Last night, I watched this movie for third time in three nights. Though John Wick makes a brief appearance early in the movie and is instrumental in the outcome, the movie is not about him, but it is every bit as good as the John Wick movies Their connection is made through Ruska Roma.
I am a veteran of many action movies produced by nations all over the world, but this movie contains an action sequence that I’ve seen before, is done exquisitely, and is so realistic that I have to wonder how they didn’t kill some of the actors when producing it.
If you like movies like the John Wick franchise, then you simply have to see this one.
Agreed. If you like the John Wick movies, and I do, then you’ll like Ballerina, and I did.
I’m glad they showed her training as it gave a glimpse of what John must have gone through. In fact, a young John Wick movie is a prequel I could actually go for.
Eh, as much as I love John Wick and awesome cinematography, I have always felt the film stood on its own and did not need sequels any more than did The Matrix. I will grant you John’s original backstory was rudimentarily prosaic, but did this legendary figure need a retcon?
I like Ballerina more than any of the actual John Wick sequels. If Ballerina was standalone I think it would be seen as one of the best action movies of the decade though it suffers from “John Wick fatigue” from the general audience.
Where does that script quote come from-- Is that from the original John Wick movie? I know the John Wick movies are basically a fantasy world where 90% of the population are assassins, so not exactly historically accurate, but I don’t get how that timeline could possibly work out. As far as I know, the movie took place in our current time-- that is, it came out in 2014 and was supposed to take place in that year. But Keanu Reeves is almost exactly my age, within a few days. I was 9 when the Vietnam War ended.
The same thing crossed my mind— we have to assume John Wick, the character, was supposed to be a decade or so older than Keanu Reeves was at the time, or you are.
My wife and I watched it tonight and liked it. I almost, and perhaps am committing heresy, thought it had a little too much of Wick in it just because I wanted to see if it’d stand on its own. All in all I thought it did an admirable job. It did have its usual John Wick silliness both in improbable action and in plot but I liked it. My own ranking is 1, 2, 4/Ballerina (tied), 3. 3 is still watchable but started to go into farce in my opinion.
Anjelica Huston should have responded to the threat of war on the Ruska Roma with “Uh, ok, but one of our ballerina assassins just killed like seventy of your dudes so I’m not sure why you want me to send ten more ballerina assassins”