With four increasingly successful films it’s little wonder that there’s now a first spin off film this time with female assassin Eve (Ana de Armas) the ballerina of the title. And of course it has the origin story with Eve indoctrinated as a child into a world of violent killing when a cabal of killers led by the Chancellor, a dead eyed automaton oblivious to the havoc wreaked by decisions with fatal consequences. Surprisingly it’s not Richard II tribute act Rebecca Reeves but Gabriel Byrne who has his men ploughing headlong through a house for Eve’s father who sees them off whilst doing his best to protect his daughter.
Now orphaned it’s Winston Scott (Ian McShane)- whose unorthodox approach to parenting doesn’t see her adopted into a loving family but instead has her cared for by the indeterminately East European accented The Director (Angelica Huston looking increasingly like her alter ego incarnation in The Witches) who runs the Ruska Roma a ballet school with an emphasis on lethal fighting skills as it does on a perfect pirouette. Tattooed and 12 years later she’s a lethal weapon sent on various assignments but what she really wants is, of course, to avenge the death of her father and to that end she finds herself in a snow laden village where an army of the Chancellors assassins hunt her down in a manner nor dissimilar if they found out that house hunting in the area was Meghan Markle.
Helming the murderous mayhem is Len Wiseman whose Die Hard 4 is underrated ( that police car v helicopter remains one of cinemas great car stunts ) but the influence of John Wick director and former stuntman Chad Stahelski is clear with set pieces that take in anything that comes to hand including kitchen utensils, ice skates, samurai swords and culminating in a flame thrower v flame thrower face off that sees anyone in its path looking like the first day of a British tourist in Magaluf. Ballerina does take a while to hit its stride but when it does it does so with aplomb. Fitting between John Wick 3 and 4 it does also see Keanu Reeves putting in an appearance but Ballerina is very much Ana de Armas film proving that that her role in No Time to Die was no one off with this film upping the action in ferocious style. One character asks, ‘Don’t you think we’ve had enough?’ After four John Wick films and now this first spin off the answer is, No.
related feature : Scott Adkins on his insane transformation & fight scenes as Killa in John Wick 4!
related feature : ‘Havoc’ director Gareth Evans & stunt man Jude Poyer talk stunts, Tom Hardy and ‘How to’… advice
Here’s the Ballerina trailer…….
