Some Great Action Scenes Can’t Save This Dull John Wick Spin-Off

Finally, here is a movie that answers the question, “What would happen if two people fired flame throws?” At the “Ballerina” event, things get a very bumpy start that is going to an almost worrying boredom. And then suddenly “ballerina” finds its foundation and begins to release one delightful absurd location after another. Most importantly: whenever a movie relies on action, it’s an explosion. Whenever it slows down that the characters deliver a boring world building exhibition, it is an absolute slog that can put you into a coma. Perhaps all the activities are enough for some viewers, and I admit that there are several violent scenarios here that made me laugh at joy and appreciate their ingenuity. But God, anyone who surrounds these action scenes, is a real bet, man.

As marketing makes it clear, the “ballerina” is “John Wick” Franchising Spin-off (posters go so far as to give the film a very damaging title “John Wick: The Ballerina World”, even though this title never appears on the screen). Each trailer has placed Keanu Reeves in front of and in the middle of a monocylabic assassin, as if he was the main player of the story. To be honest, John Wick finally plays a bigger part in the film’s finals than I expected, but this is a bit more than a clarified Kameo. Still, I get why Reeves strikes the whole trailers: we love him.

“John Wick” films work for many reasons – action is great, making movies is stylish and exciting, and there is an increasingly complicated teaching that is wrapped. But let’s be honest: the biggest draw of these films is watching Keanu Reeves deadly people. We really don’t care about mythology – we care about watching Keanu Reeves in the middle of everything. This is a hypothesis that franchise has already been proven: in the end, when someone last talked about the Reevesless TV-SPP-off series “Continental”?? Did you even remember it existed? Probably not.

Although Reeves gets moments to shoot weapons in the “ballerina” movie, the film also tries to launch a new one with the new protagonist, Ana de Armas’ Eve Macarro, a new direction. According to his recognition, the attractive, charismatic performer de Armas is very capable of here: we buy him completely kicking a continuously loving shit from the series of anonymous screenwriters as he carries a bloody path through the movie. But “ballerina” is missing the opera, an almost mythical mess, which made Wick so memorable. Ironically, Reeves’s performance at the “Ballerina” event is a disturbance. John Wick’s story was so clear, so focused on his own films that it really makes no sense to be here. It seems highly unlikely that he would give a devil from the events in “ballerina”. Why don’t you let the new heroine Eve be in the spotlight in her own story? Probably because the story is not so interesting.

Like “John Wick”, “Ballerina” to use revenge on its trigger. When Eve was a child, her father was murdered by a mysterious man who Gabriel Byrne played. Orphans, Eve is taken ritual -loving salad murders known as Ruska Roma, and raised as part of a ballet school that teaches their students for both dance and Kill People (this organization in front of Anjelica Huston’s game was presented in “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” and “Ballerina” between the film and “John Wick: Chapter 4”). Eve grows into a highly educated assassin/bodyguard and seemingly forgotten for all of his father’s murder … until a random encounter shoots him again.

All of this progresses in the first hour of the movie, and it is so boring, show-heavy stuff that I found to immerse myself in my seat. Is this really What do you want to give us, the movie? This Drudgery? I’m sorry but I have bad characters like Ian McShanen continental owner Winston and Late, Great Lance Reddick The hotel’s Concierge Charonina appears little, but reminds us of other, better films. But not everything has disappeared, and as a “ballerina”, in the end, the excitement begins as it is Eve doing a series of (free) action scenes.

In one order, Eve fights the bad boys of the series who use only a series of hand grenades, and I have to admit: I have never seen it before in the action movie, and it is fun to watch (at some point he rubs a grenade into a poor friend’s mouth then to use metal doors to protect himself). The same moment when Eve and another character begin to crush dinner discs on each other’s head as they are in the middle of three Stooges skit (Stooges even get a movie cry). Action is really exciting (though I am wondering how much of it fired credited leader Len Wisemanand how much was created “John Wick” Franchise Film Filmen Chad Stahelski), but it really is not enough to keep a “baller” on the surface.

There are neat ideas here. Byrne’s character, called Chancellor, leads the whole city Full of assassiners who are part of the cult, and the idea of ​​cult for “John Wick” in a complex labyrinth in the world is potentially exciting. Unfortunately, the manuscript credited to Shay Hatten has no real interest in exploring who they are or what they want. Byrne is a wonderful actor and is properly miserable here, but he has not been given anything to work. He is mostly just around the complaint.

Eve, he’s a little weak, though de Armas tries his best to fix it. John Wick was a fascinating character because Reeves made him so Stoinen and mysterious. Sure, he sought a blood revenge on a cute dog murder, but he also struggled with sadness and decades of violence. We can feel the world’s weight pressure on Reeves. On the other hand, Eve is an empty slate. John Wick managed to feel complicated by saying very few words; Eve speaks more, but is quite one -dimensional. I fully believed that he was able to hit people, I just didn’t find him so compelling.

“Ballerina” makes a contradictory experience. Time again, I thought the movie had lost me-for a smart, fun and well-scattered period to arrive suddenly and kick my ass. The end result gave me a little whip: I went for not enjoying the movie in my life shared in seconds and then back to bored again.

In the end, everything started to use a little thin. I knowThey’re going to make a whole new movie with Reeves Although “John Wick: Chapter 4” felt like the perfect end of the character’s story), but “ballerina” suggests that only so far you can stretch this assumption before everything starts to grow.

It doesn’t help that making a movie is often smooth. “John Wick” movies, especially “John Wick: Chapter 4, are visual celebrations with shots that take my breath. The “ballerina” is surprisingly light to watch. Sure, it’s fun to watch a beautiful assassin Ana de Armas pick up a flame throw and burn some gigs crisp, but a movie containing such an exciting concept should not be forgetting.

/Movie rating: 5/10

“Balleri” will open in theaters on June 6, 2025.