The Best and Worst of Keanu Reeves

The "Best and Worst" series profiles the best and worst work of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week I take a look at the filmography of "John Wick: Chapter 2" star Keanu Reeves.

Films starring Keanu Reeves that I've seen:
Point Break
Little Buddha
The Matrix
The Replacements
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
Street Kings
The Day the Earth Stood Still
47 Ronin
John Wick
Knock Knock
Keanu

Best Performance: John Wick (2014)
Reeves has a very particular set of skills as an actor and no film has highlighted them more than John Wick. The role of a cold, revenge-driven hitman that comes of retirement to get back at the thugs that killed his beloved dog was the part that the notoriously stoic and cool Reeves was born to play.   

Worst Performance: 47 Ronin (2013)
Keanu's notable lack of emotional range has led to a number of really awful performances (The Day The Earth Stood Still, Little Buddha, Knock Knock) over the course of his lengthy acting career, but none of them were more painful to watch than his lifeless work in the martial arts/fantasy/action crossover bomb 47 Ronin. I found myself questioning whether or not Reeves had a pulse as he slogged through a seemingly endless series of meandering monologues in this shockingly dull sack of shit movie.  

Best Film: The Matrix (1999)
The Wachowskis have pissed me off to no end with the stream of garbage they've released in the last 15 years, but since they gave the world The Matrix, I'll never not give their work a shot. This visionary masterpiece redefined the way action scenes are choreographed in Hollywood and featured one of the most vivid, fascinating universes in the history of cinema. It's a shame that the Wachowskis majorly dropped the ball with the sequels because The Matrix had the potential to evolve into an all-time great sci-fi franchise.

Worst Film: Little Buddha (1993)
I was fully prepared to name 47 Ronin Reeves' weakest film until I was reminded of this grade-A cinematic abortion while reviewing his filmography ahead of writing this piece. I don't remember a whole lot about what transpired during Little Buddha, but I recall watching this in a history class during my freshman year of high school and wanting to gouge my eyes out due to how unrelentingly boring it was.

Thank you for reading this week's installment of "The Best and Worst of". Next week, I'll take a look at the best and worst work of "Fist Fight" star Tracy Morgan.