The Peanut Gallery Reviews Ballerina

Steve Titcomb
Jun 9
3 min read

Updated: Jun 25

Ana de Armas kills it in ***Ballerina*, a vicious action film built for the big screen.**

Ana de Armas (Knives Out) excels in anything. Ballerina is not her first sojourn into the action field, but by far her deadliest performance to date. To paraphrase Al Pacino from Scent of a Women, she took a flamethrower to the place and lit up the screen.

A Welcome Addition

Violence galore, gruesome fight scenes, Ballerina is a well-added piece to the John Wick universe, even if the timeline doesn’t quite add up. Keanu Reeves (John Wick) returns for a short time and is every bit the badass he usually is. Norman Reedus (Boondock Saints) is in the movie too briefly for my liking, but his story parallels de Armas’s Eve character, and as a fan, I’m always happy to see him in a major project.

Starting Fast

Right from the jump Ballerina puts you into the thick of the action. No beating around the bush, very little dialogue, just a whole lot of carnage in this beautiful seaside mansion. Ian McShane (Deadwood) returns as Winston and is the bridge the film uses to get de Armas's Eve from a young orphaned child to a member of the deadly Ruska Roma that we met in earlier John Wick films. A montage of sorts details the training Eve went through to be able to survive in that world. The story embraces the fact that she is smaller and weaker than a lot of the other assassins in her line of work and what she has to do to overcome that disadvantage.

Minor Story Issues

The Ballerina story moves quickly from young orphan, to assassin-in-training, to a fully-qualified assassin seeking revenge for her father's death. Not as emotionally impactful as a dead dog, but having your father die in front of you is a good second-tier motive to drive the plot along. The locations are amazing and the wintery villa that the final third of the film takes place in looks like an ideal place to take a vacation...if not for the fact that everyone there is a trained killer. Gabriel Byrne (Stigmata) as the villainous Chancellor doesn't hold a lot of weight plot-wise. He wants his granddaughters back in the village to be raised, but then he is willing to kill a few of them when things don't go his way. de Armas's Eve has every reason to want her revenge, but getting to that point is a weak spot in the story.

John Wick

John Wick himself is not really needed for Ballerina at all, other than it takes place in his cinematic universe. His role is brief, but there is a reason he is feared and known as the dreaded Baba Yaga, as even this village full of trained killers is wary of crossing him.

Ballerina is Killer

The movie steps on the gas from the get-go and is an enjoyable ride. If action and violence are what you are looking for, then Ballerina is a movie for you. The climactic battle at the end goes on for a bit too long and comes across as somewhat repetitive, but overall, this is an excellent addition to the John Wick franchise. Ana de Armas is beautiful and deadly and this is just a fun movie to see. Highly recommend you see Ballerina on the big screen.