From the World of John Wick: Ballerina Review
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025) Film Review, a movie directed by Len Wiseman, written by Shay Hatten and Derek Kolstad and starring Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Gabriel Byrne, Anjelica Huston, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ava Joyce McCarthy, Juliet Doherty, Norman Reedus, Lance Reddick, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, David Castaneda, Victoria Comte, Robert Maaser, Sooyoung Choi, Jung Doo-hong, Anne Parillaud and Marc Cram.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is a top-notch, action-packed thriller centered on a female named Eve (Ana de Armas) who must take matters into her own hands in the name of survival. This movie is spun from the world of John Wick as the title so eloquently puts it, but the movie is in a whole different category than the enjoyable John Wick films mostly because it is centered around a female lead and makes the viewer root for a character who may have been just a supporting player in a different type of action picture. This film feels like it’s breaking new ground and is truly a joy to watch. Directed by Len Wiseman and excellently edited with precision, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina doesn’t let up. It’s relentless and flat-out entertaining.
Wiseman’s film starts out with the character of Eve as a young girl, played by the nearly perfect Victoria Comte. With a miniature ballerina by her side, she watches as her father dies fighting for their survival. Gabriel Byrne has never been better than he is here playing the central villain of the piece, The Chancellor. This character puts one bullet in a gun and offers Eve’s dad the option to kill himself in order to ensure Eve’s safety. All hell breaks loose as the dad fights back and Eve escapes after her father is killed. Eve is taken in by a special family. Angelica Huston’s “The Director” can use her ballerina skills in the productions she puts on, but Eve (now played by Ana de Armas)’s feet aren’t doing so well as she struggles to do the requisite dance moves. Eve’s best friend, Tatiana (Juliet Doherty) soon disappears prompting Eve to wonder what life will be like in the gloomy world she finds herself immersed in.
By now, it has become known that Keanu Reeves reprises his role as John Wick in this new film which takes place sometime around the period in which the third John Wick film was set. Reeves is exquisite in his supporting role in the new picture. Eve asks John how to become like him, but he thinks she’s already come a long way as she fights back against those who threaten to jeopardize her existence. She may not need Wick’s help as much as she thinks she does. Also in the film is the always incredible Norman Reedus’s Daniel Pine and a kid, Ella (Ava Joyce McCarthy). Ella is paralleled to Eve as she, too, finds herself in a very dark and gloomy situation as the film’s story line progresses. There’s also a “sister” of Eve who is featured here and I won’t dare reveal too much regarding that particular plot thread although it’s safe to say Eve will be fighting tooth and nail to preserve her integrity and her life as the story moves forward.
This film has a lot of explosions and things blow up on a pretty frequent basis. There is a piece de resistance which is a scene where two characters go at it against each other with flame throwers. Eve must eventually put her flame thrower down to fight the bad guy’s fire with a lot of fierce water which makes for some intense and superlative action within the picture. This movie’s director knows action sequences like the back of his hand and this film has skillful scenes of fighting with Eve versus the baddies and by the time Eve is setting everyone on fire at one point, the tension levels rise to the point that this movie becomes not only a thriller, but an action-packed extravaganza with some of the best sequences of this kind that I’ve seen in any film, period.
Ana de Armas is nothing short of terrific. Her layered and emotional character has fought to survive over the years and, surprisingly, finds in John Wick a potential ally who can possibly help her escape the wrath of the wicked The Chancellor. Any good film like this will feature a showdown or two between good and evil and it’s to the movie’s credit that Byrne’s villain is easy to hate. This role is one of Byrne’s best, but his acting in the new film is strong enough to keep audiences rooting for Eve to get vengeance upon him as quickly as possible. While the movie makes almost every character a heavy one, de Armas has the action heroine she plays down pat and audiences will cheer her on as she gets her revenge against those who threaten her survival.
It is impressive that Keanu Reeves gets as much screen time as he does although some may call it a glorified cameo. Reeves is clearly supporting de Armas in this franchise which should be a lucrative one considering the quality of both the action and the film-making. A John Wick movie is always going to be good, but one with a determined and powerful performance by de Armas going for it is even better.
This film uses Eve’s dream to become a ballerina as a motif in the picture, suggesting that she may not have what it takes to be the best dancer in the world but she can dance in life by taking out pretty much every villain who crosses her path. Set against the backdrop of snowy action scenes, flashy ones and fiery sequences that will thrill viewers, this movie never comes up for air. It’s hard to find flaws with this movie when the action is this tightly edited and exciting to behold.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is, simply put, a great time at the movies for action fans. Perhaps, the picture is too dark for its own good at times, but you’ll be so immersed in the stylized violence that occurs on-screen that you will simply give in to the tone the movie sets and enjoy the roller coaster ride the film provides. Ana de Armas is a wonderful actress when given the right material. She made some clinkers, but this is a role she just may be reprising in the not-too-distant future. It is de Armas’s ballerina character that is the right role at the right time for the actress and the world we live in right now. We need a heroine like this to prove that persistence and determination pays off when fighting against unfavorable odds. This could be the best John Wick movie yet as Wick passes the torch to Eve in the best interests of the exciting franchise.
Rating: 8.5/10
Leave your thoughts on this From the World of John Wick: Ballerina review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Mobile App, Google News, Feedly, Twitter, Faceboo