From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)

The “John Wick” franchise began as an indie underdog, and over the last decade built itself into the modern day Mount Olympus of action movie franchises. Even still, shifting the focus to anyone but the Baba Yaga himself was always going to be its greatest challenge, and the series most certainly picked a winning protagonist to lead its first cinematic spin-off “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina”. With “Ballerina”, the “John Wick” universe’s historic winning streak remains not only unbroken, but carved in stone and etched in solid gold lettering through the engaging action heroine performance of Ana de Armas and a quite literally blazing firestorm of action that is the essence of all things “John Wick”, with the supporting role of John Wick himself is simply being a nice bow to tie the whole package together.

Trailer

Cast

Ana de Armas headlines “Ballerina” as the movie’s dauntless protagonist Eve Macarro, with Anjelica Huston reprising her role as the Director of the shadowy Ruska Roma family. Gabriel Byrne brings sinister gravitas to his performance as the villainous Chancellor, while Sharon Duncan Brewster plays Eve’s mentor Nogi, and David Castañeda portrays her father Javier Macarro. Ian McShane and Lance Reddick respectively return (posthumously in the latter’s case) as the New York Continental’s manager Winston Scott and its concierge Charon. Norman Reedus also appears in the role of Daniel Pine, with Ava McCarthy portraying his daughter Ella, and Catalina Sandina Moreno playing the Chancellor’s right-hand assassin Lena. Also dropping in for supporting but nonetheless very impactful role in “Ballerina” is none other than Keanu Reeves as the legendary Baba Yaga himself, John Wick.

Plot

Eve Macarro has only known rage since witnessing the murder of her father by a man known only as the Chancellor, the leader of a mysterious cult whom Eve’s mother had connections to and whom Eve’s father sacrificed his life to get her out of. The orphaned Eve was taken in by the manager of the New York City’s Continental, Winston Scott, who left her in the care of the Ruska Roma family. Eve is trained as a ballerina under the Ruska Roma’s Director, and a “Kikimora”, a sect of highly trained counter-assassins, under his trainer Nogi. As Eve becomes a formidable warrior, one mission points her in the direction of the cult responsible for her father’s murder. Eve uses the information to locate Daniel Pine and his daughter Ella, themselves trying to flee the cult, but when Ella is kidnapped, Eve embarks on a mission to rescue Ella and avenge her father’s murder. Eve’s actions come to the chagrin of the Director, who is wary about disrupting the truce that has existed for ages between the Ruska Roma and the cult, and as Eve embarks on her vendetta, the Director eventually finds herself calling a favor from another assassin whose reputation precedes him.

Action

“Ballerina” Moves A Mile A Minute, & Adds More Lore To The “John Wick” Universe

Even by “John Wick” standards, “Ballerina” is not just action-packed, but aggressively and relentlessly so. The movie’s first two minutes showing Eve’s early childhood with her father are just about the quietest and calmest stretch of time in the whole movie. Once the Chancellor and his gang arrive to take Javier down, it’s game on for virtually the rest of the movie (with just how outstanding a gun-fu and martial arts action sequence the opening of “Ballerina” is, it’s arguably a bit of a loss to the “John Wick” franchise as a whole that the death of David Castañeda’s Javier precludes him for returning for future butt-kicking). “John Wick” fans can rest assured that “Ballerina” doesn’t take its foot off the series’ gas pedal, and if anything, often feels compelled to floor it.

Like its predecessors in the franchise, “Ballerina” also does a commendable job of adding some new, never-before-seen elements into the “John Wick” franchise. In this case, Eve’s training as a Kikimora gives her all the skills of assassination as the Baba Yaga, but sends her on a different mission as more of a bodyguard or rescue worker with license to kill. That inevitably opens the door to the “John Wick” franchise exploring the idea that assassins of its world are all geared and trained differently in future installments, and in turn, the introduction of the mysterious cult’s rivalry and truce with the Ruska Roma present an equal steppingstone of world-building. In this one revelation, the entire concept of the High Table, the Continental hotel chain, and the world they govern feels recontextualized from a monolith of trained warriors all over the world to warring factions under a larger umbrella. Everything from the assassin’s gold coins, markers, and the conflicts and missions they embark upon can take radical turns in the next chapter of the “John Wick” universe, all thanks to the franchise’s exceptional talent for throwing a new X-factor into the mix that completely changes the whole formula.

Ana de Armas Is Outstanding as Eve Macarro

On every possible level, metric, and analytic methodology, Ana de Armas simply crushes it as Eve and carries “Ballerina” with charisma, likability, and the physical prowess that months of 87Eleven training inevitably awakens. One element of “Ballerina” that’s particularly well-handled is the fact that it doesn’t try to make Eve into a female carbon copy of John Wick, but a true contrast to him in their fighting styles and methodologies. Following Javier’s murder, Eve’s subsequent training is a real whirlwind that tosses her into the deep end and forces her to confront the challenges of being a 5-foot 3-inch woman being tasked with taking down much larger opponents with eclectic training of their own. 

