“WOAH!!” Actor Keanu Reeves celebrates his birthday today. The Canadian actor broke into the mainstream in the 1980’s, but really landed on everyone’s radars with his action roles in the 90’s. Still very relevant today, Reeves currently stars in several on-going movie franchises that keep us going back to the movies. His most recent, Bill and Ted Face the Music JUST hit theaters AND he has 4th installments in the John Wick and The Matrix series on the way.
So, to commemorate this day, here’s 5 movies (in no particular order) to celebrate Keanu Reeves with:
- Speed (1994) – Keanu is on the hunt to stop a terrorist played by the late and great Dennis Hopper. When Hopper’s Howard Payne character plants a bomb on a bus that will explode if the bus slows below 50 miles per hour, Reeves as Officer Jack Traven has to board the bus and with the help of a passenger, played by Sandra Bullock, disarm the explosive. This is a fun and clever action movie that solidified Reeves as an action star with a really entertaining performance by Hopper.
- Point Break (1991) – This the quintessential 90’s Keanu movie. While Speed is somewhat grounded in reality, Point break turns the dial up to 11: Keanu Reeves is an F.B.I. AGENT!! (And, he lets you know that clearly in the movie). This wave surfing agent teams up with Gary Busey to infiltrate and stop a gang of extreme-sports-loving thieves lead by the late Patrick Swayze. This movie was intended to be awesome and from a meta stand point, is hilarious. No Keanu movie list is complete without it. And, Point Break actually did inspire the original Fast and the Furious movie… which essentially has the same plot if you swap surfing and extreme sports for drag racing.
- The Matrix (1999) – The film that changed Sci-Fi forever: The Matrix promised to deliver visuals like we’d never seen before and it delivered. The movie blew our minds special effects and the idea that the reality we live in could just be a computer program. Keanu played an everyman pulled out of the simulation to eventually become “The One”… or should I say, Neo? He’ll learn from his mentor, Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburne, how to rock black leather and sunglasses while manipulating The Matrix in order to defeat Smith (Hugo Weaving) and his agents that control the program for their robot overlords. THIS is cool sci-fi.
- John Wick (2014) – Now, for a taste of Modern Keanu Reeves, John Wick is a gritty, grounded and very cool action movie. While it’s sequels up the action in very creative ways, John Wick landed Reeves back into the mainstream in the 2010’s. Keanu plays a former hitman who is suddenly pulled back into the world of murder when some Russian thugs break into his home and kills the puppy his recently deceased wife left him. That’s all the motivation you need to get on Wick’s side as he goes on a revenge spree. The action in this movie has you on the edge of your seat as John Wick takes on hoards of Russian gangsters with guns, knives and his heightened fighting skills. And, if you have time after watching these 5 films, I recommend getting around to seeing John Wick: Chapter 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. All three are available for rent on YouTube right now.
- Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) – This was many’s introduction to Keanu Reeves and his first main role in a major film. Reeves played the titular Ted “Theodore” Logan and Alan Winters was Bill S. Preston, Esquire in this adventure through time where two well-meaning high school burnouts meet some of history’s greatest leaders and thinkers and recruits them for a class presentation. This comedy flipped time travel movies and teen films on their heads with unusual protagonists and shenanigans in this hilarious package. A Keanu Reeves movie marathon would be sorely lacking without this movie’s inclusion.
Honorable mentions: Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991), The Devil’s Advocate (1997), The Replacements (2000), Constantine (2005), Lake House (2006).
