Speaker #0Hello ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the concession stand here on the KB Radio Network. I am your host Kevin Reed and this is the review of the new action thriller from the world of John Wick, ballerina. And this film stars Ana de Amas, Angelica Houston, Gabriel Byrne, Norman Redis, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick in his final film role before his passing, and yes, Keanu Reeves reprising his role as John Wick. This film takes place between John Wick Chapter 3 and Chapter 4. four and it follows Eve a ballerina assassin who begins to train in the assassin traditions of the Rasarama and sets out to exact revenge for her father's death this film has been on my radar for quite a long time I've been um hearing about this ballerina film I want to say right after John Wick chapter three You know, when they kind of introduce this little subplot in Chapter 3, when John Wick had to go to where these ballerinas were, and they're more than ballerinas. Of course, everything in the John Wick universe is more than what it seems, but they're actual assassins, and they announced not too long after the release of Chapter 3 that they were going to have a spinoff. of ballerina i think that was in 2019 and we've been waiting been waiting and then they announced anna del amas it was going to be the lead okay and that's interesting and mind you this was before no time to die came out and so i i was kind of skeptical but i said hey i'm willing to give it a shot and then no time to die came out and we got a little snippet of her action chops in just that small scene that she was in in that James Bond film and I was like man I can't wait to see a full length feature of her doing this stuff and in a John Wick style nonetheless so I was super hyped then you have Lynn uh Lynn Wiseman uh directing this film and Lynn Wiseman is a interesting director you know he's he's on the top of nobody's top 10 list as far as directors i believe but he he's made some pretty decent movies uh if you're into that type of stuff you know the underworld movies i actually enjoyed them you know um nothing to say that they redefined vampire uh werewolf movies but i enjoyed it for what it was and then he did that die hard film which at the time was not the best die hard i would say it was it was probably the worst for me until uh what was the other the last die hard they made it was 20 times worse it made you appreciate the fourth die hard that he directed uh live free or die hard that's the one he directed but he did direct that awful and i mean awful total recall remake with colin farrell man that movie was bad that was that was so disappointing man because i'm total recall fan and you know i wasn't expecting the second coming of arnold schwarzenegger by no scratch but i thought it would be fun it wasn't it wasn't even fun before a sci-fi action film that wasn't fun no no so i was skeptical on that a little bit but maybe this kind of a grounded tone of a film maybe he can shine a little bit more and if you uh follow the the the production of this film you come to realize that he really didn't have much to do with this movie the original director or should i say the director of all of the john wicks films uh uh chad shahansky i believe that's how you say his name he he directed a large portion of the reshoots actually he directed all of the reshoots about two to three months worth of reshoots which a lot of people depending on who you listen to was a vast majority of this movie that he reshot and basically turned it into his film but lynn wiseman did get the credit as director of this film um I had fun with this movie. I thought it was good. I'm not over the moon with it. Is it up there with all of the other John Wick films? I would say no. John Wick is in a world of his own. This film is set in that universe, of course, but it doesn't have that same feel. For lack of a better term, it doesn't have that same magic as... a John Wick film but it does have the exciting action sequences of course you know the stunt work and all the use of different weapons throughout this movie it was uh super exciting I actually uh am impressed with some of the stunt work and uh use of different type of weaponry that this film uses um You go through the other John Wick films, every John Wick film is different. There's four of them, but all four are different. If I tell you, oh, the scene when John Wick takes the knives out of this museum or whatever it is, and he's stabbing the guy on the ground and doing that stuff with all of those knives, you know that's part three. If I tell you about John Wick using a horse, well, that was John Wick 2. I mean 3 as well. But you know what i'm saying you can pinpoint those action sequences because they have a style of their own um even though it's the same based around the same character same pretty much storyline you you're not going to mistake a john wick film for its substance it's not there for that it's there for exactly what it is shoot shoot them up bang bang and so this film it does try to give us some story? you know, some substance, some weight to it. And just to start off with Ana de Armas, I think she did an excellent job with the role that she was given. I actually did manage to connect with her character. You know, her character is someone seeking vengeance and whatnot. I got that. I got her motivations. You know, you enjoyed her and her action role. You know, everything worked. She did in... an awesome job. I wish she would have got a little bit more to chew on. I mean, this is an Academy Award-nominated actress here. I think she can handle substance, so I wish she would have got a little bit more to work with, but what she was given to work with, I think she did a phenomenal job. All the returning players, I mean, it fits them like a glove. They just stepped right up and did exactly what they always do. You know, whether it was Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, RIP. uh and of course john wick himself keanu reeves they use keanu reeves at just the right amount he's not in his movie a lot um if you're going to see it and you're like oh man this is john wick we're gonna get to see keanu reeves he's not in this movie like this is this is anna del amas film and i i commend the filmmakers the screenwriters for making sure that she got the shine this is her feet. But they did have to throw in John Wick, of course, I guess to kind of sell it. And I get it. But he was in it just enough. He wasn't in there too much. And he wasn't in there, you know, where you wish like, man, it would have been nice if