the notes and beats are remarkably similar to Equalizer 3 -- smashing open, slow middle, and killer final act. Satisfying. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Don't expect another My Name, Kill Bok Soon, or John Wick. There's no complex over the top fight choreography scenes, our heroine has a very limited very old amount of guns, will run out of bullets, she gets injured and and she will need help from others. This is a more realistic take on a revenge movie and is not a bad thing at all.

The pace is fast and is enjoyable that way, faster than you know it will be finished!

The plot is very simple yet some very dark subjects that will get you emotional at some points.

Acting is great, after The Call, Jeon Jong Seo is once again KILLING it as the female lead.

Even when this role doesn't have much dialogue, she has a way of performing emphasizing the use of her body language and face expressions to convey emotions, thoughts, and storytelling elements without relying on spoken words. I am just so impressed.

Overall was a good movie for a Friday night, give it a go!

I went into this movie with zero knowledge of the plot and without any expectations. My spouse had it on their "watch list", and they put it on before I had read the plot summary. We watched with English dub instead of subtitles bc we watched while enjoying dinner together (we enjoy subtitles when they're available over dubs typically).

Was this movie a little predicable? Yes. Was it entertaining? Yes. Did we feel revenge was served? Yes. Win-win for us.

I was surprised at how little dialogue there was throughout the movie with so much action, but honestly, the movie carried well with the acting and action and the story was told without a ton of script writing required, IMHO.

Full Disclosure- I am a Korean Cinemaphile. I have written for years that Korean films are as good, or better, than Hollywood movies currently being made. This is especially true in the action genre. This film is a perfect example. It is a gritty action film about a talented, but reluctant, woman with deadly skills who is forced to use them to avenge her friend, the Ballerina. The film uses the subject of sex slavery and involuntary pornogrpahy as its somber backdrop to generate the basis for the action in this one. Its stars are good, although somewhat animated. The action and fighting are good. The gun violence is better than the fight choreography. The relationship between the Ballerina and the star is nuanced and very sweet. It is the foundation upon which it the film is built. You can watch in English dubbed version, but I prefer in Korean with English subtitles.

This is the action thriller of the year. It's been proven before that Korean action thrillers are well done from Man from Nowhere to No Mercy. In Ballerina there is a quick emotional involvement with the characters that grips and then lots of convincing original action. And the actors have star quality and charisma that keeps you watching. So it's an entertaining gripping watch that isn't too long. The violence is quite something even for jaded action fans. The fighting is brilliantly choreographed.

A shout out to the leading cast members who really make this show. Terrific female lead Jeong Jeon Seo has an attitude and modern look that suits this type of movie perfectly. Kim Ji Hoon gives another convincing villain performance. He was great in Flower of Evil and he does it again here.

Luc Besson fans will like this one. Though it is less comical than Besson movies.