When Speed was released in 1994, an action star was born.
Since then, Keanu Reeves has appeared in a number of action movies that have put his
abilities to good use.
Some of them are stone-cold classics, while others… aren’t.
Here’s every one of Reeves’ action movies, ranked worst to best.
Based on the William Gibson cyberpunk novel of the same name, 1995's Johnny Mnemonic follows
the story of a man with a cybernetic brain implant that helps him store information.
As is the standard for Gibson novels, humanity's reliance on technology and the dystopian corporate
environment of this future keep people in a kind of endless servitude.
Reeves stars in the title role, with supporting performances from Dolph Lundgren and Ice-T.
Sadly, Johnny Mnemonic's premise just isn't exciting to watch, despite the action being
pretty heavy.
As Johnny tries to recover his own childhood memories that have been replaced by years
of data smuggling, the main conflict loses tangibility, and no amount of action is enough
to make us care about his plight.
Johnny Mnemonic is basically a guy running around a sci-fi future trying to remember
something he forgot, which doesn't exactly make for a great cinematic experience.
47 Ronin was one of the biggest box office bombs of 2013.
The overly-ambitious project reportedly fell victim to a constantly-shifting focus in production
and a lack of experience on the part of first-time director Carl Rinsch.
There was also a debate around the project about the balance between Eastern themes and
a perceived need for "more Western touches."
One of those Western touches was the addition of Reeves to a mostly Japanese cast of the
film, which retells an old legend about 47 rogue samurai avenging the death of their
master.
What really brought 47 Ronin down was that, despite its well-choreographed fight scenes
and slick use of 3D and CGI special effects, the movie was surprisingly dull, with little
to no development from Reeves or any of the other one-dimensional characters.
But don't worry — Reeves did go on to make another martial arts movie in 2013 that turned
out much, much better than 47 Ronin.
We'll get there.
1996's Chain Reaction, starring Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman, suffers simply from being
confusing.
Reeves stars as a machinist who discovers some new convoluted thing about hydrogen energy
— before his lab explodes and he and his colleague are framed for the bombing.
Freeman plays the wealthy doctor funding their project, to whom they turn for help, though
of course he turns out — perhaps inevitably — to be the bad guy.
But much like Johnny Mnemonic, Chain Reaction has no tether for the audience to grasp onto
for stabilization.
Reeves' character is framed for something that isn't clear, while Freeman's character
is after something that never really becomes clear, either.
It's a mess of a movie whose only saving graces are a few good action sequences.
There were a lot of these formulaic action movies in the '90s — ones that all had something
to do with science or government or spies.
Unfortunately, Chain Reaction wasn't one of the good ones.
The final film in the Wachowskis' Matrix trilogy has the benefit of bringing the epic story
to a close, granting it the opportunity to provide a rousing climax and closure to its
philosophical journey.
Sadly, that didn't save it from receiving the worst reviews of the series, largely because
it sucks pretty much all the fun out of the entire franchise.
Not only does Revolutions end on a downer of a conclusion — with Trinity killed in
action and Neo sacrificing himself for peace between the humans and the machines — but
the final showdown turned out pretty underwhelming in itself.
The program known as Agent Smith, played brilliantly by Hugo Weaving, wants to destroy the Matrix,
the machine world, and the human world, for reasons that never really become totally clear
— other than that he's a broken outcast and wants revenge.
A rogue virus, Agent Smith was apparently supposed to be deactivated, but has instead
decided to make it his goal to kill literally everybody.
“It was your life that taught me the purpose of all life.
The purpose of life is to end.”
In amongst all this, the characters we know and care about kind of get lost in a jumble
of side characters, overwhelming robot battle sequences, and convoluted plotlines.
The Matrix movies can always be proud of their seriously cool action scenes and intriguing
ideas, but this one was a bit of a bummer.
Constantine is one of those movies that should have been really cool, but just didn't live
up to its potential.
Based on DC Comics' Hellblazer books, Constantine tells the story of a mortal human who can
see the celestial angels and demons who infiltrate and manipulate humanity.
Rachel Weisz co-stars as a police detective whose sister's death reveals a plot that upsets
the balance between the living and the dead.
The movie’s got a great cast, including an androgynous Archangel Gabriel played by
Tilda Swinton, and some of the fight scenes are really fun, too.
But ultimately, the plot isn't one that translates particularly well onto the screen.
As a result, the movie is simultaneously convoluted and predictable.
Roger Ebert gave the film one-and-a-half stars, while his TV co-host Richard Roeper wrote:
"It's just so awful that the crew must have been snickering."
While 1999's The Matrix was hailed as an exciting new entry into the sci-fi genre with groundbreaking
filmmaking techniques, its two sequels weren't nearly as well-received as that first hit.
The two Matrix sequels weren't great mainly because, much like too many others films these
days, they felt like they should have been a single movie — but the plot had expanded
and bloated to the point where the powers that be decided two would be more exciting
for audiences.
The second movie in the trilogy, 2003's The Matrix Reloaded, was praised for its action
and style but panned for its portrayal of the humans who live in Zion, humanity's haven
outside of the Matrix.
One infamous scene in particular has been subject to some pretty intense mockery since
the movie’s release.