“Ballerina” establishes Eve as a master of improvised combat and weaponry on an almost nano-second scale of decision making. Alongside her expert marksmanship and martial arts training, Eve can and does turn virtually anything with a blade or a blunt surface into a weapon. Whether Eve is battling Taekwondo kickers or “John Wick” regular Daniel Bernhardt, “Ballerina” greatly emphasizes her skill at adapting to any opponent as her greatest asset. One can only assume that The Tao of Jeet Kune Do was required reading in Eve’s Kikimora training, since she’s clearly taken Bruce Lee’s philosophy of adaptation to heart. 

The “Ballerina” Finale Is Breathtaking (& Eve Literally Goes Scorched Earth)

If “Ballerina” keeps its action fast-paced and impactful in its first half, it’s virtually non-stop in its second as soon as Eve arrives in the cult’s secluded wintery mountainside village. With the Chancellor well-aware of Eve’s vendetta, the movie’s titular ballerina is more or less tasked with fighting dozens, if not hundreds of adversaries virtually non-stop from the moment she walks into a local restaurant. The finale of “Ballerina” plays like a “John Wick” version of the finale of “Life After Fighting” with absolutely ceaseless and profoundly glorious action that lovers of action absolutely live for. While it takes quick breather to throw one surprise plot twist into the mix, the village showdown of “Ballerina” is a truly magnificent achievement of relentless momentum and picture-perfect ballistic, hand-to-hand, and improvised combat even for the world’s greatest ongoing action movie franchise. And when it comes to the flamethrower battle teased in the trailer, leave it to the “John Wick” franchise to do for fire what it originally did for gun-fu.

So About The Baba Yaga…

It is, of course, no secret that John Wick himself drops in for some of the fun in “Ballerina”, and the movie knows exactly how to utilize the Baba Yaga in his first supporting role. After one early meeting between Eve and John that establishes where “Ballerina” fits into the “John Wick” timeline (long story short, it takes place mostly between the third and fourth “John Wick” films), he steps into the finale with the kind of swagger and gravitas that four modern action classics afford him. Without going into spoilers, John’s role opposite Eve and the nature of his mission is somewhat more flexible than the trailers indicate, and while his is definitely a supporting role, “Ballerina” still knows that it needs to let John do what he does best. With a brawl in the snow with Eve and a little patented Wick-style gun-fu, the Baba Yaga’s role in “Ballerina” adds plenty to the show without taking over the movie. Indeed, after “Ballerina”, it’s crystal clear what a great team John Wick and Eve Macarro would make in the future.

Summary

The “John Wick” franchise, it seems, is as undefeatable as its namesake as the greatest modern action series, by far, a distinction that “Ballerina” provides another strong pillar for. Ana de Armas is every bit as engaging as Eve as Keanu Reeves is as John Wick, with the latter’s presence peppered in just the right amount. With the sheer amount of spellbinding action and meticulous world-building alike that it does, “Ballerina” establishes Eve as a thoroughly worthy new protagonist in the “John Wick” universe along with opening new doors for where it could go next – and one certainly hopes the next chapter of the “John Wick” franchise finds a way to place a flamethrower in Eve’s hands at least one more time!

Favourite Quotes

• “You are losing because you are allowing him to define the terms of the fight! You want to win? Change the terms. Improvise! Adapt! Cheat! Fight like a girl!” – Nogi, giving Eve advice on how to defeat her larger male sparring partner (with Eve then winning the fight). 
• “How do I start doing what you do?” – Eve, in her first meeting with John Wick.
• “Looks like you already have.” – John Wick, in reply.
• “I’m working on it.” – John Wick, after Eve asks him why he hasn’t “walked out the door” of his life as an assassin.

Trivia

• “Ballerina” was originally scheduled to debut on June 7th, 2024, before being pushed back to June 6th, 2025.
• “John Wick” series director Chad Stahelski oversaw additional filming of some of the action sequences in “Ballerina”.
• Keanu Reeves was originally attached to the role of the Jedi Master Sol in the Disney+ “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte”. However, scheduling conflicts with “Ballerina” forced him to depart the role, which was ultimately assumed by Lee Jung-jae.
• Daniel Bernhardt previously appeared as the assassin Kirill in the original “John Wick”, and also did stunt work on all three “John Wick” sequels.
• “Ballerina” marks the final film role of Lance Reddick, who passed away a week before the release of “John Wick: Chapter 4.

Film rating – 9.5/10

“From the World of John Wick: Ballerina” is in theaters now! Have you seen “Ballerina”? What are your thoughts on the movie’s incredible action sequences and Ana de Armas’ performance as Eve Macarro? Would you like to see Eve and John Wick team-up in the future? Let us know in the comments below; Like, share and join in the conversation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter & Instagram. (And be sure to jump over KFK’s own CONTINENTAL FU-niverse of movie reviews and in-depth interviews, including our interview with “John Wick” alumnus Daniel Bernhardt, , grab your official KFK gear and subscribe for more action on YouTube, as well!)