FILM REVIEW
BALLERIINA
Rated R
125 Minutes
Released June 6th
I’m happy to see the contrast in the style of movies playing this summer. Last week, I saw The Phoenician Scheme, directed by Wes Anderson, a movie in which every detail is perfectly composed. This week’s film, technically called From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, is as unconstrained as its name, gloriously messy and out-of-control. The theme of this movie is vengeance, and its passionate seething anger is channeled into a human fighter package that is totally against type.
Petite Ana de Armas is an unlikely hero as “Eve,” taking on a “Liam Neeson” type role driven by pure retribution. De Armas has the ability to conjure up an immense anger. Being petite, one of Eve’s trainers suggests that she should be creative in her choice of weapons, so she often picks up everyday objects to utilize with lethal force. She is also told that she must overcome her size by fighting “like a girl” (read cheating) and that she does. The film moves non-stop, and the fight choreography is sometimes complex, always dynamic, and moves like a well-staged fierce ballet fueled by intense anger. The editing is precise and rhythmic. A location later in the film of a serene, snowy Alpine village contrasts beautifully with the terror being unleashed by its unlikely inhabitants, a team of deadly assassins.
When I first saw her in Knives Out as “Marta,” I knew there was something special about de Armas. Even with relatively little screen time compared to the other characters, she stood out. She has an intensity with a hint of glee that is disarming and effective, one of the finest actors working today. Her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in the biopic Blonde (2022) was uncanny. In Ballerina, de Armas plays the role of a woman who, as a child, witnessed her father’s death at the hands of evil players.
Director Len Wiseman chose to open the film with this scene, and it establishes her overwhelming grief and vengeance in such a way that you can sympathize with her anger. De Armas said that she drew on her own real pain to add intensity to her performance. Wiseman remarked that she not only remembers complex fight choreography, but she also never stops acting during the fights. She followed Keanu Reeves’ example by performing her own stunts whenever possible, and she completely engaged in the fight training.
She spent four months of intensive preparation in ballet, hand-to-hand combat, and weaponry, the same type of training that Reeves went through to play “John Wick.” In her life, she has been as determined and fierce as her role here. She was born in Cuba and moved to Spain when she was 19, starring in a TV series there. A few years later, she moved to Los Angeles without knowing any English to further her career. At first, when she went to auditions, she had no idea what her character was saying. She taught herself English in two years by watching American TV, her favorite show being Friends.
De Armas is surrounded by a cast of legends reprising their roles in the John Wick franchise, Ian McShane is “Winston,” Anjelica Huston as “The Director,” and Gabriel Byrne as “The Chancellor.” Two young actors, Victoria Comte as “Young Eve” and Ava Joyce McCarthy as “Ella,” are excellent. Reeves makes a cameo as John Wick. This is Lance Reddick’s final appearance on film, in his role as “Charon, the Continental Hotel Manager,” before he passed away in 2023.
Wiseman saw Die Hard at the age of 15 and made his own version of the movie on his home video camera. He began his career in the art department for Godzilla, Men in Black, and Independence Day. Then he began directing commercials for brands including PlayStation, Time Warner, Oracle, Intel, and Activision, later moving on to music videos. Twenty years after he made his home movie version of Die Hard, he was selected in 2007 to direct the real sequel, Live Free or Die Hard. Following that, Wiseman directed a successful vampire franchise called Underworld
Chad Stahelski is a stunt performer turned director who directed all four of the John Wick films. He is a producer on Ballerina. He says that he and Reeves developed the character of John Wick and the franchise as a love letter to ‘70’s action films and to martial arts.” Ballerina is a perfect continuation of this love letter. He noted that they were very lucky to find de Armas because of the “the enthusiasm and punch she has.”
Wiseman and Stahelski have gone full circle in their professional relationships. In 2006, Wiseman directed an uncredited role of “FBI Agent,” played by then stuntman Stahelski, in Live Free or Die Hard. Thirteen years later, Wiseman met with Stahelski to discuss the task of directing Ballerina, a spin-off of the wildly successful John Wick franchise Stahelski created and directed. Stahelski immediately endorsed Wiseman to direct Ballerina. The entertainment industry is built on relationships in that way.
The audience at my screening cheered every time Eve defeated an assassin. As in the John Wick movies, the story is not the driver of the franchise, nor is the fighting – it’s the character at the center of the story.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com
