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‘From the World of John Wick: Ballerina' movie review: Ana de Armas slays & kills like a boss in Len Wiseman's bloody-entertaining spin-off
Cast: Ana de Armas, Gabriel Byrne, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, Anjelica Huston, Lance Reddick (in his final screen appearance), Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves
Director: Len Wiseman
A sidequel to Keanu Reeves' John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Ana de Armas starrer From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is set before the events of John Wick: Chapter 4.
'Fight like a girl,' says Eve Macarro's (Ana de Armas) trainer Nogi (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) to her. This iconic advice turns out to be one of the highlights, as she suggests that Eve might not necessarily match the physical strength of men, so she should adapt her combat style while retaining her feminine essence.
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Ballerina begins with the young Eve (played by Victoria Comte) watching her father getting killed by Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne), the leader of the dark warrior cult and his fighters. Winston Scott (Ian McShane), who makes a comeback as John Wick's mentor, turns saviour for Eve and gives her responsibility to the Director (Anjelica Huston), the mastermind behind Ruska Roma with an iron hand, which stages fight training like ballet.
While Ruska Roma and the Chancellor's cult have been following a centuries-long pact to steer clear of each other, Eve upsets the apple cart of that accord as she now decides to take revenge for her father's murder after she kills a henchman with a tell-tale X branded into his wrist.
While the wafer-thin plot looks nothing new, rather reminds you of a typical Bollywood movie, once again it is the action aspect, which sets Ballerina apart from others.
Len Wiseman takes you on an action-packed ride where Ana fires pistols and machine guns, breaks limbs, gouges eyeballs, smashes throats and slashes her enemies with a samurai sword. During her stint in No Time to Die, we saw her finesse in doing action sequences but in Ballerina, the actress goes all out. The scenes where she uses ice skates and nunchucks to fight along with killing people by detonating multiple grenades are beautifully choreographed with her duel flame-throwers battle sequence turning out to be one of the highlights.
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Talking about the performance, Ana de Armas has carried the project on her abled shoulders like a boss. Right from performing high-octane stunts and action pieces to portraying emotional pain through her eyes and expressions, the actress has delivered a superb act. It was a treat to watch our very own John Wick aka Keanu Reeves who is enjoying performing some of his trademark action sequences and making fans cheer with his onscreen charisma.
Despite following the route of John Wick, Ballerina stands apart as a spin-off with its ever-expansion of a thrilling world.
Rating: 3.5 (out of 5 stars)
'From the World of John Wick: Ballerina' is playing in cinemas
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