With films such as Nobody, Kate, Bullet Train, and The Fall Guy under its belt, 87North has quickly become a staple studio for action fans, as it should with John Wick co-director and stunt coordinator David Leitch running things. The latest effort, Pretty Lethal, is pretty tame compared to some of the more brutal projects, but its breezy, darkly comic premise centered around butt-kicking ballerinas makes for a Hell of a good time. It arrives as female-led action flicks are hotter than ever right now (Ready or Not 2, They Will Kill You arriving as well in the last week), and should be a huge hit on Prime Video, which has cornered the streaming market on this genre.
Now, if you’re asking yourself “Hey, didn’t we just see a Ballerina action movie???”, well, yeah, and that John Wick spinoff led by Ana de Armas was pretty awesome. But so is Pretty Lethal, which expands on the idea that the physical grind to become graceful ballerinas also helps mold deadly killers. We saw that idea explored in Marvel’s Black Widow, as well. It’s a cool concept, one that director Vicky Jewson and 87North maximize with some nifty, balletic fight choreography.
The cast is exceptional, as well, and led by real-life dancer and Dance Moms alum Maddie Ziegler as Bones, the leader of an elite ballet troupe headed to a major event in Budapest. Coincidentally, this is a huge week for the Ziegler clan, as her sister and fellow dancer Mackenzie is starring in the delightful comedy She Dances. When the troupe’s bus breaks down, they flee to a shady dive bar run by the vicious Devora, played by Kill Bill star Uma Thurman. After the girls witness a cold-blooded murder, they can’t be allowed to escape. They are forced to stick together, using their ballerina training, to fight and survive.
Joining Ziegler in the cast is Lana Condor as Princess, whose abrasive personality makes her an odd fit for the team. She has a special dislike for Bones, who she sees as an inferior dancer. There’s also Iris Apatow as Zoe, with deaf A Quiet Place actress Millicent Simmonds as her slightly naive sister, Chloe. The scene-stealer, as she was in the recent Mean Girls musical, is Avantika as Grace, who gets drugged early on and spends most of the film in a hallucinogenic daze.
The camraderie between the girls is Pretty Lethal‘s heart, and keeps the film engaging throughout. The fight sequences can be a tad silly, with the ballerinas spinning and sashaying around the big, bruising dudes who have severely underestimated their speed, agility, teamwork, and ability to throw mean jump kicks. The ballerinas are overmatched in size, numbers, and firepower, which gives each encounter life or death stakes; and since they can’t fight using conventional methods, there’s always something interesting to keep you invested in the battles.
That said, most of the ballerinas are underwritten, with Ziegler and Condor, the biggest names in the cast outside of Thurman, getting the bulk of the attention. As a trained dancer, it’s Ziegler who takes charge during much of the action, proving herself to be more than capable of carrying the load. I would hope this isn’t the last time we get to see her putting those dance skills to use in extreme fashion, perhaps in another 87North flick?
Also, how can you have Uma Thurman, one of the best female action stars of all-time, and not give her more to do as Devora? It’s possible that Thurman doesn’t want echoes of her time as The Bride, but still, it’s disappointing that she doesn’t get at least one awesome showdown with Ziegler or any of her co-stars, for that matter.
Finally, and this is a common complaint from me lately, but Pretty Lethal would kill on the big screen. This is the kind of movie you could gather your friends together, buy an extra large bag of popcorn, and just have a blast. Don’t get me wrong; you’re going to have a ball watching it at home, too, and don’t be surprised if Amazon/MGM are already looking ahead to more ballerina beat ’em ups. And who could blame them when Pretty Lethal is pretty awesome.
Pretty Lethal is streaming now on Prime Video.
