More than two years after Keanu Reeves’ once seemingly unkillable ᴀssᴀssin last took to the big screen in John Wick: Chapter 4, the hit action franchise is back again with a new cinematic adventure: Len Wiseman’s From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. In the time since the last installment, the franchise released its first spinoff, Peacock’s The Continental, and put several additional projects into development. As a fan of the original movies, I confess that Ballerina excited me the most, purely due to its very new heroine.

Does Ballerina live up to the high standards set by the previous movies? Honestly, not really. But did I have a good time watching it? For sure. Ballerina is an interesting movie to discuss because, in some ways, you can really feel the ambition and excitement of the creative team. There are so many compelling ideas here; the problem is that, rather than sorting out the best ones, writer Shay Hatten ended up stuffing them all in.

There have been reports regarding reshoots and how involved John Wick director Chad Stahelski was. At this point, I can only evaluate Ballerina as it stands now, and while I suspect some elements won’t be for everyone, it certainly makes for a fascinating addition to the John Wick franchise. Chronologically, it slots in between Chapter 3 – Parabellum and Chapter 4, though it’s probably best to avoid thinking about the specifics of that too hard.

Ballerina Is Ambitious – To A Fault

It Can’t Decide What Kind Of Movie To Be

As a lengthy prologue informs us, our new protagonist is Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas), who joined the Ruska Roma clan as a young girl after her father (The Umbrella Academy‘s David Castañeda) was killed by a tribe of ᴀssᴀssins. Similarly to John Wick, Eve is driven by vengeance, though it admittedly takes quite a while for Ballerina to get to that point. For a movie that’s only an hour and a half, too much time is spent on other elements of the plot before we get to the crux of the story — and what ultimately drives Eve.

Said mission, by the way, has very little to do with the main plot, but it does take place in a very cool club. The John Wick franchise has always been one of the most stylish ones out there, and Ballerina does meet that high bar through its numerous striking locations, from the Prague Continental to a snow-covered mountainous village that becomes the setting for the third act.

Each place provides ample opportunity for dynamic action sequences, and it becomes a real thrill watching how Eve adapts to each environment. Her resourcefulness as a fighter is a highlight, making for some inventive and exciting fight scenes. They gave me the same exhilarating feeling as the main John Wick movies, even if they occasionally lack the polish of those scenes.

Gorgeous visuals and quality action aside, Ballerina suffers from a bit of an idenтιтy crisis. It can’t tell if it wants to be an origin story, a straightforward revenge tale in the vein of the first John Wick, or a mythology-heavy franchise installment. Rather than picking a very specific lane, it attempts to hit all three beats to varying degrees of success. Sure, it’s cool to get a peek at the inner workings of the Ruska Roma and learn how Eve was raised, but the aforementioned first ᴀssignment is extraneous, and the lessons Eve learns are reinforced in a heavy-handed way throughout the rest of the runtime.

Ballerina Takes Some Big Swings In Expanding The John Wick Universe

It Mostly Works, Thanks To Ana De Armas

Eventually, Eve turns her sights on the group that targeted her father, which is led by The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). For a long while, everyone treats this tribe as a horrifying cult that is not to be messed with. Everyone from The Director to a member of said group, Norman Reedus’ underused Daniel Pine, refers to them in broadly ominous lines of dialogue that almost gets silly. If you have to keep telling us how awful these people are, are they not so awful that we can decide that for ourselves? At the very least, it sets high expectations for Eve’s inevitable collision with The Chancellor.

Eve’s introduction to their community injects some absurd hilarity into the movie, but the humor eventually runs the risk of becoming unintentionally ridiculous. Ballerina takes a more over-the-top approach to things than the John Wick movies do, and while the spinoff deserves an idenтιтy of its own, it does somewhat put it at odds with what we’ve seen before. Even as it strains to be its own thing, it’s still got time for brief scenes with Winston and Charon (the late Lance Reddick, whose appearance is bittersweet, yet comforting).

As for Baba Yaga himself, Ballerina trailers have already shown that Wick has a small role. His initial scene feels more forced than I’d hoped, but a later sequence supplies that desired rush of excitement at seeing Reeves in the role once again. It reminds us that, in this world, no one is better than him, but Eve is very much cut from the same cloth. De Armas solidifies her status as a bona fide action star, throwing herself into each fight scene with a scrappy energy that sets her apart from Wick. Above all else, I loved getting the chance to spend time with this character.

There are numerous other John Wick projects in development, including a spinoff centered on Donnie Yen’s Caine, an animated prequel, and a fifth movie with Reeves’ Wick. Ballerina proves that this is still a rich world with numerous storytelling avenues. I only worry that, if the new projects aren’t well-thought-out, this carefully constructed universe will begin to fall apart. There are plot holes here that threaten to grow wider if a strong timeline and boundaries aren’t established.

Nevertheless, we’ll likely see more of Eve in the future, as Ballerina leaves ample room for a sequel and there’s little question that de Armas is up to the task of leading it. Her first outing is largely a rush of violent, thrilling action, entertainingly served up for the big screen, but it isn’t without its problems. I just hope that if this killer gets to dance again, she’s better served by a more streamlined narrative.

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina arrives in theaters Friday, June 6.