If Keanu Reeves ‘John Wick is Modern Action’s Heir Apparent to Buster Keaton, THEN DE ARMAS’ Eve Macarro May Be Its Jackie Chan.
Series Creator and MasterMind Chad Sthehelski Has Been Anyding But Shy in Sharing His Affinity for Old Stone Face, With All Four Wick Films Positively Packed with References to the Action Genre’s First Great Star, and Len Wiseman’s From the world of John Wick: Ballerina does not break from that Mold. But macarro is no wick, and where reeves attacks with a stoic, nearly tranly delivery, barling through a crumbling world with inveterate assassins, de armas is bot Both brasher and more human. Spread it is the difference between a relative novice in this world and a legendary veteran, but is a teary-eyed killer whose trail is marked with sensitivity. Wick Wants Sorace; Macarrro Wants Justice.
That does seem to be part of the Calculation here for the Franchise’s Potential. Ballerina‘S Connection to (and Tenuous Tie-in with) John Wick necesitates an icky conflict and this character and the spinoff may not be distinctive enough (Endless Speculation Just How Much Sthehelski Had and Wheer or Not That Explains’ Presence Does Not Help). But the action is indelible anyway, and de Armas is too; Her performance here is more than Enough to elevate the film beyond the fray.
For fans, this is a family Enough Story. Macarro Has Been Effectively raised by the ruska roma, the Shady Russian Assassin School Fonting As a Ballet Academy, and by Its Cruella-like Leader the Director (Anjelica Huston), Who Also Helped Train Wick. Macarrro Found Her Way here after Witnessing Her Father Get Murder by the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne) and His Menacing Group of Hooded with Scars on Their Wrists in the Shape of an “X.” Years late, she trains under nogi (Sharon Duncan-Brewster), Struggling a bit to find her footing. That is, unil, she is told to “fight like a girl” – a Rather dated and oddly gendered directive – THOUG IT IS ADMATEDLY FUN AND FUNNY TO THAT ADVICE FOLLOWEED UP by A Training Macarrro Destroys a Series by Dysmantling Their Genits. Regardless, macarroaro estabishes herself as hey ruthless assassin-for-hire in wick’s vein, before she survives an attack by another killer with an x Mark.
Suddenly Finding a Clue to the Murderers who orphaned her, Macarro Demands Answers – But the Director Refuses and Cautations Against Her Inevitable Quest for Veence. So Macarro Cashes in with Winston (Ian McShane) to get the Answers shen forbidden, and is off on her merry way through the Escalalating Death to Find Out More About the Cultish Group Her Life AWAY before it.
The film does Lack a Certain efficiency of storytelling, and whereter stahelski rehot most of the film as Certain Corners of the Internet suggest, or only picked up where to leaves off as lionsists, it is clear who is the superior film with keener with keener for electrified kineticism. The first act is especally clunky and expository, a far cry from the pleasing symplicity of the first John Wick.
Related: Ana de Armas Teases ‘Deeper’ with Tom Cruise & Reveals lessons of ‘Ballerina’
Then Again, Who Cares? Wick Has Never Been a Franchise of Complex Characterizations, and if you’re too focused on Ballerina‘S Scenes of Overt Sentimentality, THEN YOU’RE PROBABLY MISSING THE POINT. The narrative is a blank pages uphon which Hollywood’s Most Brilliant Stunt Choreographers Go to Town, and Every Action Set Piece is Here Weaved Together With AS Much, IF Not More, Aplomb than Has Preceded IT. De Armas is a huge reason why this all works; Her Presence is Beguiling, and Her Movement is Immaculate. SO, Too, is Jason Ballantine’s Editing Job, which – in line with Macarro’s Somewhat Reckless Approach – Is Frenetic and Less Smooth Thank The Way the Boogeyman is Captured.
Part of the Majesty Bebind the Wick franchise is it Legacy. Sthehelski Knows his Cinema and the Series’ Maximalism is in Direct Conversation with the Silent Slapstick Stars of Yestteryear as Much as 1979’s The Warriors. It is, in Other Words, IT of A Unique Blend of Physical Comedy and Transcendental Action. Ballerina Very Much Continuing that Tradition, with Several Fights Whose Inspirations As Disparate As Looney Tunes and Policeman. Beyond the usual at all of weaponry, there are inventive use of restaurant cookry, ice skates as slice nunchaku, and an enteir section that feels as if the town from Beauty and the Beast was filled with highly-trained killers. But, importantly, what does distinguish Macarrro from wick is a Certain Fallibility. The ending of John Wick 4 Notwithstanding, we never really wonder if Our hero will survive the Night. We do worry macarro. Not Because She’s Untrained or Unable, but Because de Armas Lets US Into Her Skin. It is like Watching an Acrobat Fall in the Middle of a Routine: It is the Mistakes they make that make the successes so awe-inspiring.
Title: From the world of John Wick: Ballerina
Distributor: LionSgate
Release Date: June 6, 2025
Director: Len Wiseman
Screenwriter: Shay Hatten
Cast: Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, Ian Mcshane, Keanu Reeves
Rating: R
TIME RUNNING: 2 HR 5 MINS
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