Ballerina (dir. Len Wiseman)

by Jack Martin | Jun 7, 2025

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 125 mins

UK Distributor: Lionsgate

UK Release Date: 6 June 2025

WHO’S IN BALLERINA?

Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Norman Reedus, Ian McShane, Keanu Reeves, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Choi Soo-young, Catalina Sandino Moreno, David Castañeda

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Len Wiseman (director), Shay Hatten (writer), Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee and Chad Stahelski (producers), Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard (composers), Romain Lacourbas (cinematographer), Jason Ballantine (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A newly-trained assassin (de Armas) sets out to avenge a close death…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON BALLERINA?

And to think, the John Wick franchise once began life as a source of ridicule for its plot of a retired assassin going after the people that killed his dog. Now, it’s become one of the most popular action franchises of all time, in part thanks to its rich universe of sophisticated assassin hotel chains and killing people with everything from guns to swords to grenade launchers to even regular old books. So much so, in fact, that it’s now time for the series’ first feature spin-off with Ballerina, a film that against all odds manages to prop itself up nicely with what came before.

Said odds include the alleged fact that series director Chad Stahelski oversaw significant reshoots of the Len Wiseman-directed film to bring it more in line with the action-heavy storytelling of the previous John Wick movies, which more often than not means a death sentence for a movie whose original intentions were butchered by outside interference. In this case, though, the reshoots have significantly helped Ballerina in the end, for while it’s perhaps not as intricately layered as the other films in the series, it features some striking hard-knuckle action that reminds us all why this is one of today’s most influential action franchises.

The plot follows Eve (Ana de Armas), a trainee assassin who is taken under the wing of the Ruska Roma, a sect of ballerina assassins, after her father (David Castañeda) is brutally killed by a vicious cult and its leader, the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). After acquiring the lethal skills needed to fulfil her missions under the orders of her Director (Anjelica Huston), she soon goes rogue on a solo mission to locate the cult and kill its nefarious leader – a mission that eventually gets so far out of control that none other than John Wick himself (Keanu Reeves) is called in to sort the mess out.

For those wondering, in case they saw John Wick: Chapter 4 and are now wondering how on earth the Baba Yaga is there at all, Ballerina takes place somewhere between Chapters 3 and 4 of the original timeline, with some scenes from Chapter 3 even being shown entirely or from a different perspective. Other than that (as well as appearances from Ian McShane and the late Lance Reddick), this film operates as its own entity, one that certainly feels like it’s aesthetically part of the same universe, right down to the neon-drenched cinematography and visceral fighting styles, but at the same time doesn’t feel like it’s simply redoing story elements from previous films.

The script keeps things fairly well-paced, opting for a slightly repetitive rhythm of action followed by quieter dialogue scene followed by more action, while making the plot and characters fairly easy to understand without letting things become too complicated. It’s enough to keep you from constantly waiting until John Wick himself shows back up, for it sets up a good action hero, one whom Ana de Armas is more than capable of bringing to life, and a formidable villain in Gabriel Byrne’s sinister cultist for viewers to be entertained by, even if at times you’ll be eager for just a few more details about these characters and their motives than they actually give, which I can only guess is one of the remarkably few casualties of those reshoots.

Speaking of, it’s clear that the action is where the most major changes were made, which almost makes me wonder how much Wiseman screwed up with his original vision before his project was sequestered and reshaped into something that actually felt like a John Wick movie. But this is a rare case where the added action not only works well in service of the overall plot, as opposed to it just being there at the whim of studio executives, but is also genuinely great to watch.

There are plenty of sequences that of course feature all of that glorious stunt choreography we’ve come to expect from this franchise, as well as some nifty camerawork and sharp editing, but here there’s arguably a little more brutality than even the Baba Yaga could dish out, as de Armas’s Eve manages to off her opponents with guns, knives, grenades, dinner plates, TV remotes (which results in one of the film’s funniest gags) and, at one particularly awesome junction, the most awesome use of a flamethrower since the climax of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. All of it is executed with great care and precision, but most importantly is actually fun to watch, as you’ll be engaged with all this mayhem without feeling bored by any of it, once again thanks to how well the film is paced and executed, most likely by Stahelski because let’s be honest, could you really see the Underworld or Total Recall remake guy making an action movie like this that’s actually entertaining?

Even though it’s not as meticulous with its world-building as previous John Wick movies, Ballerina stands out as a fine example of this franchise working just well enough without its titular character. It’s clear that this universe is ripe with standalone stories, or even continuations of ones introduced in the main movies (on that note, Donnie Yen’s blind killer Caine is in line for his own spin-off at some point), meaning that there’s plenty of rich characters to work with that don’t require Keanu Reeves to drop in on occasion as a last-ditch effort to keep audiences from drifting in and out of attention.

As long as they maintain the stunt-heavy tenacity that has turned this franchise from a one-time joke to a serious contender for action movie royalty, and more importantly keep expanding this world with fresh characters and interesting narratives, at some point they won’t even need John Wick at all.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Ballerina is a solid spin-off of the John Wick franchise that, thanks to ultimately necessary reshoots, maintains the brutal stunt-heavy action of previous films while also giving viewers new(ish) characters and stories to follow along with, to where after a point it stands well enough on its own despite some of its lack of world-building.