Ballerina

This isn't a film, it's a live action video game with a predictable plot and loads of energetically choreographed CGI to substitute for anything vaguely akin to a story. It starts with the young "Eve" (Victoria Comte) who witnesses her father's death at the hands of "The Chancellor" (Gabriel Byrne) before being adopted into the secret society of "John Wick" by "Winston" (Ian McShane) and his drag-like boss (Angelica Huston) where she learns to combine the artistic skills of a ballerina with deadly ninja ones - as she morphs into Ana de Armas (whilst everyone else remains exactly the same). Anyway, none of that really matters as she accidentally discovers the identity of the tribe who ruined her life and despite warnings of dire consequences, sets off on a lethal mission of retribution that takes her to a Czech Republic where everyone speaks perfect English. The thing is, it appears that her gang and the one she is pursuing have a sort of unwritten truce, and given she is about to throw that under the Skoda, Angelica has no choice other than to bring out of retirement the legendary you know who. Will that make anything any different or safer or even less repetitive? It not so much that this is derivative and really quite dull, it's that the dialogue is woeful and the constant frying pan to fire scenarios where people get used and abused are ridiculous. Knives, guns, bottles, pots, pans, kettles - even a pair of ruthlessly applied roller skates and some flamer throwers help our heroine along but it's hilarious that they always appear just when she needs them. She's got the points and gone up a level, She also heals as if she were the sister of "Wolverine" and no amount of training is going to remove a six inch shard of glass from your body without it impeding your ability to scale a wall and wield a pick axe. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood, but just like the series upon which this is based, it is unoriginal and after the umpteenth time she has survived against innumerable odds to fight again just had me wondering how long until she's back with "Ballerina II - the Pirouette". All of that said, though, it does look good on a cinema screen and that's where it ought to be seen. It will be even more unimpressive on a television where you can easily hit the fast-forward button.

Going to keep this short. While I loved John Wick 1-4, all for different reasons, this one was just one word: boring and repetitive. I am not sure what they were trying to do with this movie. First, there was a weak and very predictable storyline to this movie. Second, the main character just isn't as believable or has the charisma as Keanu / John Wick. There is no 'it' factor. I fell asleep multiple times in this movie whereas in John Wick 4, at almost 3 hours, I was on the edge of my seat refusing to go to the bathroom. Third, there is something about the lighting of many of the fight scenes. They just don't pop. They don't give you the ooh factor. They just seem redundant as if they ran out of ideas. Lastly, this just feels like they are going to run this franchise into the ground. Keanu might actually be portraying himself in real life if he keeps signing onto these movies. He just can't get out if you know what I mean.

If you love what the John Wick series has become then you'll love this movie, it's full of action and great fight scenes. However I can't get over how repetitive it is, it's just on and on with the enemies and to me that gets boring pretty quick.

Also, there is almost zero depth to the movie, thematically, emotionally, metaphorically, you name it. Even the main character barely has any story or depth, let alone any other character. It's just one big revenge story and that again ties into the predictability aspect, after about 25 minutes most people should be able to guess what happens the rest of the way.

It's a good theater flick, it's entertaining, but it's not worthy of a high rating due to its tunnel vision plot and lackluster depth.

Plot? What Plot?

Ballerina is an average movie with exciting action sequences but weighed down with an underwhelming story and tired tropes.

The first 20 minutes are a chore with the standard origin story you've seen before but once the action begins, it doesn't let up and 5 minutes don't past between fight scenes. It's clear to see where the reshoots come in as they appear copied and pasted in.

Ana De Armas is the saving grace of the movie and gives a great performance while Keanu has a fun cameo with just the right amount of screen time. It's a shame to say that Gabriel Byrne is wasted as the villian and doesn't do much with the time provided.

The world of John Wick is a brilliant concept and continues to enthrall. I just wish there was more here to expand the lore and put a bit of meat on it. A decent enough time though, just not as great as i expected.

🏆85%

Ballerina is shockingly really good. I did expect it to be decent, but it definitely went past my expectations. Originally, the thing I was most excited about before seeing this was to see John Wick again, but it turns out that even if he weren't in the film, the movie still would've ended up being as good as it is. The scenes with John Wick were amazing, but every scene that didn't include him was equally as good. I liked Eve's character more than I expected to, and even though he wasn't in the movie that much, I did enjoy the scenes with Norman Reedus as Daniel Pine. The amount of action sequences in this movie is insane, mostly every second of this movie, we get more and more action without being able to take a breather. This might just be the most action-packed movie of the franchise yet, right next to John Wick: Chapter 4. Overall, Ballerina is exactly everything you could ever want from a John Wick spinoff. I still prefer the original four John Wick movies, but this is definitely a worthy entry to the franchise!