Ballerina Review!

The world of John Wick expands with Ana de Armas as Eve, lethal as Wick in Ballerina! The film had the additional title, From the World of John Wick, but this was not used in the movie. It is directed by Len Wiseman who also directed the Underworld films, excellent at stylish action, though a hit and miss track record. I think of this as a hit and one of my favorite of the Wick canon because of de Armas’ character. The killer who struggles against tough foes, gets beaten, and is able to strike back is the appeal. I would like to see more Ballerina films in the Wickverse. The screenwriter is Shay Hatten who co-wrote John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023). 

It opens to the chimes of a ballerina snow globe. This is held by a young girl, Eve (Victoria Comte) sitting on a bench in a busy police station. Comte starred in the “Alouette” (2023) episode of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. She has blood on her face. Eve thinks back earlier to a seaside where she was dancing with her father, Javier (David Castañeda). Hector in Sicardio: Day of the Soldado (2018) was played by Castañeda. He says, “You look so much like your sister” and gives her the snow globe. They enter their house and outside in the sunset, soldiers rise out of the sea. Guards protecting the house are killed by arrows. Javier is washing up taking off his jacket which reveals the Ruska Roma tatoo on his back. This is the organization that trains assassins like John Wick. 

He hears a soldier and knocks him down and another is thrown down a staircase. We see Javier prove he is Ruska Roma. Javier tosses red smoke grenades. He hides Eve behind a wall panel. Javier is held down by soldiers. Out of the red smoke, almost demonic, comes the figure of The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). The actor was in the Assault in Precinct 13 (2005), the remake of the 1976 John Carpenter film. He says that Javier was brought into the clan by marrying “our daughter.” The Chancellor then tells Javier that he had to kill her.  He takes a gun to leave only one bullet. Javier is offered a choice, “Kill yourself and your daughter lives. Kill me and you both die.” Javier holds up the gun to his head. Eve screams from behind the bookcase and her father begins to kill the soldiers.  

The Chancellor steps away. Eve from her hiding place sees an “X” fleshy mark on the wrist of one of the fallen soldiers. A knife is held to Javier and he is about to be killed! The soldier dies shot by Eve, her first kill, and his blood has splashed on her. Javier pulls her away and sets an explosive in a wall. He takes his daughter along a curved hall, but is shot in the side! Eve and Javier leave the house to a dock. He stumbles, but they have reached safety as the house explodes! Javier says he never intended this life for her and in the sunset he dies. A man in black fedora and coat walks into the police station. This is of course Winston, a mainstay of the Wick series played by Ian McShane. Winston was last seen in John Wick: Chapter 4. 

He walks up to Eve and identifies Tchaikovsky as the music from Eve’s snow globe. This is the Ballet Suite from Swan Lake (1877), Op. 20, Act II, No 10. It is a ballet of love and sacrifice. Winston asks if she likes dance and says he knows a school that teaches dance. He knows about the death of her father and adds, “I can take you to his family, maybe they will become your family.” He takes Eve’s hand and they walk away with the sunlight streaming from the windows like walking into heaven. The Tarkovsky Theater in New York is seen as well as the headlined performance of Swan Lake. Inside, seated, is Nogi who is portrayed by Sharon Duncan-Brewster. A previous part by Duncan-Brewster was as Liet Kynes in the first Dune (2021) movie. The role may brief, but Duncan-Brewster makes an impression as mentor for Ruska Roma. 

Winston also takes a seat as Eve is called into the office. She meets with The Director (Anjelica Huston), the character was introduced in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. The Director tells Eve, “I’m looking for new recruits.” Eve is accepted into the Ruska Roma. She returns to see Winston who slides her over a gold coin. Winston tells Eve, “Know that I will always be at your service.” It seems like Winston has a debt to Eve’s father, possibly mother, or both. Nogi tells her about the Kikimora, a spirit that can be vengeful to “those with darkness” or a protector to the innocent. The spirit, like the Baba Yaga, is from Slavic mythology, except Eve taking the role of Kikimora is more correctly aligned by gender than John Wick. This moves to twelve years later, the adult Eve ballet dances on stage, now played by de Armas. In the Bond film, No Time to Die (2021), de Armas played Paloma. She also starred with Keanu Reeves in the thriller, Knock Knock (2015). 

#Five Ballerina Snow Globes out of Five! 

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