Action-Adventure Ana de Armas to lead John Wick spin-off 'Ballerina'

[Milk Tray Guy]

Yes, Ana isn't the BEST dramatic actress in the world. But man, she SELLS the badassery.

I'll settle for that!

 

[Hunter Rider]

Glad to see most seem to have enjoyed this. is it advisable to give John Wick 3 another watch before seeing this?

 

[LoganPool]

Glad to see most seem to have enjoyed this. is it advisable to give John Wick 3 another watch before seeing this?

Not really necessary. I would just rewatch the scene where John meets with The Director (Anjelica Huston) in the theater.

 

[blueharvest]

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I loved this. This was a total absolute blast.

Yes, story is paper thin. Yes, Ana isn't the BEST dramatic actress in the world. But man, she SELLS the badassery. She is such a tour de force in this and you can tell she actually did a lot of the physicality herself. Ana's Eve character has that same " wounded puppy dog but i'll still bite your f***ing head off" look about her that Keanu's Wick does.

The movie takes a bit to get going but when it does it is a nonstop action thrill ride and jeezus the final act set piece is such a wild crowd pleaser.

I love living in this universe. This is how you do a spinoff. I would happily watch more movies with this character.

And yes, Chad definitely directed this whole movie, his fingerprints are all over this thing from beginning to end.

I like Ana, but I feel like you contradict yourself in this paragraph. A lot of the film is about selling drama and she doesn't do it. So how is that a "tour de force". Comparing her to Keanu is strange, because Keanu, who legit comes off a like a badass, also nails the drama.

The first act of chapter 1 sells the tone for the entire series and it's all based around Keanu selling the character. Something Ana fails to do here. It's a reason I think this movie won't hold up the way the Wick ones do. The Ballerina is high on action but low on soul. And you can see all the seams where they tried to add it in reshoots but it still falls flat.

As for Ana coming off badass. lol. Her little moment on the walkie talkie, where she's suppose to deliver her Taken line, is so bad.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Not really necessary. I would just rewatch the scene where John meets with The Director (Anjelica Huston) in the theater.

Thanks

 

[Still Wynning]

Ana does her job for the action but she's too weak of an actress for the drama. Made more apparent when Keanu shows up. His level of aura is unparalleled.

I’m sorry, I love Keanu Reeves, but I don’t know how anyone can come out of watching Ana de Armas in Knives Out and seriously think she’s a bad or worse actor.

 

[BlackFox]

Ana de Armed-As

Man, my brain tells me this is one of the weaker John Wick films but damn if I still didnt love it inspite of its obvious flaws, there was so many cool and funny little moments that with, me at least it, can get away with some of the predictable and simple plot threads, its not like John Wick films are based on deep material anyways.

My main two concerns going in were that it would not feel connected to the larger John Wick world established and that the action would be sub-par, no issues AT ALL on those counts. They use the established characters for just about the right amount of time to very much make it feel part of the world and not make it feel it has no connection or serves no purpose at all, depending on what we may or may not get in the future there could well be "consequences" that they love talking about so much in this world. I also freakin' loved the training montage we got to world build a little more on what these assassins go through and the end of a mission scene with the damage already done and showing Eve leaving the scene to earn her "wings", there's a lot of neat little moments in this one like that which I appreciated. The sub-plot about the sister seemed throwaway and pointless in the end but keeping things simple in these films helps a lot anyway, I'm glad we didnt get any high-table stuff here, would have felt over-stuffed in that case.

As for the action, oh boy, there lots of great moments and two standout scenes, not quite at the heights of JW3 or 4 but grenade pong and Flame-off are very much top tier Wicky action as you can get and I really liked that Eve switches things up with a lot more variety in the fights and weapons she uses to her advantage, guns, grenades, katanas, ice skates, plates.....er remote controls!! There's a lot of chef's kiss moments to thrill over in this department. Eve might even be more vicious in her kills than the Bogeyman himself.

