From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

 

“You don’t choose to be a killer. You are chosen.”

Brisk, brutal and fiery, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina doesn’t pull its punches or count its bullets in another pulse-pounding franchise entry full of fantastic fights and creative kills, that sadly gets bogged down in a shallow story and dry dialogue to deliver a derivative albeit still engaging spin-off. 

Discussion Points:

One of the best parts of John Wick is the world building, fight choreography and lack of dialogue. Sadly, Ballerina only hits 1.5/3 - because there’s some real clunky exposition, flat line deliveries and shallow dialogue. However, it’s still exciting to be back in the world of John Wick and see some absolutely insane combatants go toe-to-toe. Ana de Armas is a solid lead and the fight choreography allows us to see her slowly develop from a sloppy fighter to an efficient killing machine. Props to Ana for having to learn to fight poorly to start with before really locking in. As the film progresses, and the action gets more frequent and complex, the film gets far better, but every piece of story just feels superfluous and like an afterthought. The supporting cast feels under-utilised especially Norman Reedus, although it is nice to see Lance Reddick one last time. Overall, the stylised impressive action that this franchise has become infamous for will continue to engage and entertain - so I’m happy to see more Ballerina films if we keep getting such impressive stunt work.