|
I’m a huge John Wick fan. Other than maybe Mission: Impossible, I think it’s the best pure action franchise around. These films haven’t let me down yet, so of course I’ve been dying to see the new spinoff, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. I was sure this movie would deliver all the mesmerizing action and fun world-building that have made the main series so successful, so when tickets went on sale, I booked a seat for opening night as soon as I got the chance.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina was directed by Len Wiseman, and it stars Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves. In the film, Eve Macarro, the titular ballerina, was raised by the Ruska Roma, the same family that trained John Wick. But surprisingly, she’s not an assassin. Rather, she’s a protector, so instead of being assigned targets to kill, she has to keep her targets from being killed. During one of her missions, Eve comes across a member of the organization that murdered her father many years ago, and that encounter enkindles a thirst for vengeance in the woman. She sets out to learn more about these people and find their leader, and…well, I’m sure you can figure out for yourself how the rest of the story plays out. I’m not going to lie, Ballerina isn’t going to win any awards for its screenplay. The story is as shallow as it sounds, and while there’s a tiny bit more substance here than you might expect, it’s only a bit. Nobody is going to see this movie for the plot, so if you’re looking for something that will challenge you intellectually and force you to think more deeply about everything you hold dear, you’re going to be pretty disappointed. To the surprise of no one, the real draw here is the action, and on that count, Ballerina absolutely shines. In typical John Wick fashion, we get everything from guns to hand-to-hand-combat to improvised weapons, and it’s all choreographed and executed to perfection. In fact, I’d even say there’s a real beauty to all this violence. There’s a reason why martial arts are called martial arts, and I’m not just talking about unarmed combat styles like judo and karate. Even in weapons-based systems like kendo and fencing, well-executed moves can be genuine wonders to behold, and like all the other films in this franchise, Ballerina puts that beauty on full display. That being said, even the best action is only as good as the cinematography that captures it. Western movies often chop their fights up with so many cuts you can’t really tell what’s going on, and when that happens, it can completely ruin what would’ve otherwise been a great experience. It’s the bane of this entire genre, but thankfully, Ballerina avoids that all-too-common pitfall. You can see every stab, kick, and throw in all its glory, so fans are definitely going to get their money’s worth. Along somewhat similar lines, the action here is also much more intelligent than you might be expecting. Female-centric action films often get criticized for unrealistically depicting women tossing around big, strong men like ragdolls, but this one takes a different approach. It understands that Eve will always be at a physical disadvantage in almost any fight, so it portrays her as a cunning, smart fighter who will do whatever it takes to get the upper hand. She’ll use anything she can as a weapon, and when all else fails, she has no qualms about fighting dirty. There are even a number of times when her male opponents overpower her and gain a temporary advantage, so she’s way more than just John Wick with two X chromosomes. Eve has a style all her own, complete with her own set of strengths and weaknesses, so seeing her practice her craft is a very different experience from seeing the Baba Yaga show why he’s the most feared assassin on the planet. Last but not least, I want to say a few words about some of the characters in Ballerina. Most obviously, we have to talk about Eve, the titular ballerina herself. She’s played by Ana de Armas, and this woman is wonderful in the role. Not only does she prove herself to be a genuine action star, but she also has that intangible “it” factor that makes her character incredibly likable and super easy to root for. To be fair, part of that comes from Eve’s tragic backstory, and some of it is connected to a little girl Eve has to protect, but most of it is de Armas’s great performance. Even without much help from the script, she still manages to make the ballerina feel like a real person rather than a generic cardboard cutout, and that injects the story with a sense of humanity that most lesser action flicks only wish they could achieve. Ballerina also features a handful of John Wick staples, like Winston (the manager of the Continental), his faithful concierge Charon, and John Wick himself. None of those side characters have huge roles in the movie (although John has some great action scenes!), but for fans of the franchise, they add a sense of familiarity that makes the whole experience go down that much more smoothly. At the end of the day, I can’t quite say that Ballerina is one of the best films of the year. It just doesn’t have enough moral and thematic substance to stand alongside movies like There’s Still Tomorrow, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, and Bring Her Back. But the way I see it, that’s okay. Ballerina shines as a showcase for its gorgeous action, and with just enough storytelling substance to keep it afloat, fans of the genre are sure to eat this film up.
0 Comments
Coming into 2025, Bring Her Back was one of my most anticipated films of the year. It was made by the Philippou brothers, the directing duo that burst onto the scene with the 2023 breakout hit Talk to Me, and if you’ve seen that movie, you know why I was so excited for the pair’s sophomore feature. Talk to Me is one of the best horror flicks of this millennium, so of course I couldn’t wait to see what the Philippous would do for an encore. I was sure the brothers would knock it out of the park once again, and now that I’ve finally seen Bring Her Back, I’m happy to report that it does not disappoint.
