Rent Ballerina (2025)

De Armas is sensational in this excellent spin-off, which mercifully doesn't get lost in Wick lore - Ballerina review by Timmy B

Ana De Armas is quickly becoming one of my favourite actresses. In everything I have seen her in, she is brilliant. She was, by some distance, the best thing in No Time To Die, partly because she was only in it for 15 minutes, really proving that less can be more. Her character of Paloma was feisty, smart, brilliant and not overused, following in the great Bond tradition of characters who make a massive impression within one scene (joining Vincent Schiavelli as Dr Kaufman.) But I was also hopeful she could be great in this film/addition to the John Wick world, due to the losing of its way.

I am a huge fan of the first 3 Wick films, as they were what I adore about action movies: tightly scripted, memorable characters and incredible action/production values. Then the success seemed to go to the producers heads, resulting in the 4th film being an atrocious bloated mess. So if Ana could do to John Wick what she did for Bond, this could really be something special. And I'm delighted to say that, mainly due to her, Ballerina is an absolute riot.

Eve MaCarro is a woman who witnessed her father being murdered at the hands of The Chancellor, who heads up an international assassin group. She is taken under the wing of Winston, who then gives her the opportunity to avenge her father's death by training under the stewardship of The Director, who runs the Ruksa Roma ballerina assassin group. Within this world, she also comes into contact with a certain John Wick (who is in the middle of the events of films 3 & 4)

The main thing that I loved about this film, which had started to go from the Wick franchise, was a real sense of fun & lightness. Once you get past the obligatory first few scenes of Eve losing her father and the training montage, the film is so joyful and silly, whilst containing some of the best action/stunts in films today. There was a couple of moments where I was almost crying laughing, due to the way the fights scenes were shot. In particular, one scene which used a trolley of smashing plates, I rewound a couple of times just to enjoy the moment again.

Whilst there is so much I could say about the film itself, I actually just want to heap as much praise onto De Armas as possible. She was with the production from the beginning, was integral to the formation of and design of her character, then absolutely threw herself fearlessly into the stunts. From watching the special features, I was blown away by her absolute and total commitment to the role, including many months of gruelling stunt work and an insistence on doing as many of the stunts as possible. I also have absolutely no hesitation in saying that without her, this film would have failed, full stop.

Whilst it is a somewhat tired clichéd, when an action film protagonist is miscast, especially a female character, you end up in "Meg Ryan as a fighter pilot" territory, which is the death knell of any movie. But you never doubt for a second De Armas as Eve.

I also loved the fact that, not only are there returning characters from the Wick universe (including sadly the last performance by Lance Reddick before he passed away,) but John Wick's presence is more than a glorified cameo. It would have been so easy for the writers to write a small scene where he has a walk-on part, just to be able to put his name in the credits. But he plays a significant role in shaping Eve's storyline and is involved in the climatic final scenes as well.

The long & short of it is that, if you loved the previous John Wick films, you will adore Ballerina. It takes everything you liked about the franchise before it got silly, introduces a new character and a great story for her to be in, then runs with it. Whilst I do have some gripes, hence the 4 stars, when it's good, nothing can touch it.

And Ana De Armas is sensational