My mini-review of BALLERINA.

Short version: hey, does the timeline really wor OH BOY, SHE FOUND GRENADES.

Slightly longer version: there is something to be said for letting fight choreographers direct full movies. From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (I refuse to use that clumsy title further) wisely avoids making Eve (the heroine) as strong as a dude. Indeed, they make it clear that the tagline ‘fight like a girl’ in the movie means to take advantage of the tactical environment and use weapons and cheat. Instead, Ballerina makes Eve as invulnerable as a video game character, which is much more sensible in this context and far easier to suspend one’s belief about. She’s not as strong as, say, John McClane, but she’s just as much a kinetic energy sponge.

Also: there were questions about where this fits in the John Wick timeline, but every time I wanted to ask one they flipped to an action sequence. One wonders if this was deliberate. I’m not complaining, mind you. As a happy little action flick Ballerina is good. I approved of it.

#commissionearned