ScreenRant's Rachel Labonte gave Ballerina a 6 out of 10 stars, praising de Armas' performance while noting issues with the plot and silly villain. Overall, the spinoff has a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it's the lowest among the whole John Wick movie franchise.

However, per Rotten Tomatoes, Ballerina now ties with John Wick: Chapter 4 with the best audience score in the entire franchise. With over 500 audience ratings calculated, the spinoff currently has a 93% Popcornmeter. While the score is likely to change as more moviegoers see the newest installment, it does show that the general audience has enjoyed it even more than the critics.

UPDATE: 2025/06/07 09:59 EST BY FARIBA REZWAN

Ballerina Is Now The Highest-Rated John Wick Movie In The Franchise Per Audience Score

With over 1000+ ratings, Ballerina now holds the record for the highest-rated Rotten Tomatoes audience score for the John Wick franchise. This comes as the Popcornmeter has increased by a point, with a 94% audience score. The latest spinoff is now beating out John Wick: Chapter 4, which had a 93%.

Why The Rotten Tomatoes Audience For Ballerina Is A Big Win For John Wick Franchise

It Overcomes The Few Shortcomings Since John Wick: Chapter 4

The audience score for Ballerina comes as a big win for many reasons. Firstly, it indicates the first huge spinoff success for the John Wick franchise after the slight hiccup with the Peacock series, The Continental. While the series did secure a fresh critical designation of 63% and a 77% audience score, the show didn't quite meet the expectations set by the main movie series. Eventually, Ballerina became the first test to dive into the world through the movie lens. Reshoots and delays led to speculation about potential trouble for the John Wick spinoff, but those inklings seem to have been alleviated due to the positive reception.

Ballerina's biggest strength comes down to its action and de Armas' performance as an action star. There is a general agreement that the plot is the biggest weakness and lacks cohesiveness. However, the spinoff one-ups its violence as Eve tracks down the Cult responsible for her father's demise. Some of these fight scenes illustrate no limits to the brutality and bloodiness, which may even eclipse those from the mainline series. Even though Keanu Reeves reprises his role, de Armas never gets overshadowed and leads the way in the character's vengeful pursuit. Her commitment is evident as she performs the difficult stunt work, which proves her status as an action star.

Our Take On Ballerina's Rotten Tomatoes Record

It Brings Excitement To The Franchise's Future

The positive response bodes well for the franchise's future. Despite a few shortcomings over the years, there is strong interest in the John Wick universe, particularly for any spinoffs. Ballerina has now proven that the franchise can work as long as it contains the franchise's essence, which is high-octane action, a strong protagonist, and an intriguing expansion of the existing world. Thankfully, the franchise already has a few projects in the making, including Donnie Yen's Caine spinoff, an animated series, and a potential John Wick 5.

While Ballerina did have a cheat code with John Wick's appearance, that may not be the case for the Caine spinoff. However, there is a lot of excitement for the developing spinoff, as Yen will be directing, and its action will feature more martial arts, which will distinguish it from the main series. As for the fifth John Wick installment, Chad Stahelski has been adamant that it's still in the early stages. Nevertheless, Ballerina has rejuvenated my interest since Chapter 4, proving that "fight like a girl" is a good thing, and I can't wait to see what's next.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes