From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

A spin-off of the John Wick films, Ballerina represents the fifth installment in the franchise known for its unrestrained action. Additionally, the extended title (From the World of John Wick: Ballerina) indicates that the filmmakers intended for audiences to recognize this as a John Wick film, rather than a standalone entry.

Set around the third installment of the John Wick film series, Ballerina is the story of another assassin from that world who defies the rules and faces consequences. With action set pieces that are increasingly bloody and creative, a well-etched character arc, and a similar philosophical core to its parent series, Ballerina turns out to be an effective companion piece to the John Wick films. However, if you are someone who finds yourself in the theatre unaware of the franchise’s legacy, Ballerina might come across as an excuse for a series of incredibly sophisticated fight sequences stitched together by a semblance of a story. As an origin story, Ballerina takes a familiar route: an orphaned child, robbed of her innocence, with a burning vengeance deep in her heart, that doesn’t let her choose a path that would save her from getting her hands bloody. Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas), as a child, witnesses her father die at the hands of a cult while saving her from their grasp. She grows up with her father’s family, which turns out to be the Ruska Roma, the same criminal organisation that John Wick belongs to. Under the mentorship of its Director (Anjelica Huston), Eve is taught to become an assassin and, more importantly, to “fight like a girl." However, that’s the extent to which the film explores gender politics, as there isn’t a lot of depth to Eve, and she does almost everything John would have done in her place.

There are times we look for complexity and depth in cinema, and times when a few simple pleasures will do. Small joys, like arcane assassin guild rituals. Or Keanu Reeves hitting every syllable in “consequences.” Or Ana de Armas with a flamethrower. After four films that remapped Hollywood action, the John Wick franchise has its first feature spinoff. Ballerina is the first film in this universe not directed by Chad Stahelski, with Len Wiseman of the Underworld films in charge. This is usually the point at which franchises thin out and make peace with the idea that they’ll be churning out variations until the public no longer cares. Sequels say you’re a franchise, spinoffs say you’re a business. It would be difficult to argue that Ballerina is an advance over the Wick films. It is, however, a perfectly serviceable, enjoyable action film, and evidence that the aesthetic Stahelski and Reeves have developed over four films is replicable, if not easy to better. De Armas plays Eve Macarro, whose father, an assassin in the Ruska Roma family, married into a rival group of assassins called the Cult. Within minutes of the film starting, armed Cultists lay siege to the house where he’s been hiding out for years, raising his daughter. Eve sees her father die, and vows revenge.

A spin-off in the John Wick universe, Ballerina stars Ana de Armas as Eve, a young orphan trained by the Ruska Roma — the crime organisation famous for creating Keanu Reeves’ Wick — to be a ballerina-assassin. She is taught to weaponise her intuition and “fight like a girl” instead of trying to defeat men at their own game. She graduates the programme and starts work as a cold-blooded contract killer. But just as she sets out to become the next big Ruska Roma legend, she is overcome by an urge to avenge the murder of her father. All the trauma comes back to her when she identifies an opponent bearing the symbol of the Cult, the outfit responsible for the death of her parents all those years ago. Her ‘mission’ changes.

Following the murder of her father, Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) is trained to be an assassin by criminal organisation Ruska Roma. Once on field, she goes rogue in pursuit of the man who destroyed her family. To achieve that, she needs to fight his entire tribe on her own. Hollywood has generated a spade of female-led badass babe-action thrillers. Angelina Jolie in Salt and Wanted, Scarlett Johansson starrer Black Widow, Jennifer Lawrence in Red Sparrow, Linda Hamilton in Terminator, the examples are plenty. What sets Ballerina apart, beyond its terrific action choreography, is its casting. Ana de Armas’ Eve is fierce yet feminine. She’s hardened by life but not bereft of emotion. The softness of her past isn’t eroded by the brutalities of her present. She kills like an assassin but empathises like a woman–she fights like a girl. Director Len Wiseman creates a distinct lead that doesn’t aspire to be a John Wick and Ana de Armas’ casting is a cherry on top. The actress blends pulsating action and vulnerability flawlessly. She is one woman army who only trusts her instincts.