Review: 'Ballerina' depicts dance with a flourish
Secret ending? No.
Running time: 89 minute (~1.5 hours)
“Ballerina” is a French-Canadian 3D-animated musical drama that’s in English. It is also known as “Leap!”.
It sees the story of how a young orphan girl realises her childhood dream of becoming a dancer in the city of Paris.
It features the voice talents of Elle Fanning (Felicie Milliner), Dane DeHaan (Victor), Maddie Ziegler (Camille Le Haut), Carly Rae Jepsen (Odette), Terrence Scammell (Merante), and Julie Khaner (Regine Le Haut). It is rated PG.
The title gives everything away in “Ballerina” — it’s the tale of the underdog who overcomes others with more privilege and resources than her to become the greatest ballerina of her age. Its pop songs and strangely contemporary music don’t quite fit the feel of ballet, belonging more to modern dance or a less structured form of dance. Still, its cheerful characters and heartwarming story of passion overcoming all obstacles is a story that everyone can relate to, even if its plot doesn’t quite make sense in the process.
Highlights
Good dance choreography, especially the improvised sections
It’s an animated film so it makes sense that the dance choreography would be beautiful, since it can be executed exactly how the director envisions it. That applies for the structured ballet portions, but it also rings true for the spontaneous dances that Felicie (Elle Fanning) frequently breaks out into. Her dances show that her movements come from the heart, even if they aren’t as polished as Camille’s (Maddie Ziegler) flawless movements. The fact that the dance choreography can echo this so well makes the theme of passion resonate all the more with audiences.
Interesting sets
Spoiler: the Statue of Liberty appears in the film, although they hardly ever refer to it as that, and several critical scenes take place there. The Paris Opera Ballet is also a visually distinctive building, and the outdoor scenes lend a touch of magic to Paris through lens flares and meticulous detail. Indoors, the use of perspective and camera movements show us the depth and dimension of the locations, romanticising them in a way that fits the city of Paris.
Empathy for Felicie and her quest
Felicie’s reasons for dancing are admittedly a little flimsy, and based on a very nebulous, unexplained memory that seems like ripe fodder for future films. But it’s not her motivation that makes us empathise with her actions. It’s the sheer enthusiasm, the “energy of a bullet” that all the other characters comment on, that she exudes that makes us hope she’ll be successful, simply because she throws her whole heart into it.
Letdowns
Victor’s distinctively odd acting
Victor (Dane DeHaan) seems to be the result of the wrong actor being matched to the wrong animated character. It’s as if Dane DeHaan completed his voice work in the total absence of any visuals, because Victor’s demeanour doesn’t always seem congruent with the line spoken. He’s memorable, all right, but it’s not for a good reason.
Plot needs more smoothening over
The story’s general flow and pacing is okay, but it has some terribly bumpy bits. The opening is painfully melodramatic, with over-exaggerated extreme character behaviour that isn’t consistent with how they act later. The ending itself also doesn’t make sense in terms of legality as well. These are all problems with logic that should have been ironed out in the early drafts of the script, so to see them persist all the way into the finished product is disappointing, to say the least.
“Ballerina” depicts dance with a flourish, though the plot needs some work.
Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Yes.
Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? If you like dance very much.
Score: 3.2/5
“Ballerina” opens in cinemas:
– 22 December, 2016 (Singapore)
