Ballerina: Wick or wack?
Mark your calendar for a special screening next week: A Photographic Memory Monday, June 23, 7pm with filmmaker Rachel Seed at Arts + Literature Laboratory
Click here for Now Showing in Madison, June 16–23, 2025
Just a few notes before going into the main content for this week.
Now that I better understand the options available to me with the Paid Subscription posts on Thursday, the weekly videos will be available in the free preview section of the posts so that everyone can see them. In the future there will also be audio/video material in the Paid Subscription posts that will be restricted to Paid Subscribers, but the main video will circulate more widely.
I goofed up on the Thursday movie listings: Housefull 5 only played one day last week. I assumed it would play the rest of the weekend, at least. I’m still working out the kinks of assembling the movie listings so that they’re as accurate as possible. But between odd scheduling at the theater chains and occasional omissions when I use Notebook LM to compile the listings, I don’t think I’m ever going to get 100% accuracy in any given week. Please always consult the venue websites if you’re interested in a particular film or screening.
Finally, join Andy Adams from FlakPhoto News and myself for a screening of A Photographic Memory, with filmmaker Rachel Seed in-person, one week from tonight at Arts + Literature Laboratory, Monday, June 23, 7:00pm. Rachel is making a special trip to Madison after her Chicago appearance this weekend. Keep your eyes open for a Cap Times interview with Rachel tomorrow or Wednesday.
From the World of Moving Image Madison: A Ballerina Review
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina | Len Wiseman | USA | 2025 | 125 minutes
Viewed at AMC Fitchburg 18, Sunday, June 15, 2025
I will reference the New York Times video with Len Wiseman embedded above, but I should point out that the video and Wiseman’s commentary does contain a spoiler that I think would diminish a first time viewer’s experience of watching the film, especially the last third. And so, buy extension, I guess I spoil it, too. I guess neither Wiseman nor the New York Times care about that. I also have to point out my profound disappointment that Len Wiseman does not actually sound like Paul F. Tompkins on Comedy Bang Bang.
The tl;dr is that overall I marginally liked Ballerina, even though it did not hit any of the sweet spots that I admire about the John Wick franchise. Ballerina raises some interesting questions about genre filmmaking in general and popular franchises in particular. How much do we want new films to meet our expectations in relation to previous films, and how much innovation and variation do we want from the equation or formula? Equation makes it sound more like a mathematician working out the right balance; formula makes it sound “formulaic,” like someone churning out a copy of what worked last time. Generally speaking, I think we want to see what we have enjoyed in previous films and we go to sequels because we have expectations, but we want great genre films to introduce a degree of innovation and one-upmanship to out perform its predecessors and competitors.
What do I like about the John Wick films, and what to I want to see when I go to them? First, I like the inventiveness and sheer audacity of the action and fight choreography. Second, I enjoy the equally audacious and flamboyant mise-en-scene, both in terms of the set design and the color palette. And third, I like how the fight choreography and the mise-en-scene become more audacious and ambitious through the course of a given film, out-doing earlier scenes in the same film as well as scenes in the previous films. So, like a lot of viewers, I want the same, but different.
What Ballerina chooses to concentrate on, however, is the world-building of the Wick-iverse, which I’ve never been as interested in as the three qualities listed above. The clans and families in the Wick films have become more cartoonish as the series has progressed, so I’m not particularly interested in their histories beyond how they intersect with John Wick. When Wick leaves a meeting with this family or that clan leader, I’ve never really asked myself, “Hmm, I wonder what they’re going to do with the rest their day.” Okay, maybe I’ve been curious about the day-to-day life of Winston Scott (Ian McShane’s character), but not enough to tune into The Continental television series (Peacock, 2023). I’m even less interested in The Director, played by Angelica Houston in Chapter 3 – Parabellum. But here we are, with more about the Ruska Roma crime syndicate.
Winston Scott brings young Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) to The Director after Eve’s father has been killed by a competing clan, who appear to be more like a cult, led by The Chancelor (Gabriele Byrne). Eve grows up within the Ruska Roma, training both as a ballerina and as a contract killer. When she is let out into the real world, it is not long before she finds clues pointing to the people who killed her father. Vengeance ensues.
The first John Wick did attempt to introduce some variation on the revenge narrative by having it triggered by the killing of Wick’s dog. (Sure, it’s about more than the dog; it’s about his last living connection to his deceased wife, but you know what I mean). So making Ballerina such a straight forward family revenge plot is already mining in familiar territory rather than staking on new ground.
But how does Ballerina fare in the three areas that I admire most about the John Wick franchise? In those areas, I’d give it somewhere around a C+ for much of the film, improving to a B- for the last act. Ironically, it was Ballerina’s variation from one Wick convention that I admired the most in the last third of the film.
In terms of fight choreography, there’s just something a bit off here. I think part of it has to do with when people do or don’t have guns available to them. There’s a warped logic to how this works in the Wick films, but here there are simply too many times someone simply should have shot Eva and walked away. There’s a fantastic long-ish take that starts with Eva driving out of an alleyway into the distance, only to have the car plowed into back into the alleyway closer to the camera as someone fires a machine gun into her car. The visual conceit is too great for its own good, because her escape doesn’t really make any sense. Not that I need John Wick action scenes to make sense (I seem to have no problem with bullet-proof suit jacket material) but I do want the world to follow its own unique rules once it has established them.
