This was a good blind watch. John Wick spin-off came early. People coming in will be expecting a Wick-kind of fight choreography, but you won’t get it here. This is a more realistic take on a revenge film. Limited budget and not a master assassin kind of a female heroine. The premise was simple, vengeance for a friend. Directed by Chung-Hyun Lee, who also did The Call (2020).

The main attraction this film has to offer are their fight scenes, it was choreographed well, though the editing did so many cuts that it makes me wonder if the actress wasn’t able to perform the stunts well, hence the cuts. But regardless, the end product was still very entertaining. The only thing I didn’t like much about the fight scenes was the camera work. It was a mixture of static, handheld, and POV style. It was dizzying and it took away my focus from the fight itself, because I had to keep track of what was happening.

With a lackluster narrative, the film wasn’t able to connect emotionally with it’s audience, thus having no impact to the story. It generally lacked dialogue. I know they were going for the tension build-up, but unfortunately it just became a silent, dull moment. Felt like a waste of time and opportunity to tell a story. Most of the important dialogues were during the flashbacks. Those were the important parts of the film that could make the audience fall for our heroine and feel her sadness and desperation towards her goal.

Like I mentioned earlier, this was a more realistic take compared to a John Wick kind of a film. The protagonist had little to no budget. Using worn-out, and even jammed up guns from an old couple with a party van. At first I was expecting that the van was a cover up for a mobile armory, but what you see is what you get. Her charm comes from her grittiness, her refusal to give up and her nothing-to-lose attitude. This is the kind of female lead I could get into.

Jeon Jong-Seo (Okju) portrayed her character, the bodyguard, very well. Showing how she has no emotions whatsoever, that state became her default emotion. A lifeless, ruthless, bodyguard. But even then, she can switch to her human side when she’s with her friend, the ballerina. Main antagonist (Dexter vibes, USB), Her supposed side kick had a distinct expression, it was like a doll’s—lifeless, and full of hopelessness, you know she’s been so much just by looking at her eyes. The main antagonist, the s*x trafficker, was well casted. He was slick yet rugged, definitely fits the character he was playing. I also loved the concept of his collection of USB flash drives, much like Dexter’s blood slide boxes.

The music in Ballerina was great. The great fight scene towards the end, the music used there was perfect. Also the one they used for the ringing tone, I think was part of the OST Blood on my hands, produced by GRAY.

There were two details that felt off with me. First, the lack of guns of the syndicate group, I doubt they didn’t have money to buy some. But I guess they did that in purpose so as to initiate a melee combat and have more intense fight scenes. Second was the strobe light on the phone. Who in their right mind puts it on strobe, especially when you’re trying to hide from someone? That part didn’t make any sense for me. It felt like a nonsense detail.

All in all, Ballerina was a satisfying revenge film. Specially when you see the culmination of all her hard work and how the revenge was carried out. It’s a good action film with a female lead. Proper fight scenes, though lacking in narrative, the action scenes made up for it. Being that this is a Korean film, expect some dramatic cinematography moments. Recommending this for revenge-film fans who craves a satisfying ending.