RW: "Woah", Keanu Reeves is Having a Moment

"Woah" is right. 

These days it seems like the internet is in love with Keanu Reeves and that he's everywhere. He's got a thriving action franchise that just released its third (and best) installment, he's a scene stealer in the new Toy Story, he was the surprise highlight of a mediocre E3 and will be a main character in what's sure to be next year's biggest videogame, he had another scene-stealing extended cameo in Netflix's cute Always Be My Maybe, and the MCU is making him a premiere target to acquire in a future role. 

Quite literally, Keanu Reeves is the worlds biggest, and most loved movie star in 2019, at least in terms of sheer exposure. 

So how did we get here? How has Keanu Reeves cultivated a successful career that spans over 30 years with films like: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break, The Matrix Trilogy, The Day the Earth Stood Still, 47 Ronin, Constantine, The Lake House, The Replacements, A Scanner Darkly, John Wick 1-3 (and counting), Toy Story 4, and likely many more? 

Still thrilling and unique to this day

He takes chances, but knows what he's good at
No one is claiming that Keanu Reeves has the most impressive film resume nor is anyone claiming that he's the best actor alive. Simply put, he's...Keanu. There's no one like him, particularly when it comes to leading a film. With an average Metascore for his films of 53, it's obvious that he's had a few duds here and there (that said, his last three films have an average Metascore of 74!). But honestly, who hasn't? Who hasn't failed at their job a few times? Who hasn't made an end product where you're like, "Hmm, not my best?"

I could probably try until my nose bleeds
and I'll still never be this badass

The point is that you likely learned from those. They're experiences that you absorb and for the projects that you're super passionate about, you differentially invest your time and effort into making them special. For Keanu, he knows and appreciates action. He's effective elsewhere (and has been surprisingly hilarious in various roles this year), but he can really sell his action and it's obvious that's where his comfort zone is. 

We can appreciate the time's he's broken out of his shell to try something unique - A Scanner Darkly comes to mind - but we're also in love with the fact that the same guy who orchestrated a bus to jump a highway ramp at top speed is still throwing knives at bad guys over 20 years later. And despite that 20-year-passing, the dude barely ages, but that's a discussion for another time. And, given that his next endeavors will likely be playing a significant role in the next "saga" of the MCU and being in a highly-anticipated videogame (Cyberpunk 2077), it's clear that he's still trying new things, while also keeping John Wick: Chapter 4 slated for 2021. 

In a world where stagnation = death, it's why Keanu is so prominent right now: he's agile, talented where it counts, and doesn't show any signs of slowing down. 

Despite some duds, he's been in ICONIC roles
Ask Will Smith what his biggest career regret is. It's not playing Neo in The Matrix. 

Ask the meme-generating internet which movie character they'd pit against the almighty Thanos. I guarantee you John Wick is in the running.

You could probably even ask a decent amount of people to name a DC character who's gotten a movie that isn't Batman or Superman. I'd guess you get a handful of Constantine's. 

Perhaps after next year, his Cyberpunk character, Johnny Silverhand, will be a legend among the rich realm of gaming characters? 

I mean...there aren't many more iconic action sequences

Well now that's just hilarious

Point being that Keanu, in nearly every decade since the late 80's, has had an iconic role or multiple. Ted Logan, Johnny Utah, Jack Traven, Neo (or "Mr. Anderson"), John Constantine, John Wick, and more recently Duke Caboom. All are characters he's played and what's most impressive is that one of the more recent ones, John Wick, is proving to potentially be his biggest one yet. The action trilogy has been consistent in viewer appreciation (each one has an 8.1 User Metascore) and the review consensus is that they're maintaining/improving their quality with each installment. If you ask this critic, each one has been better than the last and the character itself is literally so badass he's become an internet meme when talking about dispatching any foe, real or fake. USA have a problem with North Korea? Why don't we just send John Wick over there? It's hilarious, but proves the point that the films have found such a passionate audience and one could argue they built the base back in 2014 for the "Keanu-ssance". That's not even considering Neo, who, despite your feelings of the entire trilogy, is one of the most significant action characters in history in one of the most influential action films ever made. So many things we appreciate in action today - including elements used in John Wick - evolved from The Matrix.

Like nearly every other actor, Reeve's selection has some critical and fan failures, but unlike probably 95% of other actors, the man has multiple roles he can claim his own where we cannot imagine anyone else doing what he did. And that's special. 

He's a badass and a humble sweetheart in real life
"You're breathtaking!"

It was those simple words at the recent E3 conference that made the internet swoon for Keanu, for what felt like the 80th time this year, as he responded to a fan shouting from the crowd. Just a few weeks earlier he was hilarious as a douchy version of himself in the romantic comedy, Always Be My Maybe which included him breaking down in tears eating a steak because he was listening to how it was killed via headphones (trust me, the movie is worth it alone for the Keanu Reeves parts). 

So yeah...don't f**k with him

There aren't many actors who can become as large, rich, and famous as Reeves is now and stay incredibly humble. It's perhaps the most important point in this entire article and it stems from an surprisingly harsh life he's had which contains a considerable amount of trauma and loss. Numerous stories exist of him taking pay cuts to save jobs on films, treating the crew of his films with respect, lunch, and learning their names, donates incredible amounts of money to charities, including one that he established and didn't attach his name to for any credit, and generally acts like a regular ol' human being when out in public. There's many other stories (you can read a few here) and there are likely more than enough to make you fall in love with him too if you somehow aren't already. Not many people act like he does - famous or not - and we could all learn a lesson or two around how he treats others and views life, money, and human interaction (I know I could).

As if that's not impressive enough, the dude is also a true badass in real life who's done substantial training for his more intensive action roles. He's experienced in martial arts and does a lot of his own stunts. The .gif of him doing a live-rounds course is but a taste of how talented he is in this space. Remember how I spoke about passion earlier? It's clear he strives for authenticity, particularly in the Wick role, and it comes across in spades on the screen. 

Not to mention he's a friend of the doggos. After all, John Wick started this whole endeavor to get revenge for a dog and there's been a loyal companion in each film since. And everyone loves dogs (and if you don't what's wrong with you?)!

Wrapping up this post where I clearly went a little long, I think we can all agree that Keanu Reeves deserves his life - not that that's up to us. It's gotta be an awesome one right now and although it's had some rough patches both personally and from a career perspective, it's encouraging to see the positive reception he's gathering from new and old fans alike on a variety of exciting and fun projects.

And what a pleasure it is to have you, sir!