Ballerina is a grand new entry to the John Wick franchise. A ferocious Ana de Armas performance and expansion of the John Wick universe overcome a thin story and weak central antagonist, setting up a world of possibilities for the franchise.
Ballerina Overview
Ballerina is a surprisingly effective continuation. De Armas’s fierce performance and relentless action rival some of the best moments in the John Wick franchise. While it doesn’t quite earn top-tier Continental status, it delivers a thrilling ride.
De Armas proves herself more than capable as a central action lead. She matches the physical intensity and emotional grit that define the franchise’s tone. If Keanu Reeves is the king of the John Wick universe, de Armas makes a strong case for its queen—and a compelling future torchbearer.
Director Len Wiseman delivers his best work since Underworld (2003). The action is electric and imaginative—you’ll never look at grenades, ice skates or flamethrowers the same way again.
Ballerina stumbles in its emotional setup and storytelling. The backstory of Eve Macarro (de Armas), who witnesses her father’s murder as a child and trains with the Ruska Roma to seek vengeance, aims for John Wick-level pathos but never quite connects. The early scenes lack emotional weight, and the training sequences feel more obligatory than compelling. Fortunately, once Eve steps into the New York Continental and engages with familiar faces like Winston (Ian McShane), the film kicks into high gear and rarely slows down.
The creators handle the franchise’s lore expansion with care. They use John Wick as more than just a cameo. Reeves brings gravitas to his scenes, and his chemistry with de Armas adds a welcome layer of intrigue and continuity.
Ultimately, Ballerina is a stylish and entertaining addition to the franchise. It stands as the third-best entry, just ahead of John Wick: Chapter 2, and a promising sign of where the universe could go next.
The John Wick films are available to stream on Peacock.
More than a Ballerina
Ballerina stumbles out of the gate with a familiar setup. Echoing John Wick’s reawakening in the original film, a group of highly trained assassins descends on Eve’s secluded home, where she’s been hiding with her father. These attackers belong to a cult-like order determined to reclaim both Eve and her father, former members who broke away. Though her father fights valiantly, he ultimately succumbs to his injuries.
Before he dies, the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne) arrives, delivering cryptic, Mission: Impossible-like musings on fate and inevitability. Soon after, Winston appears and takes the now-orphaned Eve to the Ruska Roma — the same mysterious syndicate that once gave John Wick a second chance in Parabellum. There, under the stern eye of the Director (Anjelica Huston), Eve is trained in the deadly arts.
Years later, Eve is ambushed by an assassin bearing a familiar insignia, triggering a hunt for answers. Her investigation uncovers unsettling echoes of her past: another defector, Daniel Pine (Norman Reedus), is being hunted by the same cult after escaping with his daughter. When Pine is gravely wounded, Eve takes it upon herself to find the girl. Along the way, she unearths a long-buried family secret involving a sister she thought was dead
The revenge plot is competent enough to keep the narrative moving. However, the family twist lacks impact, mainly because it’s introduced too late and resolved too quickly for the emotional weight to land. It’s a missed opportunity in an otherwise solidly choreographed tale of vengeance.
Town of Assassins
In a clever expansion of John Wick lore, Ballerina takes Eve beyond the typical underworld fare into something more surreal — a remote mountain town, seemingly quiet under a blanket of snow, that’s populated entirely by assassins. This isn’t just another safe house or hideout — it’s a fully functioning community under the iron rule of the Chancellor.
As soon as Eve arrives, the town mobilizes against her. Everyone from barkeeps to bystanders becomes a threat, turning the city into a deadly trap. However, the biggest betrayal comes not from her enemies, but from within her ranks. The Director of the Ruska Roma, once her mentor, reveals she’s made a non-aggression pact with the Chancellor: they’ve agreed to leave each other’s affairs alone.
When Eve refuses to back down, the Director enforces that pact in the most brutal way possible — by unleashing another of her former students, someone with a personal connection to Eve, to eliminate her.
The Baba Yaga
Ballerina achieves something impressive: it restores the mythos of John Wick, reestablishing him as the feared “boogeyman” first hinted at in the original film. Without delving too deeply into his role in the plot, let’s say Wick’s presence here is far from a cameo. He plays a significant part in the narrative.
The fight between Wick and Eve isn’t a balanced showdown, and that’s to the film’s credit. It would have been tempting for Wiseman, Stahelski, and writer Shay Hatten to present Eve as Wick’s equal, simply because she’s the lead. But they resist that urge. While Eve holds her own, Wick dominates most of the pivotal moments. This dynamic smartly underscores Eve’s potential while making it clear she hasn’t reached the top tier just yet. It’s a subtle but effective reminder that in this brutal world of assassins, there’s always another level to climb.
Eventually, as both characters come to terms with the consequences of their actions, they call a truce — or at least, appear to. The tension lingers, keeping the door open for what might come next.
Ballerina Final Thoughts
Ballerina doesn’t reinvent the John Wick formula, but it doesn’t have to. It sharpens it by bringing a fresh face, new environments, and inventive action into a universe that thrives on style, myth, and brutal efficiency.
Though the film falters in its emotional groundwork and leans on a thin antagonist, it compensates with dynamic set pieces, smart lore-building, and a firm grasp of what makes this world compelling.
Ballerina proves there is plenty of life in this universe beyond the John Wick character.
Ballerina
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Great - 8/108/10
