'Ballerina' review: Ana de Armas rocks in a smashing spin-off that also hints at the next John Wick adventure
Considering that cinema has given us a long list of female assassins, of which a few stood out and many unremarkable, it goes without saying the makers of Ballerina had a humungous task ahead of them. The last great female assassin movie, for me, was Atomic Blonde, which was made by one of the directors of the first John Wick. Pulling off a spin-off is not easy especially when a particular property comes from an established, hugely successful franchise. Not only do you have to match up to — or almost match up to — the standards set by Keanu Reeves' John Wick films, but you also have the challenge of convincing audiences why a spin-off was necessary in the first place. You must offer something in the way of a novelty factor, even if building on a familiar template. In the case of Ballerina, I'm happy to report that everyone involved in the film has come out with flying colours.
One of the advantages this film, starring Ana de Armas, had was that a world of assassins, with their own rules and mythology, as well as a basic template and striking visual palette, was already established. So the only thing left for director Len Wiseman, known for the fourth Die Hard film Live Free and Die Hard and the Underworld series of vampire films is to give us a protagonist we care about. The first thing you'll notice about this film is how stunning it looks. There are times when its transportive frames reminded me so much of the evocative paintings of this Russian artist Evgeny Lushpin that I wondered whether it looks better than all the John Wick films. But I finally reached the conclusion that, no, they look as great as all the John Wick films. Except for familiar scenes involving the Continental Hotel and those depicting the working process of these assassins, Ballerina takes us to beautiful locations we have not previously seen. There are times when it visually resembles a James Bond movie, what with a climactic action setpiece in a snowy locale and all.
Speaking of James Bond, Ballerina gives Ana de Armas an opportunity to shine in her own action movie which many of us thought she wouldn't get when she appeared as a spy with killer moves in the last James Bond movie No Time to Die. Yes, Keanu Reeves makes a sort of extended cameo in different places, but make no mistake: This movie very much belongs to Ana's character, Eve, who knocks it out of the park with some of the best action sequences ever put on film. It's impressive how, in this film, we see her character's fighting style evolving with the progression of the character's timeline. In the beginning, we see her a bit clumsy and slow — when she is given her first assignment — but later, we get a time jump, and we see how refined her fighting style has become.
In terms of spectacle, Ballerina gives us some immensely satisfying moments that are on par with anything we have seen in the John Wick films. I must also add that for a woman who is often labelled as a sex symbol, this film doesn't pander to those who see her that way; instead, it portrays her as a fantastic action heroine worth rooting for, just like for Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde.
And like the John Wick films, Ballerina has a sense of humour that accompanies all the heavy body count. Remember those sequences in the John Wick films when we are laughing and going "Wow!" simultaneously? Ballerina does that too. Another thing that Ballerina has in common with John Wick films is that it doesn't waste any time showing this character wallowing in guilt. Of course, she is not a cold person, but Eve is a character who does what she has to do to succeed: in terms of her working philosophy, we can see that she and John Wick have a lot in common. The film, however, doesn't offer anything in the way of emotional depth except for the information that assassins cannot have a normal family life.
As for John Wick's cameo and what he does, I don't want to spoil anything, but I believe one of the reasons for this movie's existence is the already confirmed possibility of a fifth John Wick film. Since the makers of John Wick 5 have mentioned that it won't follow the storyline of the last four films, perhaps Ballerina gives us a hint of what the next step will be for both these properties.
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