Bring Her Back was directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, and it stars Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, Jonah Wren Phillips, and Sally Hawkins. In the film, Andy and Piper are siblings who live with their father. They appear to lead a fairly typical suburban life, but their entire world gets turned upside down one day when they find their dad dead in the shower. Since the kids are both under eighteen, Andy and Piper have to go into foster care, and they end up in the home of Laura, a tender woman with a tragic past of her own. She lost her young daughter some time ago, and she currently houses a mute foster child named Oliver. At first, this seems like a perfect place for our teenage protagonists to work through their grief and trauma, but in typical horror fashion, Laura isn’t quite as loving as she seems. Not long after we first meet her, concerning cracks begin to appear in her warmhearted veneer, and it soon becomes clear that she’s harboring a grisly secret that just might cost Andy and Piper their lives. Before I say anything else, I have to let you know that Bring Her Back isn’t the kind of fun popcorn horror that casual fans typically expect from this genre. In fact, “fun” is just about the last word I’d use to describe it. Bring Her Back is grief horror in the vein of Hereditary, Midsommar, and The Dark and the Wicked, and just like those movies, this one will hit you like a ton of bricks. Instead of jump scares every few minutes and an endless stream of overused cliches, the film takes a more measured and atmospheric approach to its grim subject matter. It’s saturated with the kind of disturbing creepiness that seeps into your bones and stays with you long after the credits begin to roll, so even when nothing overtly horrific is happening on screen, the implications of what might be lying just beneath the surface are more than enough to send shivers down your spine. This is slow-burn horror at its finest, but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Unlike some of its cinematic peers, Bring Her Back is more than mere insinuation and suggestion. When things go south for the characters, this movie gets very gory, and there were a number of scenes that made me literally squirm in my seat. It’s that gruesome, but perhaps surprisingly, the blood and guts are almost never gratuitous. Aside from a couple of brief shots, the carnage always serves a clear narrative and thematic purpose, so it feels like a natural part of the story rather than an inappropriate exercise in senseless violence. In a word, this film is the best of both worlds, but like all truly great horror, it doesn’t get by on its scares alone. It’s rooted in believable characters brought to life by amazing performances, so let’s talk a bit about the major players in Bring Her Back. First up, we have Sally Hawkins. She plays Laura, and if you’re familiar with her work, you won’t be surprised to hear that she’s fantastic in this role. From the moment you first meet the woman, you totally buy into her warm, affectionate demeanor, but you can’t help but think there’s something not quite right with her. She almost seems a bit too nice, and that’s largely due to Sally Hawkins’s subtly nuanced performance. You’ll feel a similar way about Billy Barratt and Sora Wong, the actors who play Andy and Piper, but without the sinister undertones. These two performers are just incredibly likable, so you can’t help but instantly fall in love with their characters. They ground Bring Her Back in a sense of genuine humanity, so when things start to go south for the siblings, you’ll naturally start rooting for them to make it out alive. Rounding out the main cast, we have Jonah Wren Phillips, the kid who plays Oliver. He doesn’t get to do much talking, but he doesn’t have to. He exudes a nearly tangible aura of creepiness just by standing still and staring into space, and no matter what Oliver does, Phillips never falters. He even nails it when he finally gets to show some real emotion, so I can’t wait to see where this kid’s career goes from here. Last but not least, I have to say a few words about the deeper themes of Bring Her Back. As I mentioned before, this is grief horror, but it’s a very specific kind of grief horror. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that it’s about the dangerous lengths people sometimes go to in order to ease the seemingly unbearable pain of losing a loved one, and as a Christian, I can’t help but think of St. Paul’s poignant words of encouragement on this very topic: “But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13) Beneath all the blood, guts, and fantastical scares, Bring Her Back feels almost like an extended meditation on that ancient teaching. Granted, this is by no means a Christian movie, but it forms something like a photographic negative of the Christian attitude towards death. It shows us the horrors that can be brought on by unbelief in the face of our inevitable mortality, so in a somewhat paradoxical way, the film points to the good news of the Gospel by highlighting the “bad news” of our hopeless fate without God. Along with the great horror or the excellent characters, that deep resonance with our faith makes Bring Her Back one of the best movies of the year. It might even be better than the Philippous’ feature debut, but I need to let the film sink in a bit more before I can say that definitively. Either way, I think Bring Her Back is destined to become a genre classic, so if you enjoy this particular brand of terror, I highly recommend that you check it out. You won’t be disappointed. Crossovers and shared universes are all the rage these days, so it should come as no surprise that we’ve finally gotten a Karate Kid crossover that merges the original series of films and the 2010 remake into a single cinematic universe. Sure, fans may not have been clamoring for this franchise mashup, but if there’s one thing Hollywood studios do well, it’s following trends. This movie was bound to be made sooner or later, and even though I wasn’t particularly chomping at the bit to see Karate Kid: Legends, I figured I’d give it a shot. I’m a big fan of martial arts and the original The Karate Kid, so when tickets went on sale, I booked a seat for opening night and hoped for the best
