Ballerina: The John Wick Expanded Universe

Ballerina

Writers: Shay Hatten, Derek Kolstad Cast: Ana De Armas, Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane

’Ballerina’ is explosive fun in the world of John Wick; it’s a notable and elegant expansion of the world that encompasses both familiarity and new faces. Placed between John Wick 3: Parabellum and John Wick 4 comes the story of Eve, a once innocent little girl who watched her father get murdered at the hands of a cult of assassins. She’s found by Winston, the infamous founder of the Continental Hotels, and chooses to be direct with the young girl, explaining the world she has been born into and the repercussions of it, while also offering to take her to her father’s family. Here we meet the Director, snidefully portrayed by Anjelica Huston, who gives off the vibe of Meryl Streep in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ if she were the owner of a ballet company that both existed inactuality and was a front for a network of assassins. The Director agrees to take her in, raise her in the company and thus begins the story.

Slay

The beauty of this film is that it knows exactly what universe it belongs to, and doesn’t try to be anything other than a beautifully stylized action film made in the same vein as the original four, with the build-up precursor having her instructor say, “Fight like a girl”. A twist on the term, often being coined as “you fight like a girl” as an insult towards men’s fighting styles, instead of the girl or in this case, woman being the weakness, it is to find the weakness, expose it and use it against them with fierceness. This is something, aside from her clumsy first assignment, that Eve grows into. It’s important to note that she was told she could take on the role of a protector or an assassin, and she ultimately chose protector. Her role is not to kill people but to safeguard them, and this becomes her catalyst—to not history from repeating itself to another little girl as it did her. Elaborate rules are held as custom to the franchise, the administrative hub is still outsourcing bounties in their retro decor and pinup hairdos, and John Wick lingers in the background like Baba Yaga himself. Interestingly enough, Wick didn’t exactly add anything to this story; his tone was more or less a piece of connection placed in to tie the universe that was built with him, but the franchise became so expansive in the four movies and miniseries that it has become just as interesting without him, as it was with him, however, him being there in only muted aspects and short intrevals did give his legend the feeling of the boogeyman.

Baba Gaga himself.

Ana De Armas does well in this film, successfuly leading it and impressively doing most of her own stunts, while Norman Reedus (an actor too big for this small of a role, so another spin-off is coming for sure) plays someone a little different than Daryl Dixon, but not far enough away to be impressive. Gabriel Byrne as The Chancellor, the leader of the cult, is horrific in only the ways a weak man can be. It was heartbreaking for the brief moment of Lance Riddick before his death.

Ballerina is sleek and visually delicious thanks to Romain Lacourbas' cinematography, in particular in the overhead shots and at night in a remote village in Prague. The sound design was typical for an action thriller, but every hit, punch, kick…and flame thrower resonated beautifully. This film has no shortage of clever kills, but is also reminiscent of Wick’s original ones.

Worth watching if you need to wind down with some mindless goodness, but don’t go looking for a societal message; this is definitely just a fun popcorn film.

3.5/5