The World of John Wick introduces a female assassin on her own mission of vengeance in Ballerina. For the past 12 years, Eve (Ana de Armas) has trained with the Ruska Roma, a group of ballerina assassins led by The Director (Anjelica Huston). Eve’s ultimate goal is to kill The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne), a cult leader who killed Eve’s father. However, The Director tells Eve that the Ruska Roma have a truce with the cult and cannot get involved.
As such, Eve ends up going rogue and seeks the help of Winston (Ian McShane), the manager of the Continental Hotel. Winston sends her to the director of Prague and in contact with Daniel Pine (Norman Reedus), a member of the cult seeking to escape with his daughter, Ella (Ava McCarthy). When Ella ends up taken, Eve tracks her down to the mountain village where the cult is based.
Ballerina Synopsis
Ballerina is a John Wick spin-off directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld, Live Free or Die Hard) and set concurrently with the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. The film stars Ana de Armas (No Time to Die) as the protagonist Eve, who is taken in and trained by the Ruska Roma, the same order of assassins who once trained John Wick (Keanu Reeves). Eve was orphaned as a child after her father was killed by the cult leader, The Chancellor, played by Gabriel Byrne (Hereditary).
When Eve’s first job ends with an attempt on her life by an assassin with the cult’s distinctive X tattoo, she wants the help of The Director, played by a returning Anjelica Huston, to track the cult down. When The Director refuses to get involved, Eve decides to take matters into her own hands. This leads her to Prague, where she gets into contact with fugitive cult member Daniel Pine, played by Norman Reedus (The Boondock Saints, The Walking Dead), and encounters The Chancellor’s second-in-command, Lena (Catalina Sandino Moreno).
My Thoughts on Ballerina
Ballerina entered production around the same time as John Wick: Chapter 4 and hence features the final appearance of Lance Reddick as The Continental’s concierge Charon, filmed before Reddick’s sudden death in March 2023. However, the release of Ballerina was delayed from its planned 2024 release, as the original cut directed by Len Wiseman wasn’t up to snuff. As such, this resulted in many of the film’s action scenes being reshot, shadow-directed by franchise filmmaker Chad Stahelski.
While it is easy to decipher which of these action sequences, often shot in a single location featuring one of the leads facing off against multiple opponents, were shot during the reshoots, it can be argued that these added action scenes save Ballerina from being a lacklustre spinoff of the John Wick films. At best, Ballerina is on par with the latter entries of the franchise, except without the more cartoonish elements present in John Wick: Chapter 4.
Ana de Armas already proved herself to be a budding action star through her scene-stealing appearance alongside James Bond in No Time to Die. As such, de Armas holds her own in the film’s action sequences, particularly a standout one that involves a flamethrower. Even Keanu Reeves’ extended appearance in the film as John Wick doesn’t end up overshadowing Ana de Armas as the lead.
However, a member of the cast who does end up getting the short end of the stick is Norman Reedus as Daniel Pine. At first, it seems like the character might become a secondary protagonist in the film, though he only ends up being a way to transition the film between the second and third act. I would argue that Keanu Reeves ends up getting more screentime in Ballerina than Reedus. Also, the antagonist, The Chancellor, is very much a paycheck role for Gabriel Byrne, who is fine when he’s on screen, but doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression.
I’m left curious how Len Wiseman’s director’s cut of Ballerina differs from the version we are getting. Ballerina was arguably saved by its reshot action scenes, and I would like to know what type of film Wiseman was trying to deliver. However, that is a moot point, since Ballerina ends up being a worthy addition to the John Wick mythology.
Trailer for Ballerina