Perhaps more important is that the fight choreography here lacks the distinct rhythm and crisp movements of the Wick franchise. I’m actually surprised (except for one detail, which I’ll come back to) that director Wiseman selected the fight scene that he did for the New York Times video embedded above as a showcase. This fight seems flat and uninspired to me. It is interesting to hear Wiseman’s comment about the tight spaces on location in relation to the rehearsal spaces where they worked out the preliminary fight choreography. The results here seem like a mish-mash of the actors moving around and hitting each other.
I had to look up David Bordwell’s quote contrasting Hollywood fight scenes with Hong Kong fight scenes: “If Hollywood movies sketch a pervasive but often inexact sense of physical action, the Hong Kong norm aims to maximize the action’s legibility.”1 I’ll have to do some digging to see if Bordwell ever commented on the fight choreography in John Wick, but I’m willing to bet he’d at least say that Wick was on the legibility side of the scale, especially in relation to the more conventional Hollywood fights in Ballerina.
What is close to that kind of crispness and legibility is the fight with the dishes as Ava and her opponent search for the gun at the end of the New York Times clip above, but only at the very end of it. Again, most of it is a mish-mash of movement, but near the end there are a few moments when distinct clear movements combined with crisp edits produce that unique energy that I missed in most of Ballerina.
While most of the plate fight is a mish-mash of movement, Wiseman is right that the birds-eye camera angle is very funny, and it is the kind of stylistic playfulness that again is typical of the Wick films but not seen enough in Ballerina. The most memorable example of this kind of stylistic audacity is the video-game like birds-eye view of the fight with the explosive bullets in John Wick: Chapter 4. There are a few fleeting moments like this in Ballerina, like a few shots involving flame-throwers. But for the most part Ballerina lacks the imagination and the interest in one-upmanship that drives the rest of the Wick franchise.
That said, I did admire how, in the third act, Ballerina got us away from the highly stylized fighting spaces with saturated colors with strategically placed glass to fall through that have become a trademark for the Wick franchise. When Ballerina tries to mimic the saturated, glass filled Wick-esque location, like in the ice-themed club in the first act, it fails to match the visual interest that we have become accustomed to in the Wick films.
Also, as an aside: Can the reported changes in Gen Z bar culture, drinking less, being more budget conscious, continue to support the elaborate clubs that are needed for contemporary action films? I mean, how are the owners of the ice-themed bar in Ballerina ever going to make a profit with so little alcohol sales and so much overhead? Feel free to comment below.
The third act, on the other hand, begins with a great reveal and transition to a scenario that starts to build upon its own audacity and crazy energy as Eve (and we) discover what we have gotten ourselves into. We’re all familiar with the old Western trope of someone walking into a saloon, the customers nervously leaving in anticipation of trouble. What Eve finds in a cafe that sells ballerina music boxes, like the one her father gave her before he died, is a very entertaining variation on that trope.
The third act does not completely transcend the issues I had with the first two acts. And the third act does have a relatively lame attempt to weave John Wick into the Eve’s narrative. But overall Ballerina is entertaining, if not engaging enough to warrant other excursions into the wider Wick-iverse. I’ll just wait until they figure out how to bring John Wick back for John Wick 5, which they of course are working on as you read this.
Now Playing In Madison: June 16 to June 23, 2025
The Monday listings are now updates of the listings assembled on Thursdays for the Paid Subscription posts. The Monday listings still provide the best information available at the time of publication, but will not include many Thursday/Friday openings. Always confirm screening times with the venues.
Wisconsin Union Directorate Film
BOOKSMART 6/16
THE BIRDCAGE 6/23
Cinesthesia, Madison Public Library Central Branch
COOLEY HIGH 6/18
Arts + Literature Laboratory
THE NETTLE DRESS, 6/22, 7:00pm
Textile artist Allan Brown spends seven years making a dress by hand from foraged stinging nettles, all picked on the South Downs near Brighton. Free screening of the documentary by Dylan Howitt, presented by Midwest Linen Revival as part of their Field to Frock events.
A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY, filmmaker Rachel Seed in person, 6/23, 7:00PM
A Photographic Memory is an intimate, genre-bending portrait of filmmaker Rachel Seed’s trailblazing mother, Sheila Turner Seed – a vibrant and pioneering journalist, photographer, and filmmaker, who died suddenly and tragically when Rachel was just 18 months old. Free screening presented by FlakPhoto. Rachel Seed will attend the screening and participate in a Q&A session. See trailer embedded at the top of this post.
AMC Theatres, Flix Brewhouse, Marcus Theatres
28 YEARS LATER (2025) playing at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
Both director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland are in a very different place than when they created 28 Days Later in 2002. I don’t think I ever got around to seeing 28 Weeks Later (2007). . .would I remember it if i did? So my interest in this is based on liking the first film. I doubt that I need to remember or know anything going in except “this has the fast zombies.”
