I wanted to say a little about the latest entry in the "John Wick" universe, "Ballerina," but I always find it difficult to write about these films because they're usually dealing in variations on the same set of well-worn action tropes, and I have trouble keeping the many different installments straight. I enjoy watching them while I'm watching them, but often don't remember much about them afterwards. "Ballerina" focuses on a new assassin character named Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas), but all the usual hallmarks of a "John Wick" film are here, including John Wick himself. He's figured prominently in the trailers and other marketing, so I don't think this is a spoiler.
I won't bother describing much plot, because the script by Shay Hatten is terrible. Let's just say that Eve, who was trained to be one of the Ruska Roma ballerina assassins by the Director (Angelica Huston), is out for revenge against a cult leader, the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). This means fighting her way across Eastern Europe in search of the cult's base of operations, and meeting other colorful characters played by Norman Reedus and Catalina Sandino Moreno. As with the other films in this series, the primary reason why we're all here is for the action scenes. "Ballerina" has several good ones, and takes the approach of having Ana de Armas use realistic tactics and moves for someone of her size and build. In the early training sequences, she's told to "fight like a girl" and look for ways to turn situations where she's physically outmatched to her advantage. Her action scenes aren't as visceral as the ones in "John Wick," but they're often just as inventive. Keep an eye out for when the flamethrowers show up.
I've been rooting for Ana de Armas to become an action star since I saw her as Paloma in "No Time to Die." She was a fantastic Bond girl - charismatic, stylish, and had a wonderful rapport with Daniel Craig. In "Ballerina" she nails the action without any problems, but Eve Macarro is such a bland, boring character. I understand why they downplayed her physical appearance, covering her in coats and jackets to make her look more substantial against her opponents. However, Eve is also humorless, seems to have no personality beyond working toward her revenge, and doesn't get to really connect to anybody beyond brief teamups. I don't remember her getting a single pithy action hero line or exchange with anybody. She has to be dead serious all the time, and it's such a shame. I'd be happy to see de Armas return to this universe in the future, but only if she gets to play Eve as an actual human being next time.
On to "KPop Demon Hunters," a Netflix original animated movie from Sony Pictures Imageworks, directed by Chris Applehans, who did "Wish Dragon," and Maggie Kang. This one was a fun surprise, a fantasy action film about a K-pop girl trio, Huntr/x (pronounced "Huntrix"), whose members also secretly hunt soul-sucking demons between performances. Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong) and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo) are super popular and successful. However, some of the demons have wised up, and formed a rival boyband, the Saja Boys, led by the hunky Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop). The ensuing battle of the bands involves a ton of K-pop earworms including a single, "Takedown" sung by members of the real girl group TWICE. And because we must have some K-drama to go with the K-pop, it turns out that Rumi is half demon! And she's got feelings for Jinu!
I have had very little exposure to K-pop, or even American boyband culture, so the many references and in-jokes went well over my head. However, "KPop Demon Hunters" works just fine even if you're not into K-pop. The action is energetic, the humor is silly, and the animation is bright and appealing. There are a few instances of 2D/3D animated caricature being pushed to extremes in some of the comedic moments, but for the most part the visuals stay pretty polished and aren't trying too hard. I thoroughly enjoyed the colorful character designs, the fun vocal performances, and the spectacle of magical girl pop stars putting on a show. There's a little self-mockery to keep things approachable - the other members of the Saja Boys are named Mystery, Romance, Abs, and Baby - but for the most part "Kpop Demon Hunters" is a K-pop love fest. New song drops and media appearances are plot points, and everything is "for the fans." It's also nice to see a ton of Korean talent involved, including Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Lee Byung-hun, Ken Jeong, and Joel Kim Booster in minor roles.
The best thing that the movie has going for it, however, is taking the music seriously. This is one of the few animated films I've seen lately where the speaking and singing voices of the major characters are different, a practice that used to be commonplace. The singing voices of Huntr/x are Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami, with Andrew Choi for Jinu. I'm not Korean and can't speak to the cultural bona fides of the portrayal of the Korean music industry or anything else Korean in the movie, but it's always a good sign when you can recognize those elements are there, and the Western audience isn't being obviously pandered to. Will this work as a gateway for the curious to explore more K-pop music? Hard to say, but this is easily the best animated musical I've seen since "Encanto," and its audience is going to want more.
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