Oxford-born director Vicky Jewson's fourth film follows a group of five ballerinas trying to escape from a remote inn after their bus breaks down on the way to a dance competition in Budapest. It's a simple set-up that doesn't take much time to get to as the ensuing carnage quickly commences.
Distinct Personalities Among the Dancers
For the most part, the lead quintet are given distinct personalities or character traits, with Iris Apatow's Zoe the exception as she just tries to stay out of harm's way while looking after deaf sister Chloe (Millicent Simmonds) who proves she can handle herself.
Maddie Ziegler's ill-tempered, brave Bones leads the way and was already up against it before the group's Budapest battles due to her class-themed tête-à-têtes with the mollycoddled Princess (Lana Condor). Rounding things out is Avantika's Grace and it's fun to see her religious beliefs hampered by the life-or-death situation the girls find themselves in - worsened due to a spiked drink.
Uma Thurman's Role and the Carnage
It was a wise move hiring Kill Bill's The Bride Uma Thurman to play crime family head Devora but, sadly and strangely, she doesn't do very much beyond barking out orders amid a tragic backstory.
There's a surprising amount of blood and gore as guns, blades, bombs and pirouettes are used to dispatch the antagonists, while Gábor Nagypál's Doktor, and his disposal methods, wouldn't be out of place in a Hostel movie.
Ballet Skills and Iconic Finale
Seeing the girls put their ballet skills to good use when taking out the baddies is infectiously entertaining, although you'll have to suspend your disbelief that five dancers can lay waste to rooms full of armed, trained killers.
Their final routine while adorned with blood-stained tutus is instantly iconic and you feel the bond they have developed through being dropped into the most extreme of circumstances. Pretty Lethal is pretty good. Short, snappy and unapologetically silly, its cacophony of carnage is music to the ears.
