From the World of John Wick Ballerina movie review: Gorgeous Ana de Armas doesn’t have Keanu Reeves’ pizzazz

That’s a whole lot of expectations from de Armas, who is still at best building her profile. She can be stunningly lethal in a dress and stilettos, as in her memorable cameo in No Time to Die, from the James Bond world. In the world of John Wick though, which swears off any sexual tension, she doesn’t carry the same pizzazz.

And yet, the elements are all there in Ballerina, which has tragedy, Tchaikovsky and tribes rolled into one – not to mention a lone Sikh mixed up with brainwashed Slavs.

After a very slow beginning, in which Eve (de Armas) sees her father being shot down after a gruelling John Wick-kind combat, has a glimpse of the Chancellor (Byrne) who has ordered the kill, is rescued by Winston (McShane, reprising his role), and is brought to a ballet company Director (Huston, all red-lipped, arched brows and sharp nails), Ballerina settles in to give a glimpse of a 20-something Eve being put through the grind.

She must alternatively learn the ballet and figure out hand-to-hand combat, in both of which she goes through physical battering (her bleeding toes will give you pause). The only golden lining in this episode is when Wick (Reeves) drops in for a fleeting visit to the ballet company.

Just as Eve is settling down into her role – Of a paid assassin? Killer of bad people? Random shootings?… it’s all very vague – she runs into people who may be linked to her father’s killing. Revenge must be had then.

Watch From the World of John Wick Ballerina movie trailer:

It’s about here that Ballerina really kicks into next gear, with Eve’s tryst with a snow-bound Austrian village of zombie-like killers orchestrated to Swan Lake perfection. Snowflakes float down, strobe lights struggle against infinite whiteness, and warm fires blaze in wooden cabins, as out there, a woman in all-black meets her “fate” and Wick, again.

As frying pans to ski shoes, knives to grenades, guns to logs, flamethrowers to fire extinguishers are fashioned into weapons, as the bodies pile up, as an amazing number of children are put in harm’s way, you stop caring and instead actually enjoy the spectacle. Even ambitious dialogue such as: “Needing to know is what got us banished from the Garden of Eden. Are you ready to be cast out again, Eve?”

By then, Eve has already been instructed to “cheat”, “improvise”, “fight like a girl”.

Whatever.

From the World of John Wick Ballerina movie director: Len Wiseman
From the World of John Wick Ballerina movie cast: Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves, Anjelica Huston, Ian McShane, Gabriel Byrne, Catalina Sandino Moreno
From the World of John Wick Ballerina movie rating: Stars 2.5