The following contains spoilers for From the World of John Wick: Ballerina.Ballerina introduces Ana de Armas’ Eve Maccaro to the Keanu Reeves-led franchise and shapes to change the meaning of a major quote. Taking place around and after John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the spinoff, which is now in theaters, sees Eve training to become an ᴀssᴀssin at the Ruska Ruma under the direction of the Director after her father’s murder.
Not lacking action sequences, the highly explosive Ballerina spinoff has dragged Eve through highly dangerous situations similar to the previous John Wick movies. As a long-time fan of the franchise, I’m impressed by how the new spinoff revolves almost entirely around flipping the meaning of one key phrase that occurred fairly early.
“Fight Like A Girl” Becomes The Motto Throughout Ballerina
Nogi Quotes This As A Key Part Of Eve’s Training
The line, “fight like a girl,” was first introduced during Eve’s training sequence. After having seen de Armas’ ᴀssᴀssin-in-training trying and failing several times, Nogi pointed out Eve’s fatal weakness and the reality that she would never be able to compete with a male opponent by strength-matching or through direct confrontation. The moment served as a pivotal moment in Eve’s transformation. In the next training scene, she delivered a classic crotch hit to defeat her stronger opponent, a relatively predictable act that can be seen in other action movies featuring a female action hero. However, the fight sequences in the second half of the film show that Eve has taken the advice to heart.
De Armas has discussed doing a lot of training for Ballerina, including martial arts disciplines, firearms handling, and choreography.
Eve learned to leverage her strength and save her energy as an ᴀssᴀssin. In close combat, she utilized her speed and height to take enemies out after luring them close. When facing multiple ᴀssᴀssins, she would improvise based on location. Unlike John Wick, who leverages his suit and delivers most of his kills through headsH๏τs, Eve doesn’t stick to conventional weapons. Throughout the film, she used a box of grenades to escape from a weapons shop and barely touched a gun. During later confrontations at the village, she made use of a flamethrower and then a fire extinguisher, which marked a first in the John Wick franchise and has successfully turned a single line of advice into a motto for “fight smarter, not harder.”
Ballerina’s “Fight Like A Girl” Exemplifies Women’s Strength, Adaptability, & Intelligence
Eve Shows These Incredible Skills Throughout Ballerina
De Armas’ ᴀssᴀssin is a very layered killer, and Ballerina has made each action sequence more than mindless gore by showing her unique approach. The training Eve acquired at the Ruska Roma only contributed a small part to her survival in the underground criminal world. As the ᴀssᴀssin entered the dangerous world of killers, she came face to face with many experienced ᴀssᴀssins who were much more lethal than anyone she had trained with, which made a huge part of Ballerina‘s action sequences about her discovery.
Eve’s wit shines through when facing dangerous situations. These examples include when she’s trapped in a place where she doesn’t have access to a usable gun, or when she has to enter a fight without a weapon. Eve analyzes her enemies and situations and adapts to her environment before making use of everything in her sight, whereas John Wick relies mostly on his experience and his weapon of choice.
At the same time, her ability to endure enemies’ attacks and bounce back every time shows her strength as a female fighter.
The scene where she dragged out a fire extinguisher to go head-to-head with a flamethrower is genius. In addition to that, Eve has used a kitchen knife, a pair of skates, and a hammer, among many others. At the same time, her ability to endure enemies’ attacks and bounce back every time shows her strength as a female fighter.
I’m Glad Ballerina Changed The Mindset About “Fight Like A Girl”
It’s Not Used As A Sign Of Weakness
“Fight like a girl” is usually used to mock a fighter’s lack of strength, but Ballerina has made the saying a motto for strength and resilience, which is very empowering. It becomes a lingering theme, where the credits even play Evanescence’s “Fight Like a Girl” to seal the deal. Throughout cinema’s history, there have been many female ᴀssᴀssins portrayed on screen, but very few projects have directly portrayed their strength in direct confrontations the way the John Wick franchise approaches de Armas’ Eve.
Female ᴀssᴀssins, for example, in Killing Eve, are portrayed as lethal, creative in kills, and excellent at camouflage, but they rarely have the same amount of action sequences. Kill Bill‘s Biatrix Kiddo makes a rare exception. Ballerina seems to only push that further by not backing away from direct confrontation. Instead, the film redefined “fighting like a girl” by having the entire film revolve around Eve’s action sequences. She is very lethal and creative, and she doesn’t run from a fight, whether it’s close combat with the Baba Yaga or when she’s cornered by an army.
