SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
“From The World of John Wick: Ballerina” had a tough standard to live up to when it came to carving out its own niche in the long standing franchise starring Keanu Reeves. The John Wick movies are known for their high octane fight sequences that often go through multiple chapters in a variety of different venues as Wick navigates a very dangerous world filled.
Ana de Armas, who plays Eve Macarro, an orphan out for revenge for the death, does an excellent job of filling in the lead role in this spinoff set in the WIck universe, but the script leaves something to be desired when it comes to Macarro’s origin story. The audience doesn’t really get a sense of the bond that Macarro has with her family, especially her father who she is out to get revenge for. The lack of depth to Macarro’s backstory makes it hard to invest in her getting revenge, although Gabriel Byrne does a great job playing the lead villain.
Where Ballerina succeeds is in delivering the action that John Wick movies are known for. There’s a learning curve for Macarro, as she trains to navigate living in a world run by The High Table. Once that part of the movie is over and Macarro shines in using the environment to her advantage in ways that will leave you laughing because of how over-the-top ridiculous the give and take between her and her opponents are. The fight scenes that really stand out involve Macarro using grenades and another section where plates are used in a creative way.
John Wick and Baba Yaga make appearances in the movie and they’re done in a way that makes sense and doesn’t seem forced. Wick has a fight scene with Macarro, but Reeves didn’t put nearly the effort in here as he has in some of his more memorable fight scenes in the John Wick franchise. While the Wick character has a darkness to him given that he’s a trained assassin that has killed a countless number of people, Maccaro has a clean slate here and that gives the movie a lighter tone than the other John Wick movies.
Overall score: (8.0): “Ballerina” is a very good addition to the John Wick universe. The Macarro character fits right in and de Armas shines in her role as the lead protagonist and more than delivers the goods in the fight scenes that are the signature of this franchise.
“From the World of John Wick: Ballerina” is now available on Digital, 4K UHD, and Blu-ray.
Marvel’s Thunderbolts*
The MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) has been in a bit of a lull since “Avengers: Endgame.” It is natural for storytelling to have a lull when you’ve reached the highest of the high when it comes to tugging on people’s emotions like “Avengers: Endgame” did. Since that time Marvel has been a similar space to WWE post WrestleMania 40 when Roman Reigns ended his epic title reign dropping the title to Cody Rhodes in a match intentionally or not that had a lot of parallels to “Avengers: Endgame.”
There have been some bright spots since then in the MCU. “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” was an amazing standalone movie with a lot of heart that paid homage to the best aspects of martial arts movies. Several other movies stood out as well, especially the fantastic “Spiderman: No Way Home,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” Vol. 3,” Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Several of the TV series on Disney+ have been enjoyable as well. However, it hasn’t felt like the MCU is headed anywhere important since “Avengers: Endgame.”
With “Marvel’s Thunderbolts*,” it feels like the movie comes at a time when things are on the upswing from a storytelling standpoint, especially with Dr. Doom and The Fantastic Four looming to play a big part in the storytelling in the near future. The movie spends a lot of time on exposition focused on Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the lead antagonist in the movie, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus with Bucky Barnes in his new role as a politician keeping tabs on de Fontaine.
Once the movie gets going the characters that comprise the Thunderbolts get the chance to shine as a band of anti-heroes. Their banter is a lot of fun and is a good contrast to the darker side of the film. As we get to know the characters and how they bond with each other, it’s a lot of fun to watch the movie.
It is hard not to connect with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Red Guardian (David Harbour). They were great in “Black Widow” and fall right back into place here as a fun father-daughter duo in this movie. The way they count on each other is endearing. The relationships between the characters in the group aren’t all that different from the ones that bonded audiences to the characters in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy.
“Marvel’s Deadbolts*” could have used more of the light-hearted scenes, as the darker elements of the movie overshadow them. Bob (Lewis Pullman) and how he became The Sentry. It’s a story that is grim as he struggles with depression and loneliness. On some days he is The Sentry, but on other days he struggles.
Pullman’s portrayal of The Sentry forces the other characters to face the darkness in their own lives and it is not an uplifting part of the movie to get through. The darker parts of the movie are done very well, but they overshadow the lighter parts of the movie that were really enjoyable. When the crew starts their light banter again once the dark elements of the movie take place, it’s hard to be up for the laughs as intended by the makers of the movie.
The meaning of the asterisk in the title ties in the end of the movie, so for those trying to stay spoiler free, I won’t comment, but the reveal of the new title leans into questions about a movie being made about a bunch of characters thrown together that are dropped into a climax meant to bring to memory the iconic Avengers fight scene The Battle New York. One of the post-credit scenes also pretty much spoils how one of the upcoming MCU movies will turn out as well.
Overall score: (7.5) – I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of the Thunderbolts’s characters moving forward. The way the characters interacted and cracked jokes while working together brought back memories of some of the best aspects of what we’ve seen from the MCU in the past. On the other hand, the darker parts of the movies and how they play a large role into how the second half of the movie plays out is hard to get through at times.
“Marvel’s Thunderbolts*” is now available to purchase on Digital, 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD.
Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow him on X @SR_Torch and BluSky @SeanRadican.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.