AMC SCREEN UNSEEN: JUNE 16 playing at AMC.
AMC SCREEN UNSEEN: JUNE 23 playing at AMC.
BALLERINA (2025) playing at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
In addition to my review above, here’s one from Rob Thomas.
BIRDCAGE, THE playing at Flix.
Flix Faves series.
BRIDE HARD (2025) playing at AMC, Palace, Point.
Bridesmaids with guns, I guess? Starring Colleen Camp and Rebel Wilson, directed by journeyman action director Simon West.
BRING HER BACK (2025) playing at AMC, Point.
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN: 20TH ANNIVERSARY (2025) playing at AMC, Palace, Point.
BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER playing at Flix.
Flix Faves series.
CRITICAL ROLE LIVE: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA playing at Palace, Point.
Huh, so this is, like, a thing: the “Critical Role Passport” at Marcus will get you tickets to the four screenings celebrating the 10th anniversary of Critical Role, the web series where professional voice actors play Dungeons & Dragons.
DAN DA DAN: EVIL EYE (2025) playing at AMC, Palace, Point.
Consult venues for Dubbed and Subtitled versions.
DANGEROUS ANIMALS playing at AMC, Point
From Ben Reiser’s Facebook feed: “When both Jim Healy and Ant Timpson recommend the same movie to you in one day, you heed the call. DANGEROUS ANIMALS is a delight. Soooo should have just been called SERIAL KILLER PLUS SHARKS.”
DOGMA: RESURRECTED! A 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION (2025) playing at AMC.
ELIO (2025) playing at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
The new Pixar. Wow, I just looked at a list of Pixar features and discovered that I haven’t seen the last seven of them! (I should have seen Inside Out 2, at least.) That said, I don’t think I’m going to rush out and see this one.
FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES (2025) playing at AMC, Palace, and Point.
FINDING FAITH (HEALED BY JESUS) playing at Palace, Point.
FRIENDSHIP (2025) playing at AMC, Flix, Point.
HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON playing at Palace, Point.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (2025) playing at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (2025) playing at Palace, Point.
Fathom Entertainment screening.
KARATE KID: LEGENDS (2025) playing at AMC, Palace, Point.
LIFE OF CHUCK, THE (2025) playing at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
LILO & STITCH (2025) playing at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
MARCUS MYSTERY MOVIE - 06/23 playing at Palace, Point.
MATERIALISTS (2025) playing at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS playing at AMC.
Part of the Silver Screen series for seniors, but all are welcome. Thursday, June 19, 1:30pm.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - THE FINAL RECKONING (2025) playing at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
PHOENICIAN SCHEME, THE (2025) playing at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY 15TH ANNIVERSARY - STUDIO GHIBLI FEST 2025, THE playing at AMC, Palace, and Point.
Ghibli Fest continues with this 2012 feature adaptation of Mary Norton’s The Borrowers, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi.
SINNERS (2025) playing at AMC, Flix.
SING 2 (2021) playing at Flix.
SLOTH STORY, A playing at Palace and Point.
The sketchy children’s animated feature of the week.
SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE playing at Flix.
THUNDERBOLTS (2025)* playing at AMC.
TO THE ARCTIC playing at AMC.
UNHOLY TRINITY, THE (2025) playing at AMC.
Looking Ahead:
UW-Cinematheque
Cinematheque programming will resume on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays June 25 through August 1. A more detailed preview is forthcoming.
THE ELEPHANT MAN 6/25, 7:00pm
One of several David Lynch films at the Ctek this summer.
A MAN AND A WOMAN 6/26, 7:00pm
THE CAT 6/27, 7:00pm
Chazen Museum
SHEETLA | Anamika Singh | 2025 | 24 minutes
In conjunction with "Corpus, an exhibition by Anamika Singh", come view Singh’s related film Sheetla (24 minutes, 2025) in the Chazen Auditorium on June 25. The film follows the Hindi language daily journal Jan Morcha and its role in reporting the highly contested desecration of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Faizabad in 1992. Singh titled the film in honor of her grand uncle, Sheetla Singh, a prominent editor, journalist and union leader in north India. Read Grant Phipps’s preview at Tone Madison.
Book Launch Event & Screening: Marcus Palace Theater
THEM! (1954), Saturday, June 28, 4:30pm
A screening of the classic creature feature, introduced by Rob Thomas from City Cast Madison and Not That Rob Thomas. This will be followed by a book signing event celebrating the release of Tick Town, the debut novel by local author Christopher A. Micklos. The book signing will take place in the Palace’s Take Five Lounge, approximately 6:15pm.
I believe the source of this quote is “Aesthetics in Action: Kung Fu, Gunplay and Cinematic Expression,” but the idea is also expanded upon in Planet Hong Kong. I found the quote (because I knew I’d find a version of it somewhere) after a panicked search in order to post today in Henry Jenkins thoughtful summary of Bordwell’s ideas about action cinema, “‘John Woo Is God!’: David Bordwell, Popular Aesthetics, and Hong Kong Action Cinema.”