Early on in “Ballerina” there’s a montage of Eve (Ana de Armas) getting beat up.
It’s a pretty fun montage, and sort of what the “John Wick” universe is all about. For as much as Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a formidable assassin, part of the fun is seeing how much of a beat down he can take and watching him limp his way back into the fight.
In the middle of this montage, Eve’s mentor Nogi (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) is advising Eve on how to beat bigger, stronger opponents. Eve will always be smaller and weaker than the men she’ll be up against, Nogi says, reprimanding Eve for letting her opponents dictate the rules of their engagement.
Nogi stares an angry Eve down, before advising her to “fight like a girl.” Eve looks determined. The music swells. I rolled my eyes.
It’s not that “Ballerina”