Jeez, I never thought I’d miss Keanu Reeves in a movie. This is a John Wick spinoff, but with a dame rather than a dude. Now, Ana de Armas is a lovely woman and a competent actor. Clearly, she felt the need to flesh out her filmography with an action-heroine role.

Here she plays a trained assassin seeking to avenge her father’s death, yada yada. This all takes place of course within the Wickian universe, where almost everyone is a trained assassin. These baddies are organized into “tribes” with strict regulations and taboos, like not doing violence in a global chain of assassin hotels.

I’ve always found this to be a tad moronic. Here, these lethal gangs are overseen by a slumming Ian McShane and Anjelica Huston. The main acting talent required of these two high-pedigree actors is delivering their lines with a straight face (Anjelica’s with a comical Rooshun accent that almost justifies the ticket price).

But no one goes to a John Wick movie for the acting or the logic. No, it’s the shootin’ and killin’ and stabbin’ and flame-throwin’, along with the intricately choreographed mayhem. This one has all that, but it’s awfully cluttered and more than a little dull at times. Ana gracefully goes through all the very strenuous motions and gets the job done. But, put politely, she’s no Linda Hamilton (The Terminator) or Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road).

Oh, and Keanu shows up for a rather forced cameo, which adds precisely nothing to the proceedings. Odd thing to say, but this movie needs a dead dog. (124 min)

Interested in more cutting-edge movie reviews? Read our review of Jurassic World Rebirth, or the newest Fantastic Four.