Fairly Short and Hopefully Spoiler-Free Review: Ballerina

TL;DR: I made the mistake of browsing a couple of negative reviews -- and noticing a couple of "not very good box office numbers" stories -- before seeing Ballerina. I'm pleased to report that Ballerina is a perfectly serviceable installment in the John Wick film franchise. Don't mistake that for faint praise. If you like the weird cinematic universe and its (some might say excessive/gratuitous) violence, you won't come away disappointed. I won't say it adds a lot to the mythos, but it does bring in at least one new likely recurring character (other than the lead), one new universe "clan," and adds some new depth to the Ruska Roma "clan." 

Trailer:

Longer Version:

The "ballerina" of the title is played by Ana Armas. After her turn as "Bond Girl" Paloma in No Time To Die, I expected good things from her. She delivers on both acting and action as a Ruska Roma assassin/bodyguard.

She faces more than one opponent or seeming opponent on her quest to find and destroy her main opponent. In that mix (I won't say how) is Norman Reedus, of Walking Dead fame, as Daniel Pine. Franchise regulars who show up include Ian McShane as Winston, Anjelica Houston as The Director, and, in his final film role, the late and already much-missed Lance Reddick as Charon. And one more you may have heard about, but I won't spoil it with the name in case you haven't.

As for John Wick universe lore, the High Table doesn't really figure in the story, but the Continental hotels, the coins, the switchboard and "boiler room" for keeping track of assassination contracts, etc. are there. It's recognizably the same world.

Speaking of worlds, in past posts on the John Wick universe, I've repeatedly -- and, over time, more and more confidently -- asserted that it's the same universe as the Matrix films. And whaddayaknow, this film throws in another piece of evidence for that belief with a scene that mirrors, not exactly, but too closely for the creators to have not known exactly what they were doing, this bit from The Matrix:

A common theme in my film reviews:

If you like the franchise, you'll like this installment of it. If you don't, maybe not so much. And it's definitely not something to watch before you've seen the previous feature films (and perhaps, though not necessarily, the Peacock limted series exploring the origins of the New York Continental).

That really is the bottom line: I'm a fan of the John Wick milieu, and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to spend two more hours in it (the rest of the family having various engagements not involving me this evening created a spur-of-the-moment opportunity to do so).