Ahh the John Wick universe, where the protagonist has more stamina then a race horse and less lines to say then an actor with select mutism. 

Like most guys, I’ve always dug the John Wick universe. It seems to have replaced the Eurotrash of a nineties Luc Beeson action film like “Taken” or “Romeo Must Die.”  Who wouldn’t want to live in this hyper masculine, stylized world?  A world where every location either looks like a cigar lounge, antique shop, bathhouse, or dance club. Everyone is rich, every car is a tricked out European something expensive, and everyone carries a submachine gun. And it’s always nighttime. Why is it always nighttime? The type of universe where the villains are Ninja Turtles-esque and just have legions of goons that get up to a lot of gooning. (Hey man, for Ana De Armas - who’s not gooning, am I right?) But ever since the very first John Wick film came out in 2014, every film since then you forget: “Oh yeah! These films are really just about the action scenes.” The acting and story are secondary and only serve the purpose of moving the movie forward to the next action set piece. 

The actors are wooden blocks in some scenes and it hits you almost immediately that you are not there for the story really, or the acting - you want the violence porn! The acting isn’t bad throughout, everyone is serviceable but there are standouts. Ana De Armas, who essentially is the female equivalent of Pedro Pascal (because she is in everything), has incredible range and definitely brings an intensity and commitment to this part that was stunning. Norman Reedus plays, well, Norman Reedus but now he’s no longer in the Walking Dead but in the John Wick universe. He traded his crossbow in for a shotgun. Another stand out is Gabriel Byrne who plays the main villain. I quite enjoyed his evil villain monologuing about fate versus choice. Like the movie was really going to have any depth, but hey, at least they give him some scenery to chew on with an attempt at depth. The rest of the cast, including Keanu Reeves, are John Wick Universe regulars, who at this point kind of feel like family or old friends. 

Although she doesn’t have that many lines, Ana De Armas does seem to fit the role well and almost better than Keanu Reeves at times. It did surprise me to find out that De Armas was not the films first choice for the Ballerina character as originally the character was supposed to be played by actress Unity Phelan who is an actual ballerina and appeared as the character in John Wick: Parabellum. But I think the acting change was necessary as the ballerina scenes are honestly minimal at most. Ana De Armas has already had action roles such as James Bond ‘No Time To Die,’ where she basically gives us a preview of what we see in this movie. In ‘No Time To Die,’ her scenes are easily a highlight, so you can see why it works here. 

But honestly, the Ballerina thing wasn’t touched upon enough in my opinion for the whole movie to be titled that. Sure there is dancing like in the beginning, and the story has the main character occasionally looking at a music box thing reflecting on better times, but it really has no significance to the story or impact. The fact that she is a ballerina is never really used for any meaningful purpose. It’s not her cover, it’s not even mentioned that the strength, resilience and grace that it takes to become a ballerina better helps her with her missions, it's just a thing that she does. The movie could be easily called “From the John Wick Universe: Linecook,” or “From the John Wick Universe: Tattoo Artist” - none of it seemed to matter that much. I thought when watching this, that they would spend much more time with her as a child, making the ballerina discipline much more impactful and graceful, with scenes almost reminiscent of Daron Aaronofsky’s “Black Swan” meets Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket.” But that is not the case, it’s more like: “Hey remember that there was a part of John Wick where he walked through a ballerina school? Wouldn’t that be cool if they were also killers?” 

Because it’s not like we haven’t had movies like “Ballerina” before. From the producers of John Wick even, was a brilliant movie starring Charlize Theron called “Atomic Blonde” where she plays a female assassin. In that film she pretty much does exactly what you see here - kill goons. The idea of a femme fatale is so well worn, we’ve had entire franchises dedicated to it come and go: the JJ Abrams produced “Alias” tv show, the Jennifer Lawrence vehicle “Red Sparrow,” and even Disney/Marvel’s own “Black Widow.” 

I would say with the original take here being: this is the first of those types of films where there is a scene where there is an admission that the woman is weaker in stature than a man. But because that is the case, that doesn’t mean that a woman couldn’t win in a fight, they just need to be more creative and fight like a woman. This basically means that a kick in the balls is a fair fight move, but like when you are fighting for your life, who cares about hitting below the belt, right? But as an fyi, if there was a movie where a man punched a woman in the crotch, there would be hell, because it’s not like they are not sensitive there too. A crotch shot is a crotch shot regardless of gender. However, in “Ballerina” the fact that she’s a woman kind of gets lost after that scene. Eve (Ana De Armas) does take quite a licking and keeps ticking throughout the movie, but it never seems like she has to resort to below the belt moves due to her being a woman, she just fights and fights with a sort of sick desperation. It never seems like her opponents are able to beat her due to her gender because they are also punching below the belt. But because of her smaller petite stature, she does resort to more creative and scrappy fighting. There is a stand out action scene featuring a belt full of grenades that I quite enjoyed. This movie is also great because: (in William DeFoe’s voice) “There was a firefight!” There is a scene that made you feel as if Eve is in over her head in terms of being an assassin in that “Ballerina” does show her first mission or “hit.” There is a feeling that despite all of her training, she is still unprepared for what she is going to have to do. This gave the John Wick series a breath of fresh air. As I never thought in previous John Wick films that he was underprepared or unable to take on hundreds of goons. Ana De Arma’s version though seems more vulnerable, one missed calculation means curtains. 

Although it might be hack for this type of film, it seemed weird to me that with the casting of Ana De Armas that sex was not part of the assassin equation. Because if we are going to discuss male versus female advantages and disadvantages, the femme fatale trope is a trope because men are kind of dumb in that way and easily seduced, clearly giving women the upper hand here. Wouldn’t it be smarter for a woman to get close using her looks and feminine wiles to get the mark into a vulnerable position to kill or manipulate? The world of John Wick is filled with European dance clubs, strip clubs, and bathhouses. Being scantily dressed seems like a default. It is not as if Ana De Armas has not been in roles before where sex was used as a weapon. One of her earliest films was called “Knock, Knock” where she seduces co-star Keanu Reeves into cheating on his wife and manipulates him using her looks and body. As we are now in a post “Me Too” era, maybe the idea of a seductive assassin femme fatale is now looked down upon, but you gotta be honest and admit that sexual manipulation still works in a modern society and would work especially in the fictional world of John Wick where children are being kidnapped and turned into assassins. 

Overall, if you like John Wick as a movie series, “Ballerina” is essentially more of the same. It was nice that even though that series is over that they have found a way to continue it. It is nice to have a competent mindless action film that requires pretty minimal effort to enjoy. Did you miss a part of the plot, doesn’t matter - fucking guns bro. “Ballerina” front loads just enough fresh air into the series to make an old movie fresh again even though at it’s core it is just more of the same. John Wick is a woman now and I think that after watching this, most people will be pretty entertained by that.