Ballerina

If you think you’ve seen the moves in Ballerina before, you probably have — four times, in fact.

This slick spinoff of the John Wick franchise follows the established template with a new protagonist seeking the same brand of ultraviolent vigilante justice.

However, this globetrotting installment pales in comparison to the various episodes of its source material, both in the uninspired script and the comparatively mediocre action sequences.

The story follows the events of the third film in the original series, Parabellum, as it chronicles Eve (Ana de Armas), an aspiring dancer who was separated from her father at a young age and sent to train as an assassin under the tutelage of a Russian crime boss (Anjelica Huston).

After developing her skills in various martial arts and killing techniques, and initially accepting assignments, Eve decides to go rogue. She aims to discover secrets about her family history, and the involvement of a shadowy Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). Amid shifting loyalties and cloudy motives, she’s uncertain who she can trust.

Fans will make connections with locations and lore from the prior films, most notably the neutral-ground Continental hotel in New York with its proprietor (Ian McShane) and concierge (Lance Reddick).

De Armas (No Time to Die) combines a steely intensity with physical dexterity, even if she lacks the charisma to generate a deeper rooting interest.

As directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld), one early set-piece highlight features Eve confronting a small army of random thugs in a nightclub where neon and ice accompany the bullets and bloodshed.

But the extended climactic showdown, set in a wintry European village with plenty of weapons and people who know how to use them, unfortunately adopts a video-game mindset that’s more chaotic than coherent as the body count escalates. At least the film attempts to settle the debate over whether a high-powered water sprinkler could subdue a flamethrower.

Otherwise, taking itself too seriously, the lumbering screenplay by Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead) is dominated by clunky expository dialogue and characters who aren’t developed beyond their basic heroism or villainy.

Keanu Reeves shows up briefly as Wick to help jump-start a transparent effort to launch a parallel franchise, although Ballerina doesn’t really have a leg to stand on.

Rated R, 126 minutes.