he was in this part. No, no. He was perfectly used. That character was perfectly used. And we got to see some John Wick action. It wasn't like he was just there for an ambiguous cameo or whatever. No. we got to see John Wick do John Wick things for the portion that he was in it. So that was greatly appreciated. Gabriel Byrne, the villain of this film, it's good to see him in a movie. You know, I grew up with, well, I say grew up, but you know, I was a youngster when I first got exposed to Gabriel Byrne and I love him. I love his acting. I like him. Being a part of a project wherever he is. I know that he is giving it, you know I rarely see him mail in a performance now This was a male in a bowl type of role form, but he didn't you know He actually gave a little bit to the little time that he had he wasn't in it a lot But the little time that he was in I enjoyed I did I really had fun with that What I didn't have fun with was this movie is Two hours long, I think it's two hours on the nose, maybe an hour and... 58 minutes or something like that this was a little too long it drug it parts you know i think they could have shaved off a good nice sexy sweet 15 minutes from it and it would have kind of hit a little better uh there were scenes in this movie that just didn't need to be there you know you ever watch a movie and they throw in a scene and at the moment it don't really hit you but once once you get close to the end or the movie ends and you and for some unknown reason you think back to that scene and you're like why was that in there you know a lot of movies do it it's like pointless they could have they could have left that on the cutting room floor and you then you really go to think and you go down this rabbit hole and you're like well they kept that in the movie i bet you they took out a part that probably would have helped this story a little bit more but they chose to keep this party and it was it's a couple of scenes like that and i don't know why i don't know why they're in the movie um as far as i know i was praising anna del amas and this isn't on her i think this is on the filmmakers here her character eve struggled way too much for me she struggled way too much through some of those acts not some all of them all of those action sequences I mean I'm all for building up for something grand you know if you struggle in the beginning because you're a newcomer and blah blah blah yeah I get all that but and then at the end you know as we get close to the end if something clicks and you finally you know you mastered your art at no point did she master the art of the assassin man I mean she got caught captured quite a few times in this movie could have been killed quite a few times in this movie it was like why y'all why are y'all not killing her just kill her you know she is no threat at all at all at least at the points where they captured her and i'm like just get rid of her she is doing nothing nothing uh she now there were moments she handled her own like i said and she rocked it at point and point In certain sections of this movie, she looked like a female Rick. She was, I mean, a beast. But then she'll turn right around and struggle. Struggle. And when I say struggle, like, for example, no spoilers, but, like, she'll be taking on this one assailant, and she's using a knife. And she has to stab the dude, like, 30 times before he drops. All I can think about with John Wick, when he goes at you, it's maybe one or two stabs and that's it. He knows where to hit you. But she was just struggling to vanquish her foes in this movie. And it kind of made it a little unbelievable that she would reach the end of her goal, you know. But it is what it is. I know it's all movies and whatnot. um there's a scene to the end like i said i'm no spoilers that i didn't like that kind of helped the outcome of this movie that just i didn't like and it involves john wick and it involves uh anna del alma's character and basically john wick helps her and i'm like come on now i mean this is her this is her mission you know this is her mission now john wick didn't help with the big outcome i guess i'm talking spoilery but but i'm not really but you get where i'm going it's it's it's just like he helped her along and i didn't want him to help i wanted her to go and do this accomplish this goal on her own and that one little thing just kind of like oh man i wanted her to do it you know it was that thing but it is what it is but those are pretty much all my gripes that I can think of. It started off hot. it really nice sequence in the beginning uh the actor who plays uh anadamas uh or at least eve's father in the beginning uh that's the same actor if i'm not mistaken he's the same actor who played diego on the umbrella academy and so when i saw him i was like oh man this is gonna be good because he was a beast on on that show and he was a beast in this movie for that scene and uh it was good to see him yeah it started off hot you know and you got some good little scenes sprinkled out throughout the middle of the film and then it kind of heated up at the end no pun intended if you saw the movie but uh overall i had fun with it you know if you're looking for something earth shattling this ain't it if you're looking for something to uh question the existence of the universe and how it was formed no there's no deep thought in this film this was a cut and dry fun action movie and you know It kind of passes the test from the world of John wick ballerina gets a letter grade of a C plus Yeah, it was decent. It's not as good as the John wicks films, but that don't mean that it's not bad either It's just a good action movie. That's it. You know Nothing more nothing less, but I would love to know what are your thoughts of ballerina? Did you enjoy it do do you would you like to see a sequel to this film or? Do you just want to see John Wick do his thing? I mean, not John Wick. Well, Keanu Reeves as John Wick do his thing. I would love to know your thoughts. Email the show, kbradiopodcasts at gmail.com. You can also search for the show on all social media platforms. Just search for the KB Radio Network. Don't forget about YouTube. Subscribe. Like this video if you don't mind. Don't forget about the five stars, the reviews, and sharing this show. So if... If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, wherever you are currently listening to the concession stand, here on the KB Radio Network. Everybody, thank you for joining me for this review of Ballerina. I want you all to know that I love you. Continue to love everyone. And until we speak again, you all be blessed.
