This week sees the cinema release of Ballerina, the first in a series of planned spin-off movies from the incredibly successful John Wick action franchise.
Focusing on a new character, Eve, portrayed by Ana de Armas (No Time to Die), the film follows the exploits of a young orphan who is recruited into the secret Ruska Roma organisation, where she is raised as a deadly assassin.
Once unleashed into the world, however, Eve applies her new skill set to track down the gangsters responsible for murdering her father.
Adopting a more grounded approach than the operatic staging of its predecessors, Ballerina only truly comes to life during its elaborate action set pieces, many of which were apparently overseen by John Wick series director Chad Stahelski during substantial reshoots.
The inclusion of Keanu Reeves’ eponymous anti-hero also betrays a lack of confidence that Ballerina can attract an audience solely on its own merits – something Donnie Yen Ji-dan might want to consider as he embarks on his own John Wick spin-off, based on his character from John Wick: Chapter 4.
While not the best example of its genre, Ballerina nevertheless continues a long-standing tradition of female assassin films that stretches back decades.