David R. Walker

Posts Tagged ‘Anjelica Huston’

Ballerina

Director: Len Wiseman

Cast: Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Keanu Reeves, Gabriel Byrne, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, Lance Riddick, Sharon Duncan-Brewster

Running Time: 2 hours and 4 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

Total Recall and Die Hard 4.0 director Len Wiseman returns to directing feature films after a long time in Television as he helms the new John Wick spin off film Ballerina starring Oscar nominee Ana de Armas (Blonde) as ballerina orphan turned assassin who is lethal with a flame thrower.

Audiences need to suspend their disbelief as they re-enter the John Wick universe which is hyper stylized, murky and extremely dangerous. This is a world filled with the Continental Hotels which is basically a B n B for contract killers. Obviously Keanu Reeves is back as John Wick but in Ballerina Ana de Armas firmly takes centre stage in an action film which is incredibly violent and filled with blood lust as the fighting intensifies when Eve travels from the sleek skyscrapers of New York to the bohemian mountains outside Prague to track down the evil tribe responsible for her father’s death.

Ballerina operates on one level as a revenge thriller and on another as a coming of age story of a female assassin who escapes from the beady eyed supervision of The Director wonderfully played with heavy makeup and attitude by Oscar winner Anjelica Huston (Prizzi’s Honour) who adds a level of panache to a film about lethal assassins.

The villain in this piece is The Chancellor played by Irish actor Gabriel Byrne (Vanity Fair, The Usual Suspects) who heads up a cultish tribe whose only mantra is to kill people in a village in the Bohemian mountains.

When The Chancellor’s son Daniel Pine played by Norman Reedus tries to escape the cult with his young daughter, Pine meets up with the Ballerina Eve and literally all hell breaks loose.

Eve fights the whole village and even John Wick is called in to eliminate Eve but she proves to be more than he can contend with. In a bid for her own independence, Eve learns to fight like a girl and use all explosives necessary.

Ballerina is big on lush stylization, dramatic settings like New York nightclubs and snow covered Bohemian villages with killer inhabitants but unfortunately the narrative is a bit weak despite the appearance of a host of John Wick stars including the late Lance Riddick, Ian McShane as Winston and Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Nogi. There is an astonishingly fresh appearance by Oscar nominee Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace) as Lena the short lived relative, but her screen time like that of Norman Reedus is too short to be savoured. If the screenwriters were clever they would have given these minor characters more of a back story.

Ballerina is heavy on violence and light on plot, saved by great filming, superb fighting scenes and a heroine that proves that female action stars are forces to be reckoned with. It’s an entertaining film with outlandish characters brandishing weapons from samurai swords to hammers, from grenades to guns.

Recommended strictly for fans of the John Wick film franchise, Ballerina gets a film rating of 7 out of 10. Watch this film if you like your ballerina carrying flame throwers and not bouquets.

John Wick 3 – Parabellum

Director: Chad Stahelski

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Anjelica Huston, Said Taghmaoui, Jerome Flynn, Robin Lord Taylor, Jason Mantzoukas

Director Chad Stahelski assembles an all-star cast for the action packed third installment of the John Wick franchise including Oscar winner Halle Berry (Monster’s Ball) as fellow assassin Sofia along with the fabulous Oscar winner Anjelica Huston (Prizzi’s Honour) as the Director. Naturally the superfit Keaun Reeves (Dangerous Liaisons, My Own Private Idaho, The Matrix) reprises his role as the uber cool assassin John Wick who is on the run after committing a sacrificial act by killing a member of the Assassin’s Guild on the grounds of the lavish Continental Hotel in New York City.

In John Wick 3, Parabellum a bounty is placed on Wick’s head and even the shady Russian mafia cannot assist him as the adjudicator comes for his head, featuring a supremely wicked performance by the androgynous actress Asia Kate Dillon who is so brilliant as the mathematical investment banker in the series Billions.

As the rain-soaked atmospheric and hyper-realistic action moves from New York City to Casablanca and then back again, John Wick and his ally Sofia manage to annihilate every assassin which comes for them. There are Ninjas on motorbikes, there is John Wick riding a horse down a Manhattan street. There are vicious dogs which attack a fellow Moroccan based assassin Berrada played by Game of Thrones star Jerome Flynn.

The coolest cast members by far are Ian McShane as the sophisticated unflappable manager of the Continental Winston and Laurence Fishburne who reprises his role as the Bowery King.

Audiences can expect triple the amount of action, unbelievable production design, outlandish stunts and non-stop hyper-realistic entertainment which just continually builds on what the previous two films started. Expect an unbelievably high body count.

John Wick 3 – Parabellum is not for everyone but will certainly satisfy the bloody palate of  insatiable action fans. Keanu Reeves delivers as the muscular non-stop assassin who doesn’t even shed his trademark black suit and tie in the middle of the Sahara as he continually battles the bizarre code of the High Council and the strange Assassin’s Guild where everyone is out for each other’s blood.

The sets are amazing, the action frenetic and audiences will either love or hate the hyper-realism but stylistically director Chad Stahelski out does himself to ensure that the third instalment of John Wick is a symphony of death and destruction which satisfies a broad range of international fans. Audiences should look out for a great cameo by French Moroccan star Said Taghmaoui (Wonder Woman, The Infiltrator) as The Elder.

John Wick 3 – Parabellum gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and is strictly for hard core action fans otherwise anyone else watching might find the film laughable.