Between that and Reloaded's over-reliance on philosophical conversations at the expense
of the action, it simply ends up failing to live up to the first Matrix movie — despite
Reeves' excellent fighting skills.
Many actors end up dipping their toes into the world of directing, but not all of them
are any good at it.
Thankfully, Reeves' first directorial outing was actually pretty decent.
Man of Tai Chi, a Chinese-American martial arts film, is a love letter to the film’s
star and Reeves’ stuntman friend, Tiger Chen, and is inspired by his life and experiences.
Man of Tai Chi came out the same year as 47 Ronin, but managed to avoid the same mistakes
that brought that movie down.
For one thing, the movie actually embraced its Chinese roots, cast, and environment,
rather than a shoehorning a white, Western viewpoint into an ancient story.
The critical consensus was that Man of Tai Chi didn't do anything groundbreaking, per
se, but that the story hearkened back to a style of martial arts movie that hadn't been
seen in quite some time, which Reeves lovingly embraced and paid tribute to in his directorial
debut.
The New York Times wrote:
"The movie finds a Januslike Mr. Reeves looking in two directions at once: toward the old-school
kung-fu movies of once upon a matinee time and the modern China emblemized by the high
rises that slice through smog-swathed Beijing."
Reeves' respect for China, and the style of filmmaking that served as a personal tribute
to his friend, is on very clear display, here.
If ever there was a spiritual successor to Ted Logan of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure,
it's surfer FBI agent Johnny Utah of Point Break.
The film, directed by future Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow, tells the story of a gang
of crooks known as the "Ex-Presidents" — because they wear rubber masks of Nixon, Reagan, Johnson,
and Carter while they rob banks.
They also happen to be expert surfers, so rookie undercover agent Utah infiltrates their
ranks, eventually embracing his destiny as a wave rider.
In addition to having some thrilling action and killer surfing scenes, Point Break is
also a lovely reminder of the acting talent of Patrick Swayze, who passed away
in 2009 from pancreatic cancer.
"He was a beautiful person, an artist.
Patrick, he just wanted to experience life… he lived life to the fullest."
Granted, both John Wick movies are great, and it’s pretty hard to rank one above the
other.
John Wick: Chapter 2 comes in just behind the first here because the first acted so
well as a kind of a surprise comeback film for Reeves.
John Wick: Chapter 2 begins just a few days after the events of John Wick, and finds the
former assassin continuing his rampage of revenge — only this time with a new dog.
The film features just as much sleek, well-directed violence as the first film, but John Wick:
Chapter 2 also takes a trip over to Rome for some international espionage among the ancient
ruins of the eternal city — proving that Wick is a truly worldly international assassin.
“Whoever comes, whoever it is…
I’ll kill them.
I’ll kill them all.”
Despite having starred in numerous action movies, John Wick might be Keanu Reeves' grand
opus of a role.
This 2014 neo-noir action film tells the story of a former assassin, drawn back into a life
of killing after car thieves kill his puppy — who was a memento left behind by his late
wife.
The role is absolutely perfect for Reeves, whose sleek looks, naturally stoic nature,
and incredible action skills are all put to great use in the movie.
Everyone was kind of surprised by how good John Wick was, and how perfect Reeves was
for the part.
It was labelled as a career comeback for Reeves, whose star had kind of dwindled.
In 2017, Birth.Movies.Death wrote:
"It wasn't too long ago that critics were bemoaning the presumed end of Reeves' career
as a leading man."
But the John Wick franchise has helped bring Reeves back into the spotlight — and now
he's calling the shots.
“You, uh, working again?”
“Nah, just sorting stuff out.”
Never before and never since has a city bus had such a grand movie moment.
Speed is the film that put Reeves on the action radar, and is still a great watch 25 years
later.
Reeves stars as Los Angeles SWAT officer Jack, who boards an LA bus that's rigged with a
bomb that will explode if the vehicle's speed drops below 50 miles per hour.
Sandra Bullock co-stars as a passenger named Annie who takes over driving duties while
Jack tries to defuse the bomb and save the other passengers.
Speed's premise is a tad ridiculous, and there are plenty of seriously unbelievable moments
throughout the movie, but its absurdity is overshadowed by the fact that it's so just
darned fun.
Reeves and Bullock have great chemistry, and his action prowess here is accompanied by
a real sense of charm and acting charisma.
This is the movie for which Reeves will be remembered — for the rest of his life and
beyond.
It's also the franchise that put sci-fi masters the Wachowski Sisters on the movie map.
By utilizing new filmmaking technology and tapping into the exploding Internet zeitgeist,
The Matrix was able to become an action movie for the budding new millennium.
Reeves stars as Thomas Anderson, a computer programmer who lives a double life online
as the hacker "Neo."
After he's contacted by Morpheus and Trinity, he finally learns the truth about the world.
Artificial intelligence has taken over the planet and robot overlords use humans for
their bio energy, keeping them in a catatonic state while their minds believe they are living
in the regular world.
This false consciousness is called "The Matrix," and Neo joins the quest to free humanity from
its grasp.
The movie used innovative camera techniques to amp up the many awesome fight scenes, including
360-degree camera movement and extreme slow motion to make even more of a mind bender
out of an already interesting premise.
By utilizing Reeves' natural stoic nature and his sleek movements, The Matrix became
his best ever action movie.
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