A&E: Some Gems In The Rough

Ballerina, Becoming Zeppelin, and a note on the Superman drama.

Sometimes, sometimes, the film world gets it right.

What I’m watching:

BALLERINA —

Good grief I couldn’t love this film enough. I’ve watched it twice now. The latest in the John Wick universe involves a Ruska Roma ballerina who graduates to assassin level, a.k.a. kikimora, Eve Macarro.

I wasn’t sure what to expect of Ana de Armas, but she was great in the actions scenes for No Time To Die and was splendid in this role. Eve is a callback to when female action stars were realistic, feminine, and vulnerable, like Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor or Sigourney Weaver as Ripley. She wasn’t styled or choreographed to fight like John Wick or be as powerful as John Wick. Her fight choreography was designed for her, a smaller-framed woman. As such, she has to be faster and improvise.

It was realistic. She’s a revenant spirit similar to Wick and both are motivated by heartbreaking pain and her rage, like Wick’s powers her endurance. She does not outshine Wick as a younger, female assassin, a point made during one scene in particular. The film is respectful of the world that Wick built, the audience, and frankly, it’s respectful of women. Women have limitations but advantages, too, and the film doesn’t insult us by trying to sell us on something that we are not and can never be. Because of this, the realistic fight choreography, the excellent firearm training (by my friend Taran Butler), it was a blast of a movie. It’s now also streaming for home viewing.