Ballerina is a Bloody Dance of Grace and Gunfire

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

★ ★ ★ ½

Ballerina is a spinoff from the ridiculously popular John Wick film series and sits squarely between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4. The franchise is known for logic-defying action sequences that earn your suspension of disbelief with jaw-dropping choreography. The plots are pretty simple and straightforward, but the stories are very well told.

This film carries on the tradition of ludicrous action with a new heroine, who dances to her own brutal rhythm. Eve (Victoria Comte) is a young girl when her father, Javier (David Castañeda) is murdered after putting up a valiant fight against mercenaries who attack their home. Their boss is The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne), the elected leader of an assassination cult that’s been around for hundreds of years. Eve’s mother was once part of this cult. She fell in love with Javier, a member of a rival organization, and together they left their violent lives behind to raise Eve in peace. But after her mother dies of illness, Javier’s past catches up with them — and Eve witnesses his murder.

Ana de Armas as Eve
© 2025 Lionsgate

Now an orphan, Eve sits alone on a bench at a police precinct until a familiar series character, Winston (Ian McShane) joins her and offers his condolences. Winston is the owner and manager of the Continental Hotel in New York. It functions as neutral territory and a safe haven for contract killers and the upper echelon of the criminal underworld. Winston arranges for Eve to live with Javier’s extended family, where she will grow into a weapon of vengeance.

Twelve years later, Eve (Ana de Armas) has become an adult. She trained strenuously in the art of ballet dancing and became a weapons and hand-to-hand combat expert. For the first time in the series, we get a real glimpse of the regimen John Wick and his assassins go through. Much to the film’s credit, and at a minor sacrifice to the film’s pacing, the script doesn’t make it easy on her. We don’t get a glossed over, glamorous treatment as she becomes an assassin. She’s put through the paces and it works to develop her character and lend plausibility to her status as an elite killer.

Like Bond in Casino Royale, Eve’s first mission is messy, brutal and thrillingly imperfect.

Lance Reddick, Ana de Armas and Ian McShane
© 2025 Lionsgate

Just before her first mission, there’s a pivotal moment for Eve. It’s a rare emotional beat in a franchise known for extreme violence with reckless abandon: Wick, a man who lost everything to revenge, tells her she can still walk away. It echoes back to his own origin and offers the film something deeper beneath the bullets.

Fortunately for us, and the film’s body count, Eve continues on her mission. She joined this life to find her father’s killer and get revenge. As astute moviegoers, we know she won’t be able to walk away in the end, begging the question: what’s the true price of revenge?

It’s a lifelong commitment.

Ian McShane as Winston and Ana de Armas as Eve
© 2025 Lionsgate

Ballerina is your basic revenge tale told well. It delivers brutal, bone-breaking martial arts and some of the best action choreography since Wick himself. The close range gunplay has been dubbed “gun fu” because of its impressive choreography and ultra-unrealistic magnificence. I know it’s ridiculous, and I don’t care, because it’s so damned fun to watch.

A well-made film like this can pull off a flame thrower battle. It’s totally ridiculous, over-the-top and fits right in with the rest of the action without completely overstepping its modicum of believability.

If the John Wick universe is a cathedral of vengeance, Ballerina carves out a chapel of its own — brutal, bloody and beautiful.