Ah, yes, Ballerina, the long delayed John Wick spin-off… as in the film one, and i guess the only one people cared about, since i’m not even sure many bothered to watch The Continental, the Peacock/Amazon series also a part of the John Wick world-lore-universe, and to my understanding not many that did saw the series liked it. I didn’t bother, honestly even forgot it existed.
Ballerina follows the revenge tale of a young girl, Eva Makarro, whom, after seeing her father being killed by assassins belonging to a sect of sorts, is taken in by the Ruska Roma assassin order, and over a decade is trained into being a perfect assassin (alongside spy and ballerina), especially one meant to act as bodyguards if need be, until she eventually is promoted as a full fledged operative.
One day, after completing a job, Eva is attacked by a man bearing the same scar mark she saw on the sect men that killed her father, so she starts investigating on them, despite being advised not to by every important figure, which puts Eva as a rogue agent that threatens the fragile “peace” between the various assassin orders and the sect, prompting eventually to call upon her the “Baba Yaga”, Joh Wick himself…
Not too original, as expected, but honestly i did enjoy this more than John Wick 4, as it strikes a better balance between the straightforward revenge plot beats, the over the top yet not 100 % detatched from reality style of violent action and the whole comic-book style worldbuilding.
Ballerina definitely understands the appeal and what works of the John Wick formula, manages to expand the lore a bit while also not overusing John Wick itself, even though it takes a bit for the movie to get fully into gear.
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