As a child, Eve (Ana de Armas) witnessed her father’s murder at the hands of a tribe leader known as The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). Saved by a man named Winston (Ian McShane) she is trained as an assassin by The Director (Anjelica Huston) of the Ruska Roma and will seek her vengeance.

Ballerina is “from the world of John Wick” and continues to build upon the peculiar world of assassins therein. It helps to be familiar with the idea of The Continental Hotel and the various rules that apply to the factions of assassins when watching this one build upon it with the idea of those factions being parts of different “tribes”.

There are ultimately two sides to this review. One is a discussion about its linkages to the Wick films and how that both helps and hinders it. Whilst the other is about how it stands on its own two feet as an action movie on its own terms.

As a Wick related movie it has a lot to live up to. It does a good job in the way it weaves Winston, Charon (Lance Reddick, in his final role following his death in March 2023) and The Director into its story. Whilst the initial appearance of Wick, situated during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is a good one, there is a later scene featuring Wick that feels superfluous and only there to assist with the marketing of Ballerina. It feels likely this scene was added as part of reshoots given the film originally was filmed between November 2022 and January 2023 and had a rather protracted post production period. This later sequence also does a lot to undo what we have already seen in the film to this point. Unlike with the Wick films where Keanu Reeves’ character is almost unstoppable straight from the off, here we see Eve train and develop her skills. Learning to improvise and make changes because of her diminutive stature is part of her drive to avenge her father. To then watch her need assistance to complete her goal rather undoes her agency as the lead protagonist in the movie.

In terms of the new additions to the Wick world, the idea of tribes is an interesting one and the sheer audacity of what rules The Chancellor’s tribe abide by is an impressive one. Gabriel Byrne is also a good fit to play someone lacking in morals and obsessed with dogma in the way that The Chancellor is. On the flipside the addition of Norman Reedus as a mystery character in the universe falls a little flat, although that might be because I consider him to just use his ridiculous hair cut as the sole identity to any character he plays. There are also some interesting world building efforts around Fate versus Choice which are intriguing and others about Eve being expelled from Eden that are rather heavy handed.

So as a Wick movie it certainly has pros and cons.

As an action vehicle for Ana de Armas though it is an incredible amount of fun. Her biggest career success to date has come in small roles in the likes of Blade Runner 2049 and No Time To Die so it is a joy to actually see her carry an action movie in a lead role. Alongside director Len Wiseman, most famous for the Underworld franchise that made Kate Beckinsale an action star they have created a really accomplished and inventive action film. Action sequences involving a pair of ice skates, a flamethrower and grenades are incredibly inventive and fun to watch, even if the latter seems to suggest that one of Eve’s superhero skills is having eardrums that are somehow impervious to explosions at close proximity.

Many will be drawn to watch the movie because of its links to John Wick. Hopefully as it comes to a close you will be thinking about how kick ass Ana de Armas is as an action lead and wondering how they might continue the story of Ballerina without the need to have Wick make an appearance.