On the movie Ballerina. CW: graphic violence, guns, blood/gore, etc. within the context of the movie itself; occasionally fantastic language on my part. No spoilers. 🙂
First off, there's a warning just before the film actually starts, for those with photosensitive epilepsy and whatnot. That's not a concern I have, but there are some scenes with rapidly flashing lights, so the warning is probably warranted in all honesty.
Most of the acting most of the time, and without limitation the lighting, the editing, the cinematography, the way color is used, the way the score is used—hell, the way liquid blood is used, while we're at it—the stunt work, etc. are all absolutely outstanding.
I'm not going as far as to suggest that the kills in this movie are creative enough to give any entry in the Final Destination franchise a run for its money; I'm going as far as to say outright that the kills in this movie are creative enough to give the Hitman franchise in its entirety a run for its money. We see someone hanged from a balcony after being duct taped with a hand grenade. We see someone beaten unconscious with a TV remote while watching the channel on said TV change with every hit, which is just hilarious. We see someone get wrapped in a comically large plastic bag and then shot with a 12 gauge, and the bag turn red. We see people take turns beating each other over the head with dishes, while they're both frantically searching for the gun that's at the bottom of said pile of dishes, which is also just hilarious. We see a door booby trapped with a gun, a rope, and a fork, which is probably exactly what you're picturing in your head right now. You already know about the scene involving the flamethrower if you've seen the trailer; you should know that the flamethrowers, plural, actually get a decent amount of screen time, which is fucking awesome.
I could go on; you get the idea.
This is all shown almost exclusively in the form of long, wide shots, and I can't recall shaky cam having been been used to any extent worth mentioning at any point, and I was looking for it. Seriously: the average shot length during the heaviest action scenes is somewhere in the ballpark of three seconds, at least, by my estimate.
This is how action movies are supposed to be.
I wish I could give everyone involved in the making of this movie, from Keanu Reeves himself all the way down to Best Boy Key Grip or whoever the fuck, a fucking hug right now.
#ballerina #movies #review #moviereview
