Movie Review: BALLERINA

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: June 6th, 2025 / 01:00 AM

BALLERINA movie poster | ©2025 Lionsgate

Rating: R
Stars: Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Norman Reedus, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ava Joyce McCarthy, Juliet Doherty, Sharon Duncan-Brewster
Writer: Shay Hatten, based on characters created by Derek Kolstad
Director: Len Wiseman
Distributor: Lionsgate
Release Date: June 6, 2025

“From the world of John Wick” is featured prominently in the advertising for BALLERINA. Since Keanu Reeves is listed in the cast, one might first assume this phrase simply indicates that Reeves will show up as John Wick, which he does.

However, this turns out to mean something more. Whether we’ve contemplated it before or not, the JOHN WICK franchise has a mythos, look and atmosphere almost as distinct as that of, say, STAR WARS. We don’t need Reeves in the frame to recognize the dark, lush interiors that suggest great wealth and tradition over a long period of time, or the ferocious, intricate fights. In terms of the ways in which all of the elements combine, this is indeed its own world.

BALLERINA is set temporally between JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM and JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4. This corner of the world of John Wick revolves around Eve (Ana de Arnas). As a child (Victoria Comte), Eve sees her father murdered at the behest of the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). It seems that Eve was born into the Chancellor’s clan (related on her mother’s side), and the Chancellor is furious that her father removed the little girl.

When young Eve escapes the destruction of her home, she is soon located by Winston (Ian McShane), manager of the New York Continental Hotel. He persuades the little girl to let him take her to her father’s people, who are the Russian assassins of John Wick’s family.

The Director (Anjelica Huston) runs a ballet school that is also a training ground for youthful killers. Eve is better at shooting and fighting than she is at dancing, and as an adult, she is determined to avenge her father’s death.

For a while, Shay Hatten’s script, based on characters created by Derek Kolstad, gives Eve’s trajectory time to breathe. We wonder where all this is going. But soon enough, other parts of the world of John Wick come to the foreground.

These include Eve’s vendetta, a protagonist angering their bosses/associates, and eventually massive all-out warfare.

The combat sequences outweigh the plot by a hefty measure, so those who want to see lengthy, meticulously choreographed battles – Stephen Dunlevy is credited as the supervising stunt coordinator, with Jayson Dumenigo as the fire specialist stunt coordinator – ranging from the one-on-one to the one-on-100 will be highly gratified. Director Len Wiseman keeps everything moving nimbly along, so that if people do stop to talk, we sense we won’t have time to get restless – another combustible clash will be coming right up.

Those who want more nuanced story development won’t get it. There is a notable logic glitch that comes near the start. If Winston, who is far more dispassionate about all this, can locate little Eve with such ease, it seems like the much more invested Chancellor ought to be able to do the same.

Given how sure the Chancellor is that Eve belongs to his people and his determination to get her back, and the Chancellor’s and the Director’s awareness of each other, how is it that the Chancellor doesn’t figure out where Eve is and demand that the Director hand her over immediately?

There is also a bigger meta question that we will presumably see resolved one way or another through subsequent projects, which is exactly how much actual John Wick does something in the world of John Wick require? BALLERINA doesn’t seem keen to test this overmuch, so we do eventually get plenty of Reeves.

De Armas convinces as the soul-torn, physically redoubtable Eve and Reeves is reliably in character as Wick. Huston appears to be having fun as the Director, and Byrne is suitably commanding as the Chancellor. McShane is at his most charming as Winston. Catalina Sandino Moreno and Norman Reedus both show up and do well in important roles.

While it is a joy to see Lance Reddick back as Charon, it also prompts a bit of “wait, what?” for those who know that the actor sadly passed away in 2023, before the release of JOHN WICK 4. It turns out that his scenes for BALLERINA were shot several years ago (rather than via some sort of CGI resurrection).

BALLERINA overall offers most of the pleasures of the John Wick universe, but since one of those continues to be the presence of John Wick himself, it remains to be seen how the world will fare without him (if it ever does).

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