I have never quite understood the adoration of the John Wick film series, but they have been hugely successful. In an attempt to boost the box office appeal of this spin off, it was given the clumsy full title of From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, despite Keanu Reeves only making a brief appearance, and is set between the events of the third and fourth John Wick titles. Instead, the main star is Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro, the titular ballerina. To avenge her father’s death, she begins to train in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma.
Director Len Wiseman knows how to stage a close quarters fight scene but there is nothing else to recommend. The chief culprits are writers Shay Hatten and Derek Kolstad. Their exposition heavy dialogue is awful. For example, the old ‘pissing out of a tent’ line is delivered with great import as if it was something new. Their plotting is little better as exemplified by the oh so original idea of having the first big fight in a trendy nightclub.
Armas does the best she can in the circumstances amongst a plethora of seasoned pros holding their nose and taking the paycheque. Special mention goes to Anjelica Huston who is terrible as The Director.
Boring, tired and pretty stupid, I am definitely out for future instalments in the franchise.
Rating: 3 out of 10