'From the World of John Wick: Ballerina:' short and simple
As the second John Wick spin-off in the franchise following “The Continental” and the first spin-off film in the franchise, “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina” serves as a short and simple entry into the series.
Set during and after the events of “John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum” and before “John Wick: Chapter 4",” the film follows Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) seeking revenge against a secretive cult of assassins led by The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne) who killed her father as a child.
Like I said, very short and simple.
The film’s pacing follows suit as nothing feels like a drag for the 2 hour and 5 minute runtime. Every scene has a reason to be in the film…well, almost every scene.
See the film has a plot twist about halfway through that’s rather unnecessary and filled with pure exposition that follows up on one very brief piece of dialogue from the start of the film.
The twist isn’t even that good and is incredibly predictable as I caught on immediately.
Furthermore, if you take out all scenes related to the twist from the movie, the core plot doesn’t change at all as the twist lacks any weight to it.
Instead, I would’ve rather had John Wick’s (Keanu Reeves) role in the film be a complete surprise rather than plastering him all over the film’s promotional material.
Doing this would’ve made for a much stronger twist with genuine weight to the story, especially if he was removed from the earlier couple scenes in the movie.
Maybe he was everywhere in the marketing to ensure that people watched it, but what do I know? I’m just a guy who watches movies and writes about them afterwards.
As far as acting goes, it’s just kind of mid.
There are multiple returning actors from the John Wick franchise alongside de Armas, but I don’t feel like they bring anything new to the table that I haven’t seen before in their previous roles both inside and out of the franchise.
Contrasting this, Byrne’s acting is phenomenal and he truly feels like a classic calculating and well-equipped John Wick villain.
But let’s be honest, most of us aren’t watching John Wick films for the story or actors; we’re here for the action, which I’m very glad that “Ballerina” delivers on.
There are some insanely unique deaths in this movie that I genuinely don’t know how someone thinks of.
My favorite example is a fight in the third act where Eve fights against one of the cult members in a flamethrower duel.
Yes, a flamethrower duel. How do you even think of that? It’s genius.
These fight scenes are also well-choreographed and feature excellent cinematography alongside them filled with one takes and slow motion moments to allow the audience to fully take in what’s happening on screen.
In some fight scenes where there’s an impact like someone being punched, the camera also tends to get impacted as well to make those impacts feel more real.
“Ballerina” is a short and simple movie in every aspect from plot to acting, both of which are both just alright.
The action and cinematography easily carry the bulk of the movie, which allows for a fun watch that doesn’t get boring for the runtime with the exception of the plot twist about halfway through.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina — ★ ★ ★ ½
Release Date: June 6, 2025
Director: Len Wiseman
Runtime: 2hr 5m
Rating: R