The new “John Wick” spinoff “Ballerina” is recommendable, -ish, primarily for the way Anjelica Huston, as the Russian mob boss, makes a meal out of a single-syllable word near the end, delivered after a pause so unerringly timed it’s almost too good for this world. We don’t deserve it. This fifth and fairly diverting movie in the assassin’s-revenge franchise is not much interested in what anyone has to say — although Keanu Reeves says what little he has to say in rivetingly off-human ways — but Huston blurts her game-over syllable with the “oh, fine” authority of an acting titan.

“Ballerina” screenwriter Shay Hatten dreams up a simple story taking place between the events of “John Wick” Chapters 3 and 4. In a prologue, little Eve (Victoria Comte) is orphaned after her assassin father is killed in an attack from a rival underworld gang, members of which have a conspicuous “X” branded on their wrists.

Eve’s taken under the protection of Wick’s sometime-affiliates, the Ruska Roma. The years pass, she’s Ana de Armas, she’s long past ballet training even though she’s still carrying around her wind-up ballerina doll, and she’s ready to concentrate on killing. And that’s the movie: She wants the killers of her late killer father killed, personally, by her.

It’s no spoiler: This is where Reeves as Wick comes in handy, dispensing helpful/cryptic/annoying/supercool life lessons in tiny little sentences. Mostly Eve goes it alone, taking care of unworthy assailants of every type, including the deadliest barista alive. Reportedly, the late adds to the final cut of “Ballerina” reinstated some extensive, relatively complex action sequences. They’re pretty fair for what they are, meaning: They’re stunt-driven, sometimes, and digitally futzed and stitched and glossed other times. You rarely get the kind of clean, inventive propulsion generated by that amazing “John Wick 3” opener in the rare-books emporium, or the best bits in the Paris staircase marathon in “4.”

How’s de Armas? She’s OK. Sometimes better, but rarely holding the screen or activating the human element in any surprising ways. It’s not her fault that Eve has so little emotional or psychological detail to go on; it’s not in the script, which is both straightforward and filmable (I mean, they did film it) and as thin as Dollar Store printing paper.

As for the finale, well, it’s a little too in love with the obvious lust object of “Ballerina”: the superhot flamethrower brandished by Eve as she incinerates a dutiful roster of village assassins. The movie hits sincere variations on the themes of fate and family, practically begging for a “Fast & Furious” crossover project. But “Ballerina” really can’t wait to get to the flames.

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‘FROM THE WORLD OF JOHN WICK: BALLERINA’

2.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for strong/bloody violence throughout, and language)

Running time: 2:05

How to watch: In theaters June 6

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