As for Ana herself, she doesnt really get many or great lines to work with, so she cant really over work herself here but what she does is fine in itself but damn if she doesnt give everything in the fight scenes and emotions that make you really want to root for her when shes getting body slammed on a table by a guy twice her size, even Keanu himself doesnt emote that much in the films when fighting it feels like. We know Ana can do more from Knives Out and Blonde but these films aren't stretching any actors in it.

So overall, thankfully, a worthy spin-off for a franchise, while not hitting all its straps throughout certainly hitting enough to earn its place among the rest of the franchise and Eve is an underdog type character that is a worthy addition to the world and feels more than just "female John Wick" that I hope we get more of but if not at least we got this one.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

View attachment 137171

I’m sorry, I love Keanu Reeves, but I don’t know how anyone can come out of watching Ana de Armas in Knives Out and seriously think she’s a bad or worse actor.

I didn't say she was a bad actor. I said she's weak. She's very good at being the large eyed waif or something with a more fun vibe, even if that Apple movie is a disaster (she's still decent in it). But that's about her range and it's apparent in this flick.

 

[Snow Queen]

I know these aren't considered "script movies," but I think the scripts for the John Wick movies are very effective. They feel dynamic, they move at the right clip, they know how to introduce big personalities, memorable dialogue, information that feels engaging to listen to. This movie doesn't really have that going for it and so I feel like the reshoots are compensating by going nuts with the action, which is absolutely great to watch. But it dramatically overextends with the emotional reach of its premise and that's where Ana de Armas runs into trouble. When she's actually doing scenes without talking or when she has to be befuddled, I think she does very well. But once we come around to the emotional highs, they feel very forced and awkward. The John Wick movies understand the limits of their emotional center and don't push it into feeling melodramatic. It's simple, restrained, and effective. This pushes it into melodrama and is worse off for it.

 

[kguillou]

I still dont quite understand how this is supposed to fit into the chronology though. Is it that we're supposed to believe he went on this side mission as he was healing with Laurence Fishburne after part 3? Wasn't John keeping a low profile before his epic revenge tour in part 4? Its honestly not that serious and I don't really care but its just a little confusing to me.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I still dont quite understand how this is supposed to fit into the chronology though. Is it that we're supposed to believe he went on this side mission as he was healing with Laurence Fishburne after part 3? Wasn't John keeping a low profile before his epic revenge tour in part 4? Its honestly not that serious and I don't really care but its just a little confusing to me.

John's Ruska Roma. Considering he goes to them in both 3 and 4, I get the vibe he'd take the call. Also the High Table isn't clear on whether John's dead, so he could be working from the shadows and only the two factions are involved here.

 

[LoganPool]

I still dont quite understand how this is supposed to fit into the chronology though. Is it that we're supposed to believe he went on this side mission as he was healing with Laurence Fishburne after part 3? Wasn't John keeping a low profile before his epic revenge tour in part 4? Its honestly not that serious and I don't really care but its just a little confusing to me.

Yes, the climax of this movie takes place 2 months after the ending of John Wick 3. I was confused about it at first too. And, no, it doesn't make any sense. At the beginning of JW 4 we're led to believe that he stayed underground training and healing. But like you said, it not a huge deal. Just something that makes you shrug your shoulders.

 

[kguillou]

Ugh, box office is kind of low for this thing. I know it shouldnt really matter but its just going to further the recent narrative people like to push that female led action movies cant work and make the studios gunshy about greenlighting movies like this. Oh well, It is what it is.

 

[Sithborg]

Yeah, that was enjoyable. Definitely pieced together, with characters appearing and disappearing all the time.

Spoiler

Finally, someone smart enough to say, **** going against John Wick.

 

[Punisher_MAX]

Ugh, box office is kind of low for this thing. I know it shouldnt really matter but its just going to further the recent narrative people like to push that female led action movies cant work and make the studios gunshy about greenlighting movies like this. Oh well, It is what it is.

