The Action In Ballerina Is Very Different From John Wick, And It's Really Surprising Given The Plot

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7 hours ago

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SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains a few light spoilers from Ballerina. If you have not yet seen the John Wick spin-off, be wary of the consequences as you continue to read on.
I have said before that I believe the John Wick movies make up the greatest action franchise of all time. I am happy to say that, in my opinion, director Len Wiseman's new Ana de Armas-led spin-off, Ballerina, is anything but damaging to that reputation.
However, I must say that I was surprised by just how different the new 2025 movie is from the modern action movie classics that precede it. It is still a relentlessly action-packed revenge movie that even sees Keanu Reeves reprise his iconic role of the famed, troubled assassin, but what makes it stand out from the rest is the fighting style, which is not at all what I expected from it. Allow me to explain…
When describing the revolutionary action choreography of the John Wick movies, the first word that always comes to mind for me is 'balletic.' The eponymous anti-hero lives in a world full of warriors who deliver combat that, while brutal, somehow boasts a sense of picturesque grace and seemingly rehearsed elegance that would fit in a production of Swan Lake. I assumed I would see more of that in a spin-off called Ballerina, but I turned out to be wrong.
Ana de Armas' Eve Macarro starts training in the arts of both ballet and contract killing as a child, which had me convinced she would utilize her skills as a dancer while conducting 'business.' However, any sense of a balletic performance style starts and ends at the stage, because Eve fights in a way that I would describe as dirty, scrappy, and even clumsy. Yet, that is actually one of my favorite things about Ballerina.
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For as much as I adore the unique style of the action sequences in the central John Wick movies, I cannot say that I have ever found it particularly realistic. However, much to my surprise, I would call Ballerina the most realistic installment yet in terms of fight choreography… by comparison, at least.
The film follows Eve's rookie days as an assassin, so to see her prone to mistakes and lacking the same fluency in the field as experienced veterans like Wick is what keeps the story somewhat grounded and the character empathetically and refreshingly human. Plus, it gives her the opportunity to try out new, gloriously over-the-top tricks, such as flame-thrower duels, slicing people up with ice skate blades, and breaking plates over her adversaries' faces.
Echoing Eric Eisenberg's Ballerina review, I went into the film with relatively low expectations, considering how this is the fifth installment in a beloved franchise, and a spin-off at that. Luckily, while I would still rank it pretty low among its predecessors for some ridiculous plot twists and, to be frank, the ultimately unnecessary inclusion of Reeves as Wick, it still greatly exceeded those expectations by delivering some of the best action of the year so far.