STARRING: ANA DE ARMAS, KEANU REAVES, LANCE REDDICK, NORMAN REEDUS, ANJELICA HUSTON, IAN MCSHANE
DIRECTED BY: LEN WISEMAN
RELEASE DATE: JUNE 6, 2025
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is an action thriller directed by Len Wiseman and written by Shay Hatten. It is a spin-off of the John Wick franchise taking place in between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and Chapter 4 (2023). The film was released by Lionsgate a year after it was originally scheduled to and grossed $132.7 million worldwide on a $90 million production budget.
The film follows Eve (Ana de Armas), a ballerina trained by the Ruska Roma assassin organization, as she hunts down the people responsible for the murder of her father. This leads to her confronting the antagonist of the film and his deadly group of killers. John Wick has an interestingly small role in the film to help Eve out.
I think they did this movie really well as it gave me the feeling of a John Wick movie without making it all about Wick. The women empowerment idea was very interesting. The writers played it off as more of a “you can’t be weak in the real world” type of mentality instead of what movies usually do and that’s make it all about women. There was a contrast between the softness of a ballerina and the roughness of an assassin which forced Eve to learn to play to her strengths as a woman. I also liked how they didn’t really make this movie all about John Wick, but left him more as a side character that helps Eve out which leaves the movie all about Eve herself. All in all, this was a great movie, and I can’t wait to see where the John Wick franchise takes us next.
Ballerina received 75 percent from Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.9/10 from IMDb and I would disagree. I think the rating is lower because they were expecting John Wick to be more tied into the film and be more a part of it, but I like the idea that it’s Eve’s own movie with room to expand.