Five bucks says it's because men can't see a woman kick as much ass as John Wick.

 

[Kane52630]

1. John Wick
2. Ballerina
3. John Wick 4
4. John Wick 2
5. John Wick 3

 

[DarkKnight88]

Five bucks says it's because men can't see a woman kick as much ass as John Wick.

Like Furiosa, the audience that did support this was heavily male at 61% so that doesn’t hold water.

Women just weren’t interested in this either it seems. Usually you want both going to see it for it to break out. Look at Sinners, which actually had 56% female audience its opening weekend.

 

[kguillou]

I think if this summer wasnt so crowded Ballerina would actually have the chance at gaining solid legs because its a definite crowd pleaser, and its got a good audience score and i could see it being one people spread positive word of mouth on, but theres just so many big releases coming that it might get drowned out.

 

[BlackFox]

Glad to see most seem to have enjoyed this. is it advisable to give John Wick 3 another watch before seeing this?

The answer to this is always, yes.

 

[BlackFox]

1. John Wick
2. Ballerina
3. John Wick 4
4. John Wick 2
5. John Wick 3

1. John Wick 3
2. John Wick
3. John Wick 4
4. Ballerina
5. John Wick 2

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Ugh, box office is kind of low for this thing. I know it shouldnt really matter but its just going to further the recent narrative people like to push that female led action movies cant work and make the studios gunshy about greenlighting movies like this. Oh well, It is what it is.

I’ll just repost what I said months ago about Amazon’s ‘plans’ for a James Bond connected multimedia empire:

Yeah the appeal of James Bond is...James Bond, and the interactions he has with other characters while being James Bond. Without that...who cares. Worse appeal than the Sony Spider-Man-less Spiderverse. I'm thinking that the first spin-off will start higher than further spin-offs for the curiosity/car crash factor and then drop off from there - even more so if it's the lame quality of a lot of similar Amazon shows. For example Ballerina isn't gonna get John Wick wider appeal without John Wick so they threw John Wick in there and even then it still has a challenge. The Continental still hasn't been renewed for a Season 2 yet.

Only a fraction of all these big IP (like Spider-Man, Bond, Wick) will ever care about tv and film spin-offs.

MCU Spider-Man (series average) $510M (domestic | $1308M (world)
Sony Venom (series average) $189M (domestic) | $614M (world)
Sony Madame Web $44M (domestic) | $100M (world)
Sony Kraven $25M (domestic) | $62M (world)

John Wick (series average) $123M (domestic) | $257M (world)

 

[Dave McFly]

Yeah, that was enjoyable. Definitely pieced together, with characters appearing and disappearing all the time.

Spoiler

Finally, someone smart enough to say, **** going against John Wick.

probably related to this guy

 

[Mysteryman]

probably related to this guy

Aka, the future criminal mastermind of, Gotham!

 

[Ninjablade]

Mama NB's review of the movie: Thank god for John Wick, she was terrible. You could tell all the stunt people were moving slow so they could do to choreography at her pace!

Now that last part didn't particularly bother me as much as it did her. That said, propaganda I will not fall for is this idea that Ana de Armas can play the role of a badass assassin even remotely well. She's so dull in these types of roles, and completely lacks the dramatic depth necessary to help buy the pain/tragedy of this archetype.

You can clearly tell how this script was originally something original that was retrofitted into a really bad John Wick spin-off. You can then see how hard Chad was trying to save this from being a really bad spin-off, and the result is a very meh spin-off that feels like a peak into the world where it was David Leitch who stayed on as the sole creative for this franchise. The action is fine, but clearly not the same class of well thought-out inspired action one would expect. The drama is generic that gives you no ounce of a tangible emotional connection. For as short as it is, it's slow as all hell. Barebones as barebones can get for an action movie.

Thankfully, the film does offer some respite during the minimal time we get to spend with the Baba Yaga. Keanu's sheer presence alone elevates those scenes.