The storyline in Ballerina? Meh, who cares. Seriously, who cares. It’s fun, I had a good time with it, and it’s a movie that absolutely needs to be given an opportunity. You need to see it on the big screen.
Ballerina takes us into the world of John Wick once more, and I’m so excited to talk about it. This is the non-spoiler review, so everything I get into here is stuff you’ve already seen in the trailers.
A Simple Story, the Way Avatar Is a Simple Story
Ana de Armas does an amazing job of assuming the role that was vacated by one Keanu Reeves. By that I mean she’s the star, the protagonist of this thing.
It’s a very simple storyline. But I’d argue it’s a simple storyline the same way James Cameron’s Avatar movies are a simple storyline. Very simple. It’s colonization, it’s whatever else, the same thing. So this is girl wants revenge. Girl goes on a killing spree to avenge her family. Pretty cut and dry.
Well, it’s not avenging the death of your dog, but it’s definitely a story we’ve seen. I get it. All stories on some level are the same story we’ve seen. What matters is whether this take is unique enough, and if it is, what makes it that.
The Lord’s Work
Chad Stahelski and the crew over there in the John Wick-a-verse are doing the Lord’s work. By that I mean they clearly understand what it takes to motivate fans and keep them interested in watching these again and again and again and again.
The choreography is amazing. Hands down. So, weak story, choreography amazing. You see some really unique things.
How Not to Make a Mary Sue
What’s great is this is the kind of movie that really illustrates how not to make a female character a Mary Sue. She takes bumps, bruises, gets her head knocked around. She falls. She takes her lumps. She doesn’t pass everything with flying colors. There are a lot of bumps and bruises that happen on her journey to becoming the character she is.
In the very beginning she deals with some stuff with her family, and it’s in the trailers and whatnot.
Winston Shows Up
I do love the fact that Ian McShane is the character that shows up to have a word with her and sort of help her on her way. The character of Winston is so much fun for me. Ever since the scene in one of the later John Wick movies where he’s like, “Oh, Jonathan, have fun out there,” I was like, oh my god, I love him so much.
And then of course seeing him in The Continental, which by the way is the original spin-off to this whole thing. Well worth watching. The Continental on Peacock, I loved it. My reviews of it are on the channel if you want to check some of that out.
But yeah, man, I loved everything they were doing in this. I thought they really did a wonderful job.
The Verdict
Ballerina is a solid 8 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index for me, for this movie, this episode in the world of John Wick.
“Improvise. Adapt. Cheat.”
Ana de Armas steps up to the plate in a big bad way. I like her. I like what she does, and when it comes to doing it, she does it well. All the things you see in the trailer are just a small drop in the bucket of what this whole thing is.
I’m going to get into all the nitty-gritty of who the characters and players and everything else are in the full spoiler discussion with Mrs. Know-It-All. I can’t wait to talk more about this one.
I’d absolutely love to hear what you guys think. Was the story enough for you, or did the choreography have to carry it? The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.
