It seems to have been in the works for years. There were delays and reshoots, but now Ballerina is here, and it is out in movie theaters this week. The reviews are out, and they are decent.
It is at 78% and climbing on Rotten Tomatoes, and the professional critics talk highly of Ana de Armas, her action chops, and also her sense of humor in the role. Criticism is around story.
Ballerina follows Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro, trained in the traditions of the Ruska Roma. She seeks revenge (of course!) against the people who killed her family. It stars Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, David Castaneda, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, and Norman Reedus.
John Wick mainstays Ian McShane, Keanu Reeves, and the late Lance Reddick all have cameo roles to varying degrees.
So what do the reviews say?
“It’s absurd, and thrilling, and gorgeous, and I don’t know what got us there, but while Ballerina doesn’t start off as a real John Wick movie, it sure ends as one.”
Alison Wilmore, Vulture
“I do have to admit that de Armas carries off the essential silliness of Ballerina and, after her performance as Paloma in No Time to Die opposite Daniel Craig’s 007, she proves again she can do action.”
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“The good news is that Ballerina has another place it wants to show us, and that place turns out to be a wonderful addition to this franchise’s ever-swelling cinematic universe.”
David Ehrlich, IndieWire
“As a vehicle to add more lore and nuance to the JWCU – while also delivering numerous fun action sequences – Ballerina functions well. Unfortunately, it fails to give its star a real character to play, or a substantial plotline to follow.”
Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
“De Armas is a magnetic presence with all the right moves, and Wiseman’s muscular direction make for mindless summer action entertainment with a lot of style.”
David Rooney, THR
“The fight scenes are all Ballerina has going for it, but they’re frequent, varied, and clever enough to make watching the film a worthy summer pastime.”
Alonso Duralde, The Film Verdict
“Ballerina is a cluttered mess with a boring storyline but the action is often amazing, and there’s a genuine sense of humor to all its weird duels to the death. That’s something that’s been absent from the self-serious John Wick movies for far too long.”
William Bibbiani, The Wrap
“Ana de Armas has already proven her onscreen ass-kicking bona fides, but the movie merely gives her a lot of the same rinse-repeat emotional beats in between respectively receiving and dishing out beatings.”
David Fear, Rolling Stone
Ballerina: From the World of John Wick will open in cinemas on June 6th.
