A One Mann’s Movies review of “Ballerina” (2025).
Full – impressively clumsy – title: “From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina”
I’m afraid I really don’t get the love for the the John Wick universe. Before last year, I’d never got into the series at all and have, to date, only ever watched the last instalment – “John Wick: Chapter 4” – which I described as “repetitive and soulless”. (And look, unbidden by reference to my last review, I’ve used the same word – “soulless” – in my title again.)
With “Ballerina”, we return to that world with a live-and-kicking John Wick (Keanu Reeves), with this film sitting chronologically between John Wick 3 and John Wick 4. This belies the film’s troubled gestation, 5 years in the making with extensive reshoots coordinated by series-creator Chad Stahelski. It’s the reason why, against all my expectations, the now deceased Lance Reddick (John Wick 4 was dedicated to him) appears in the film in the flesh, without (presumably) the need for a detour via the ‘uncanny valley’.
Many people have clearly loved this film. Sadly, I was not one of them, although I’ll agree that it did have some fun moments.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“Ballerina” Plot:
After the murder of her father by The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne), young Eve Macarro (Victoria Comte) is indoctrinated into and trained by the Ruska Roma organisation to be a killing machine. Now grown, Eve (Ana de Armas) hears who was responsible for destroying her childhood and sets out on a mission of revenge. This is against the wishes of the Ruska Roma director (Anjelica Huston) who has a long-standing truce with The Chancellor’s alpine-based cult.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong violence, injury detail, language”.) Note that, for sensitive souls, the action is very VERY violent and gory in places. I’m yet again amazed by what violence a ’15’ certificate film can get away with these days.
Talent:
Starring: Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Lance Reddick, Norman Reedus, Robert Maaser, Victoria Comte.
Directed by: Len Wiseman.
Written by: Shay Hatten. (Based on characters created by Derek Kolstad.)
Running Time: 2h 4m.
“Ballerina” Summary:
Positives:
- Some of the action scenes ARE very well done.
- Ana de Armas again demonstrates why she is an extremely bankable action star.
Negatives:
- There is virtually nothing to the story other than a linear one-dimensional mob-vengeance thing.
- Ludicrous action: is this a superhero film I walked into?
- Eve is like some automaton.
- Some of the effects were dodgy.
Review of “Ballerina”:
How much abuse can one woman take?
I know this is all supposed to be knockabout make-believe. But as I’ve moaned about before, to create any sort of tension in an action film, you need to at least keep the action even remotely believable and not like some Tom and Jerry cartoon. I clenched my seat rests in “Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning” because Tom Cruise really was on the undercarriage of a bi-plane (even if how he got there was not credible). In the finale of “No Time to Die“, I felt Bond’s pain because I saw the damage being done to his body had consequences. But here we were plainly in superhero territory and noone had told me. Or did Eve have underwear made of Vibranium? For the poor girl gets beaten, stabbed, chopped, thrown against solid objects, thrown through glass windows, singed and yet still just gets up and keeps killing people like some deranged drumming bunny-girl. It’s just nonsensical and entirely without any sense of peril for me.
That being said…
Even though it was nonsense for *most* of the film (the flashback intro at least showed some promise), there were some well-choreographed set-pieces. A sequence where Eve dispatches an army of goons with hand grenades was entertaining. And a duel with flame throwers is also novel and entertaining. As portrayed in the film’s trailer, at one point we have a battle between Dex (Robert Maaser) with a flame-thrower and Eve with a fire-hose which looks for all the world like Harry Potter and Voldemort duking it out in the finale of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”. Novel stuff.
But it’s potential that is woefully unrealised.
So, the film does have potential but, for me, sadly, it just had no soul. We end up with an incredibly one-dimensional revenge story that plods along in a linear fashion bouncing from one shoot-em-up level to another until we get to the big-boss finale. But even this ends as an incredibly anti-climactic damp squib. If I wanted a video game, I’d play one… not go to the cinema.
Eve is given virtually no story-arc to develop her character. Even in similar female-led action films, like “Atomic Blonde” and “Red Sparrow“, Charlize Theron and Jennifer Lawrence respectively were given something to work with to develop their characters and went somewhere interesting. Here Eve comes across as a blank automaton. Even when we meet a significant person to her later in the film there is virtually no emotion or indeed reaction to the outcome.
Ana de Armas really deserves better.
None of this should be taken as any criticism of Ana de Armas who showed her acting chops with “Knives Out” and then shimmered into global recognition as an action star with her film-making performance as Paloma in “No Time To Die“. Since then (with the exception of a critically-appreciated performance as Monroe in “Blonde“) she really hasn’t been in any movies that really match her talents. (Her agent really needs to do better!) For she certainly cuts a fine also profile as a stunning action star. I still reckon a well-written and glossy Paloma-spin-off film, while we are waiting for the next Bond, would be money well-invested.
Fire, fire everywhere but not all of it believable.
The film has a very glossy look and certain scenes – the hotel in Prague for example and the alpine village of Hallstatt – are very picturesque with good production values.
Elsewhere in the technical department, the stunt-work is also very impressive, especially in relation to the flame-thrower scenes in Hallstatt where a number of full-body burns are enacted by the crew. In later scenes in that section though, VFX are clearly used and the effects look naff and false.
Summary Thoughts on “Ballerina”
I seem to be in the minority on this one (as indeed I was for “John Wick 4“). But I found this to be a pretty uninspiring action film, without any sort of engaging story or character work. It’s just a mess of action scene after action scene. If you enjoy that, then good for you.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Ballerina”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNN2PoilSp4.
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