Ballerina is a dance-by-numbers return to the world of John Wick

Ana de Armas arsenic Eve successful Ballerina. | Lionsgate

Lionsgate was ever going to request to instrumentality the John Wick franchise successful a caller absorption if it wanted to support the movie bid going aft the inevitable exit of its cardinal star. A spinoff series came and went with a telling deficiency of fanfare that spoke, successful part, to however John Wick stories consciousness similar they were meant to beryllium experienced successful movie theaters. And portion the workplace has a 2nd tie-in amusement successful the works, it seems similar different task that mightiness upwind up being a motion that John Wick works champion connected the metallic screen.

On paper, manager Len Wiseman's awkwardly named From the World of John Wick: Ballerina feature sounds similar the benignant of straightforward parallel prequel that could enactment arsenic the opening of a caller section for the larger franchise. There's a simplicity to the communicative and a comedic whimsy to (some of) its enactment that feels existent to the John Wick brand. And determination are capable returning faces from the older films that it works reasonably good arsenic a clang people instauration to this gore-filled satellite of assassins.

But successful practice, Ballerina lacks a batch of the near-camp flair that made erstwhile John Wick films fun, and astir of its acceptable pieces consciousness uninspired. Rather than utilizing its communicative to …

Read the afloat communicative astatine The Verge.