‘Ballerina’ review: Girls can kick ass, especially Ana de Armas
4/5 ice skates
The world of John Wick has brought fans a lot of high action scenes, characters we have come to love, and a universe that is now expanding. In comes Ballerina, a movie about Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) and the Ruska Roma.
“Fight like a girl” is a theme throughout the movie. It is, in a lot of ways, one of the only times I’ve heard the statement and not cringed at the idea. Often, we’re told that fighting like a girl is a bad thing. But Ballerina challenges that idea with Eve. It was never a “bad” thing to fight like a girl. If anything, it makes Eve stronger.
One of the things about Ballerina that I think makes it special is that even though John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is in this movie, I don’t think it needs him. We have Winston (Ian McShane) as the man who brought Eve to the Ruska Roma and Charon (Lance Reddick) is still manning the front desk of the Continental. To me, that was enough. But it is nice to see how Eve can hold her own in a fight against Wick.
Eve tries to fight like the men she’s seen and the Ruska Roma remind her that it isn’t about fighting “like” a man. It’s about using her own strengths to her advantage and I truly loved that it made every single fight sequence for Eve exhilarating. She had to be smarter than men. She doesn’t have their brute strength but it is how we get a fight sequence with ice skates and flame throwers.
And all of it made Eve a perfect new addition to the John Wick world. She has an emotional story, knows how to fight, and more importantly, she knows how to protect.
A fun, action-packed film
Not every single action movie has to change the world but I will say that I found Ballerina refreshing. A lot of aspects of Eve’s character remind me of the Widows of the Marvel world. She is trained in dance, she uses her legs a lot more in her fighting style than men would, and she’s brutal. All of that is, in my own mind, what defines “fighting like a girl.”
There is nothing I love more than when a woman takes a man down with her legs. Because it feels realistic to me. If a woman punched a man in the face, I don’t think it’d have the same impact but we have our ways when we’re in a pinch. And that’s what made every fight Eve has so exciting to me. Director Len Wiseman knew how to make Eve both cool, powerful, and vulnerable all at the same time. It helps that Ana de Armas is one of the coolest people around.
Overall, I think that Ballerina is a worthy addition to the John Wick world and I hope that we get to see her more as the franchise continues to grow. Because if anyone was going to protect me, I’d want it to be Eve.
(featured image: Lionsgate)
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
