Ballerina

2025

★★★½ Liked

Not going to go in depth with this one since it’s pretty much just a straight forward action film, with all its flaws and praises that comes with it. 
The acting is pretty mixed at times, with some actors giving it their all into every scene and some either feeling miscasted or just uninteresting. Ana de Armas as Eve and Gabriel Byrne as The Chancellor in particular were my favorite performances out of the bunch. I’ll it it’s a film with recognizable celebrities in it that are mainly their for the marketing as they don’t appear in the film that much, like Norman Reedus and obviously Keanu Reeves, but luckily they're giving their fair share of stand out moments. I don’t like being mean to child actors and this is more a criticism of the director for not picking better scenes, but the 2 main child actors were a bit too shallow in their performances and they could’ve used some more takes. But overall the acting was fine and that goes for most of the characters as a whole. 
Some other stuff I dug we’re the music which honestly was a f*cking vibe. And I’m a simple man. If I hear Evanescence, I become a happy camper. The cinematography and locations were great and added so much to the film both in the character moments and the world building and action scenes. 
But of course, the thing that most people are going to watch this movie for is the kickass action sequences and brutal death scenes. And on that note, this film delivers in flying colors. This part of the movie was expectedly handled with the choreography and practical/digital effects. Again helped by the exultant cinematography and locations which add to the badassery of every scene. 
I’ll it this film is an example of action first, story second. Nothing in this was deep or layered, which isn’t a problem on its own, but there's nothing story wise or character wise that had me intrigued. You can tell this film really wants to be John Wick but with some extra flair to feel different. And while I think it succeeds at that, I think I would rather watch some of the other John Wick films before this. Nothing in here was god awful, but nothing in here was really surprising aside from how over the top they can make the action sequences, which frankly if that’s all you want in an action film then this is definitely the right movie for you. Sure their are the classic moments of why didn’t a character do something sooner or just at all, but that’s par for the course with these types of movies.
So ya, nothing groundbreaking, but I still had a good time. I really need to rewatch the John Wick franchise. If you're a fan of this franchise and action movies in general, this film will be a fun time for you. Definitely not the best of 2025, but still a solid watch all around.

Block or Report

Ronster liked these reviews

All