Ballerina
Orphaned at a young age after her father was murdered, Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas, "Knives Out," "Blonde") was trained by the same Ruska Roma which spawned John Wick (Keanu Reeves). Now determined to get revenge for his killing, she travels to The Continental in New York to get information about her family background. Winston's (Ian McShane) lead will take her to Prague where Daniel Pine (Norman Reedus), a member of that tribe, has checked into its Continental, but things are not what they seem on the surface and a new lead will take her to the Austrian village of Hallstatt, entirely populated by assassins who are determined to obliterate the "Ballerina."
Laura's Review: B
After four "John Wick" movies, somehow director Len Wiseman ("Live Free or Die Hard," 2012's "Total Recall") and writer Shay Hatten have managed to up the violence quotient to insane levels with the franchise's first female protagonist. What Eve will discover about the 'tribe' she's seeking, one which The Director (Anjelica Huston) has forbidden her to engage, is a bit too kooky (and logically inconsistent), but that's easy to overlook when carnage is being rained down with ice skate blades and flamethrowers, all convincingly choreographed. Ana de Armas, who first co-starred with Keanu Reeves in 2015's "Knock Knock," proved her action chops in the Bond movie "No Time To Die" and easily solidifies that reputation here.
A prologue features the young Eve dancing with her father Javier (David Castañeda, "Sicario: Day of the Soldado"), then retiring into a large waterfront estate, Eve clasping a ballerina music box. Suddenly several assassins rise from the waters outside bearing crossbows. Guards are quickly taken out. Javier secures Eve in a hidden chamber and goes into battle, but just when it seems they are safe, he's mortally wounded and Eve watches him die as the sun rises. The next thing we know, she is with Winston, who gently tells her she has a new family waiting and takes her to the Ruska Roma ballet school, leaving her with a gold coin.
The ballerina cover for the Ruska Roma assassins has always seemed out there, other than being yet another torturous extreme these women go through, but while we see the now grown Eve put through the wringer in a training montage where she boxes, wrestles and target shoots, she is most bloodied by those toe point pirouettes. She'll observe John Wick in the hallway, stopping him to ask how to 'get out,' which he misinterprets, telling her the front door is an option (the film takes place in the "John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum" timeline), but when she tells the Director she's ready, the Director agrees. Soon she's given contracts (one which takes place at a disco involves an ice pick and a car as weapons) and rewarded with the full back tattoo indicative of Ruska Roma after proving herself, but one job gives her a flashback when she spies an 'X' carved into an assassin's wrist - the same mark the men who came to kill her father had - and brings the severed hand back to home base demanding information. When The Director forbids her from acting on it (Huston's dismissive 'take your hand' is one of the funniest lines in the film), she heads to the Continental, where we will see concierge Charon (Lance Reddick) one last time and where she will turn in that coin for intel from Winston. But what she finds in Prague is a situation eerily close to her own childhood memory, Pine a father protecting his daughter Ella (Ava Mccarthy) while a cadre of assassins led by Lena (Catalina Sandino Moreno) from the 'tribe' Pine tells Eve is a cult one can never leave swarms the hotel. While Eve attempts to protect Ella, she'll see Pine shot. Ella is snatched when Eve's hit from behind.
"Ballerina" is chock-a-block with over the top action scenes, another literally explosive one in a Prague gun shop whose charismatic proprietor Frank (Abraham Popoola) points Eve towards an alpine village amidst the wreckage of his business. This is where things really get crazy as every citizen of Hallstatt is tasked by The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne) to take her out, women often bringing children to shelter before reappearing armed to the teeth. And that is before The Director sends John Wick to help finish the job in order to avoid a war.
"Ballerina" works as non-stop action, even if the narrative veers from routine to loony. The John Wick world is maintained, whereabouts and contracts referred through switchboard operators, Eve getting a bounty slapped on her head by film's conclusion, a jumping off point for a sequel. Ana de Armas creates a lethal assassin who nonetheless has an air of innocence about her and while it is paternity she yearns for, the film's maternal side suits her well as she recognizes herself in Ella. Maternity is also a two-sided coin at Ruska Roma, Angelica Huston's pragmatic Director brutal if fair, balanced by Sharon Duncan-Brewster's ("Earth Mama") Ruska Roma Ballet School instructor Nogi, tough but compassionate. Reedus is a welcome addition, his 'Walking Dead' persona tweaked for Wick. Catalina Sandino Moreno has a third act character reveal that gives her an interesting switch to play off while Byrne comes across as a cult leader whose surface is grandfatherly and soul is pure Nazi. Reeves remains deadpan throughout, at least until his frustration dealing with Eve becomes somewhat comical. Watch for Wes Anderson semi-regular Waris Ahluwalia as Hallstatt's tower sniper guard, 'The Eye.'
"Ballerina" is an over the top action movie grounded by its heroine and the world of John Wick.
Lionsgate releases "Ballerina" in theaters on 6/6/25.
