When Keanu Reeves read Derek Kolstad’s script for John Wick (originally titled Scorn), he could tell it was a cut above standard action fare. In the hands of directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, with whom Reeves worked on the stunts for The Matrix, John Wick became a modern action masterpiece calling back to gritty revenge thrillers, Hong Kong actioners, French crime movies, and spaghetti westerns.
Baba Yaga has since become arguably Reeves’ most iconic character, spawning two increasingly successful sequels with at least another two follow-ups on the way. But across his decades-long career, Reeves has played a bunch of memorable roles that could claim to be his most iconic.
John Wick Is The Best: Wick Has Depth And Nuance That’s Rare In Action Movies
It’s hard to find acting with depth and nuance in action movies, but Keanu Reeves has brought real humanity to the role of John Wick. His characterization is deeply embedded in genre tropes, but Reeves has played into the reality of his grief to create something universal.
Reeves’ performance, intense during the action scenes and serene in the quieter scenes, has created a rounded portrait of John, the likes which of can’t be found in 99% of action movies.
Alternative: Neo (The Matrix Franchise)
Even after it’s been ripped off a bunch of times, the Wachowskis’ The Matrix remains a seminal sci-fi masterpiece that gave new life to Keanu Reeves’ career. The “chosen one” narrative has been done to death in sci-fi and fantasy, but Reeves’ iconic performance and The Matrix’s fresh storytelling ensured that Neo would stand out among the crowd.
Reeves will return to the role of Neo along with Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity and Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe in the upcoming fourth Matrix movie that Lana Wachowski is directing without Lilly’s involvement, due to hit theaters on December 22, 2021.
John Wick Is The Best: His Dog’s Death Makes Him Easy To Root For
As soon as John Wick’s adorable puppy is shot dead in the opening act of the first movie, the audience doesn’t care how many people John has to kill — or how brutally he kills them — on his way to avenging the dog’s death.
The studio reportedly pushed for John’s whole family to be killed instead, but that’s been done a million times, and killing off the cutest little dog in the world is much more effective than killing off a generic one-dimensional family. Immediately, the audience roots for John — despite the ultraviolent acts he commits.
Alternative: Jack Traven (Speed)
Often termed “Die Hard on a bus,” Speed has less in common with the 1988 Bruce Willis-starrer than most of its other pale imitators and actually stands on its own two feet more than movies like White House Down and Under Siege.
This is partly because Keanu Reeves and Dennis Hopper developed a hero-villain dynamic in Speed that’s wholly original, as opposed to a shallow copy of the McClane-Gruber dynamic. Reeves even requested script rewrites to make Jack Traven less of a McClane rip-off (or McClone).
John Wick Is The Best: Reeves Nails The Physicality
Footage of Reeves’ training for each John Wick movie always goes viral, because his commitment to getting it right is unparalleled. The stuntpeople who have worked with Reeves have always praised his dedication, and that dedication shines through in the work.
By learning how to shoot guns and fight people as well as a seasoned assassin such as John Wick could, Reeves has imbued the character with a refreshing layer of authenticity.
Alternative: Himself (Always Be My Maybe)
Keanu Reeves has played himself a couple of times, but his funniest fictionalized self can be found in the Netflix romantic comedy Always Be My Maybe, in which two childhood sweethearts (Randall Park and Ali Wong) reconcile later in life when they’re in relationships with other people and ward off their feelings for each other. Reeves plays an integral role in the plot. Wong’s character’s new boyfriend is joining her, Park’s character, and his girlfriend for a double date when Park has realized he’s in love with Wong, so the new boyfriend is “the competition.” And who enters the restaurant? Keanu Reeves.
Reeves is so recognizable — and so universally acknowledged to be awesome — that his presence made the joke work spectacularly. The actor was totally game for bastardizing his public image in the pursuit of laughs and the result is one of the funniest self-portrayals that non-Curb Your Enthusiasm media has to offer.
John Wick Is The Best: He’s Simultaneously Invincible And Vulnerable
The John Wick franchise is the most mainstream example of the oeuvre of visceral, breakneck-paced actioners whose ultraviolence occasionally borders on the horrific, like The Raid and The Night Comes for Us. John Wick is seemingly invincible, able to withstand copious amounts of brutality without losing consciousness or dying, but like the heroes of The Raid, he’s also vulnerable to sustaining serious injuries.
When John Wick is shot or stabbed, it doesn’t slow him down as much as it would slow down a real person, but it does affect him, unlike the many interchangeable supermen played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Each impact can be felt, and it’s excruciating, but John can fight through it.
Alternative: Johnny Utah (Point Break)
The role of a football player who sustained an injury that prevented him from joining the NFL and became one of the FBI’s top undercover agents as a safety-net job is so delightfully absurd that only Keanu Reeves could make it work. In Point Break, Johnny Utah is sent to infiltrate a gang of surfers who moonlight as bank robbers and ends up liking their leader so much that he has second thoughts about turning him in.
If it wasn’t for the palpable on-screen chemistry that develops between Reeves’ Utah and Patrick Swayze’s Bodhi, Point Break wouldn’t work nearly as well (as evidenced by the terrible big-budget remake).
John Wick Is The Best: The Stakes Keep Getting Higher
The first John Wick movie told the simple story of an ex-assassin returning to a life of violence to avenge the murder of his dog. It wraps up John’s story in a neat bow, but it left the door open for sequels because the filmmakers envisioned John Wick as a long-running series of action movies and it’s been popular enough to become just that.
In each movie, the stakes get higher. He takes on the High Table in the second one, then faces off against every contract killer in the world in the third one. The stakes of the John Wick saga keep getting higher, so the character’s journey remains compelling in spite of his apparent invincibility.
Alternative: Ted “Theodore” Logan (Bill & Ted Franchise)
Ted “Theodore” Logan is one of the many iconic roles that Keanu Reeves’ post-John Wick career comeback has given him the opportunity to reprise. In Bill & Ted Face the Music, released in 2020 amidst the chaos of the coronavirus pandemic, Reeves’ on-screen chemistry with Alex Winter is just as hilariously adorable as it was three decades earlier.
The message of this franchise — “Be excellent to each other” — pretty much sums up Reeves’ own zen essence. Everyone can learn a lesson or two from Bill and Ted’s relaxed approach to life, even in the face of cosmic doom.