Karate Kid: Legends was directed by Jonathan Entwistle, and it stars Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang, Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley, and Ming-Na Wen. In the film, Li Fong is a teenager who studies kung fu in Beijing with Mr. Han, the “new Mr. Miyagi” in the 2010 The Karate Kid remake, but when he and his mother move to New York, he has to leave that life behind. However, as I’m sure you can guess, he can't stay away for long. He soon meets a retired boxer about to make a comeback, and he helps the guy incorporate a bit of kung fu into his repertoire. Not long after that, Mr. Han visits his young protege in the Big Apple, and he convinces the kid to enroll in a citywide karate competition called the Five Boroughs Tournament. To win, Li will have to defeat Conor Day, a local bully who’s already proven himself to be a superior fighter, but the boy from Beijing just might have a shot. He begins training again with his old master, and Mr. Han also reaches out to Daniel LaRusso, Mr. Miyagi’s pupil from the original movie, to help beef up the kid’s skills. The Miyagi and Han families share a generations-old connection, and with this unique combination of karate and kung fu, Li becomes a much more formidable fighter than he ever was before. If you think that plot synopsis sounds a bit overstuffed, you’re not wrong. There’s a lot going on in Karate Kid: Legends, and at only about ninety minutes, the film doesn’t have time to fully flesh out all of its characters and subplots. To take just one example, Li’s mother is played by the wonderful Ming-Na Wen, but the actress is woefully underused. Her character spends most of the movie just disapproving of Li’s kung fu training, so Wen doesn’t get to show off her amazing acting chops. To make matters worse, when the woman has an inevitable change of heart in the final act, it feels completely unearned, so this character is just an all-around missed opportunity. Thankfully though, that rushed pace isn’t nearly bad enough to ruin the entire experience. By and large, Karate Kid: Legends makes the most of what it does show, so I walked out of the theater with a big smile on my face. Take Li’s joint karate/kung fu training, for instance. The film flies through some of those scenes a bit too quickly, but it still gives us enough to make the dynamic between Daniel and Mr. Han a real blast. Sometimes their teaching styles betray the connection between their respective traditions, and other times they quibble about the differences between their arts, but no matter what they’re doing, it’s always an absolute joy to watch these two characters interact. The rest of Li’s new “family” are pretty likable as well, but hands down the best character in Karate Kid: Legends is our new karate kid himself. He’s played by Ben Wang, and let me tell you, this guy has what it takes to be a star. Not only does he nail all the emotions Li goes through, but perhaps even more importantly, he just exudes charisma. You simply can’t help but love seeing him on screen, so you’ll have no trouble at all caring about Li, rooting for the kid, and getting deeply invested in his story. Those fun protagonists are the heart and soul of Karate Kid: Legends, but they’re not the only thing this movie has going for it. The martial arts action is pretty good as well, but I have to acknowledge that it’s also a bit of a mixed bag. Let’s start with the good. Unlike in the original The Karate Kid, the majority of these actors can actually fight. Most notably, Ben Wang is one of the most acrobatic martial artists I’ve ever seen on screen, and Jackie Chan is a living legend for a reason. They execute their action scenes with blinding speed and pinpoint accuracy, so when they go all out, it’s truly a sight to behold. On the flipside, these fights sometimes feel like victims of the film’s rushed pace, so as fun as they are, a couple of them are frustratingly short. More egregiously, there are also a handful of times when director Jonathan Entwistle falls prey to the biggest problem that plagues Western action filmmakers–He chops up some of his fight scenes with way too many cuts, so you can’t always see them in all their free-flowing glory. It puts a bit of a damper on what could’ve been some of the best moments of the entire movie, so if you’re a big action fan, you’d do well to temper your expectations a little (but thankfully, only a little!). Last but not least, I want to talk about some of the deeper themes of Karate Kid: Legends. This film deals with the typical ideas you’d expect from a Karate Kid flick–like finding your place in the world, defeating a seemingly invincible bully, and respecting the traditions that have shaped you–and they'll all tug at your heartstrings just like they're supposed to. But if you ask me, the most interesting thing about this movie just might be the new ground it breaks for the franchise. By combining karate and kung fu (as well as kung fu and boxing), the film updates the whole idea of this franchise for a world where mixed martial arts is the most popular combat sport around. Granted, the characters still compete in single-style competitions, so it’s not full-on MMA, but it’s a pretty good middle ground between the original movie's narrower focus and the amazing martial arts fusion we’ve witnessed in the last few decades. It makes for a fun new twist on an old formula, and when you combine it with the (mostly) great characters, fun action, and time-honored themes that have always been part of this franchise, you get a worthy sequel to the original 1984 classic. Sure, Karate Kid: Legends is by no means the best film of the year, and it’s not going to end up on my top-ten list come December. But it gives you everything you want from a Karate Kid flick without feeling like a carbon copy of the movies we’ve seen before, and that’s enough to earn a thumbs up from me. |
Jp Nunezis a longtime film buff and theology nerd with master's degrees in theology and philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville. His favorite movie genres are horror, superheroes, and giant monsters. Archives
July 2025
Categories |
RSS Feed