Written by Sam Clark 

Certificate: 15 

Running time: 125 minutes 

Director: Len Wiseman 

The first time that a stuntman had directed a film was way back in 1977 when Hal Needham (perhaps the most successful and well known stuntman in Hollywood history) directed ''Smokey and The Bandit'', starring the late great Burt Reynolds. The idea and novelty of a stuntperson directing a film seemed genius. The reason being that all of the action is being directed by someone who does dangerous stunt work as a profession, as oppose to a normal director who has does not have as much experience in that arena. As a result, the action that you see in the film is handled by an expert who knows what this stuff should look like and how. Needham would go on to direct many more projects, the last of which was in 1992 with ''Hard Time: Hostage Hotel'', once again starring Burt Reynolds. 

Since then, this prospect seemed to vanish in Hollywood... until 2015, when a little film called ''John Wick'' exploded onto our cinema screens. When the first ''John Wick'' came out, this was the first time since '92 that a stuntman (Chad Stahelski- Keanu Reeve's stunt double for ''The Matrix'') had directed a film, and the action genre was once again about to change.  Since then, more and more stuntmen have turned to directing, which only produces better action. In my opinion, the is one of the best things that has ever happened to cinema, I don't know where we'd be had this not happened. What's funny and ironic is that Keanu Reeves has been involved in other projects that have changed action cinema before ''Wick'' with ''The Matrix'' and ''Speed''. So, needles to say, he is one of the most impactful action heroes of all time, very few have change the landscape as much as he has.

Image credit: IMDb/ Lionsgate 

Despite ''John Wick'' spawning four films in total (with a fifth in development), you know you have made an impact when your franchise starts to produce spin-offs, let alone sequels. Not only have we now arrived at our first with ''Ballerina'', we are also getting a ''Caine'' film with Donnie Yen's character from ''Chapter Four'' - talk about a series being milked for all its worth. Len Wiseman takes over direction from Chad Stahelski and has over time proven his worth in this genre (he has helmed two ''Underworld'' films and the fourth ''Die Hard''). This is his first film in (and I had to check this) thirteen-years, his last being the very average and mediocre ''Total Recall'' remake with Colin Farrell in 2012. He has been working in TV ever since and I am very surprised has not returned to the big screen. 

We open with ''Eve'' (Ana de Armas) and her father practicing dancing together in an idyllic setting, a lovely moment that you know won't and doesn't last long in a film like this. Her father is then killed by the leader of criminal clang (Gabriel Byrne). She escapes and is recruited by ''Winston'' (Ian MchShane) from the previous ''John Wick'' films, and begins training with the ''Ruska Roma'' who are a hidden criminal and assassin organisation run by Angelica Houston, who is also in the other films. ''Eve'' is then trained to become an operative for them and carries out a couple of missions, but her ultimate goal is to find Gabriel Ryne and seek revenge for her father's murder. As a result, she becomes a target herself. 

Image credit: IMDb / Murray Close / Lionsgate 

''Ballerina'' is a very interesting one and, in large parts, I really like it; if for its inevitable faults. Right from the beginning, it was made very obvious and apparent to me that they are just looking for whatever story that can get away with. This is the most action-packed film I have ever seen which proved to be its blessing and its curse. Since the narrative is really grasping at straws to find something to do (and that is putting it lightly), I have never seen action serve as this much of a distraction before, to hide from the fact there's no substance to the story. Moving forward with spin-offs means trying something new and different, but I have to confess that I just didn't feel that here. There is not enough to ''Eve'' to make me care, and things just seem too familiar. 

The fact that I found myself thinking ''is that it?'', is a cause for concern going down the line, and something I hope improves. It is here that the main questions must be asked: are these action set pieces enough to carry these film for years to come,? Is there any point to all of this? We will have to see.  Since this is again an 87North film (the ''John Wick'' franchise is their baby essentially), the action is some of the best you will ever see, and they are undeniably one of the best stunt teams in Hollywood.

There were times in this where I was having more fun that I've had with ''Wick'', and I even dare say I was more impressed by the action. It takes what came before, and seemed to add some of its own ridiculously silly spice to keep people interested- such as flamethrower vs flamethrower (and I'm all for that - heaven knows what they'll do next). ''Ballerina'' did also confirm to me one thing that I humorously thought of during the film: ''nightclubs are always the best location for any fight sequence''. 

Image credit: IMDb / Larry D. Horricks / Lionsgate 

It is significantly more violent, and even seemed to toy around with the carnage (as previously alluded to) which was one of the few reliefs ''Ballerina'' had to offer. There's one moment in which de Armas is smacking someone in the face with a TV remote, and you see a screen in the background switch channels repeatedly, so there's a sense of slapstick absurdity that we haven't had before which does surprisingly work. I suspect Stahleski was involved in the action more than Wiseman, but whoever it was has knocked it out of the park yet again.

When she briefly appeared in ''No Time to Die'' , not only did she steal the show, but she demonstrated how well she could do action and since then the demand for her to have her own action flick was high. She is fantastic here and throws herself into everything, the wait was worth it and I cannot wait to see what she does next. I admit that I am more optimistic for the ''Caine'' project, mostly because I am more interested in that character, and the fact he will introduce more martial arts to the series which I want to see. As for ''Ballerina'', there is too much style over substance, and change does need to happen. 

In cinemas now