Verdict
Summary
A companion piece to the John Wick flicks, Ballerina worked better for me than any of the Wicks because it’s a little goofier and takes itself a lot less seriously than those movies. It’s not as concise or convoluted with its hierarchy, its wacky rules, and bizarre cinematic universe that the Wick movies created and inhabit. I also saw Hotel Continental, the very disappointing TV series that is set in the franchise, so I feel like I more or less know this universe, but out of all them Ballerina is my favorite one (not necessarily the “best” one – I’m using the word strategically here) for a multitude of reasons.
Plot:
An elite assassin breaks the code of her employers and is hunted by the most elite assassin of all.
Review:
As a child, Eve witnessed the execution of her father, who was connected to a secret society of assassins, and she’s taken under the wing of a scout who puts her in the care of the Ruska Roma, a school of assassins that poses as a ballet school. When she’s grown, Eve (Ana de Armas) shows incredible potential, but constant correction by The Director (Anjelica Huston) who is severe in upholding the rules and the code set by a “high table” that connects and unites all the crime families in the world. When Eve’s past comes crashing into her life again, she sets her sights on The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne), the man who killed her father. To get to him, Eve must break all the rules and the unbreakable code, which incites the wrath of The Director, who sets loose the dogs of war upon her, namely John Wick (Keanu Reeves), who is smack in the middle of his own personal war against the Ruska Roma. After gearing up and making some secret alliances, Eve ends up in a small town in Eastern Europe somewhere where literally the entire town is a web of assassins protecting the Chancellor and the way of life he’s set up for everyone. As she inches closer (with bodies piling up all around her), Eve faces the final boss: John Wick.
A companion piece to the John Wick flicks, Ballerina worked better for me than any of the Wicks because it’s a little goofier and takes itself a lot less seriously than those movies. It’s not as concise or convoluted with its hierarchy, its wacky rules, and bizarre cinematic universe that the Wick movies created and inhabit. I also saw Hotel Continental, the very disappointing TV series that is set in the franchise, so I feel like I more or less know this universe, but out of all them Ballerina is my favorite one (not necessarily the “best” one – I’m using the word strategically here) for a multitude of reasons. Wick has always been a humorless character, almost robotic and non-human to me with his Terminator-esque approach and ultra precise choreography in the fights and the gunplay. I hardly identify with him as a hero, but Eve is much more relatable because we see her as a child, we watch her grow and expand as a character right before our eyes. When she’s wounded, we feel it. When she’s knocked down, we wonder if she’s going to get up. With Wick, it’s strange watching him get wounded because he doesn’t react, and he kills so many people that he’s like a machine. Ballerina is more fun for me because it’s not that serious and it’s more “fun” with its development, its centerpiece action scenes (which are sometimes outrageous and not fully thought through, but I like that), and its attractive locations. Director Len Wiseman (Underworld, Live Free or Die Hard) did a good job with this hokey material, and it’s not a bad time at the movies at all. Watch for Daniel Bernhardt as a henchman. He played a different henchman in the first Wick.
Lionsgate has just released a Blu-ray and an Ultra HD 4K disc option for Ballerina. It’s got a making of feature, deleted and extended scenes, an “art of action” feature, and a feature entitled “Building a Frozen Underworld” feature, as well as the trailer.
