Cinema from the Spectrum

In 2014, two directors would release a sleeper hit that would change American action filmmaking forever. While starting out as stuntmen, it would be through the Wachowski school of filmmaking that these filmmakers would begin to graduate from Stunt Doubles to action choreographers in their own right. Under the influence of Yuen Woo-ping and the Wachowski’s they would eventually create their own company 87North surviving as second unit directors and action choreographers for all types of action films. John Wick would be their opportunity to prove themselves that they could handle both drama and action.

While both David Leitch and Chad Stahelski directed the original John Wick because of DGA rules, only one got credited. With both working in tandem with each other, it’s hard for audiences to separate who did what on the movie. It’s both theirs. However, the production of John Wick did not go smoothly and Leitch left to forge his own path, while Chad Stahelski remained within the John Wick franchise. A decade later and with three sequels as a solo director under his belt, with the great Dan Laustsen serving as cinematographer, audiences are now keen on Chad’s visual style and what to expect. History is now starting to repeat itself with the Ballerina in a twisted and inverted way.

Ballerina had a long history before being released. Starting off as an unproduced Black List script to becoming weaved into the plot of John Wick 3. It’s road to being a solo film took some time. In 2019 Len Wiseman was hired as the director of the film, known for his Underworld films and the 4th Die Hard. But ultimately the film did not shoot until 2022 and became wedged as an in-between-quel taking place after the third and before the fourth John Wick Chapter. The expectations couldn’t be higher, the action couldn’t be just fine, it had to be good. This film is now a legacy title beholden to the Wick dynasty. The film ended up being unsatisfactory, and so reshoots were ordered in 2024 with most of the movie allegedly being shot by Chad Stahelski and Len Wiseman nowhere to be found during those months.

As for the end result? This is a rare opportunity where reshoots salvaged a trainwreck. The added action sequences have Chad’s name all over the film. From an explosive opener to playful sequences involving a television paying homage to Buster Keaton to camera tilts during movements and top shots resembling the fourth film. This film has his DNA all over it to the point where it feels like an appetizer for the eventual John Wick Chapter 5. You can see the original sequences through the dialogue scenes that fall flat with some wonky villain motivations and a splicing that ultimately does not make sense as being a canonical entry to the series. The film even brings back an actor that visibly died in the first John Wick as a sort of flex, counting on the audience not treating this as seriously as the mainline Wick Chapters. This casting brings about an awareness about the difficult production of Ballerina.

The story centers around a character called Eve who watched her father die and was taken in by Winston to be taken in by the Ruska Roma where she trains as an assassin to avenge the man who killed her father called the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). The Chancellor proves hard to get to as he has a cult that follows him, treating killing as a sport.

Ballerina is more of a standard revenge film and doesn’t have as much of an inventive hook like the original John Wick, this film’s main hook seems to be that Ana de Armas as an action hero and her connection to John Wick which isn’t incredibly strong. While she briefly interacts with Winston (Ian Mcshane) and Charon (Lance Reddick) briefly, you can feel the reshoots in how quickly characters go and how little depth this character has.  Ballerina has less globe-trotting than most of the Wick films, but features settings that feel unique enough to have a place within this film.

What is remarkable about this film is how much of it has been salvaged, and while the action sequences clearly had less prep than the Wick films they are still fun and clever and showcase Ana de Armas as a star. Ballerina is filled with an explosive third act that felt the most like a video game this series has ever had. An army swarms her character Eve as she faces being hunted by them and John Wick himself. The onslaught of armed villagers brings Resident Evil 4 to mind. This film is serviceable enough to have fans want another Ballerina and tie them over until Wick 5. Ballerina succeeds in keeping audiences interested until Eve returns for more blood.

Watch the trailer right here.

All images via Lionsgate.

Directed by Len Wiseman
Screenplay by Shay Hatten
Produced by Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Chad Stahelski
Starring Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Norman Reedus, Ian McShane, Keanu Reeves
Release Date: June 6, 2025
Running Time: 125 minutes