Ballerina (2025) review

This John Wick franchise spin-off involves Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) - an orphan who witnessed her father's murder - who gets "adopted" at a young age by hotelier Winston (Ian McShane) and trained to be both a ballerina and an assassin (what a combo!) by a woman known as the Director (Anjelica Huston), only to become fixated on hunting down the cult - with the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne) as their leader - who killed dear old dad.  Granted the viewer can accept the familiar "revenge plot" and, more importantly, overlook the fact that the petite Ms. De Armas is seemingly able to physically dominate grown men twice her size, this is easily one of the most enjoyable popcorn movies of the 2025 Summer Season, since it's relentless, at least tries to get creative with the action sequences (death by ice skates! fire versus water!) and also incorporates the Baba Yaga himself (Keanu Reeves) into the carnage.  Wiseman is credited as the director and Shay Hatten is listed as the sole screenwriter although it's been noted elsewhere that Wick filmmaker Chad Stahelski had to step in for reshoots and multiple individuals (including Emerald Fennell!) had a hand in reshaping the script ... but even in its patched-up form it's still a hoot.