Keanu Reeves’ Career After Fifty Is A Better ‘Speed’ Sequel
The still sought after action star Keanu Reeves, made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel to parody a remake of the 1995 lackluster hit Speed 2, as well as answering the question that has been plaguing us all, why did he turn it down?
Both of these angles played out well in that the parody sealed the deal as having more viewers than the actual sequel and Reeves explained the reason why he turned down the offer to make the sequel, all to get to the point; which was to promote his new movie Knock Knock directed by the wicked step-father of torture porn Eli Roth.
The movie is about a couple of girls who talk their way into Keanu Reeves’ character’s home to make his life a living nightmare, a narrative which parallels similar incidents which took place in real life when a few stalkers made their way it into Reeves’ house.
One was rummaging around Keanu’s library while he was there sleeping — as the celebrity hawks over at TMZ reported — and another, while he was away, decided to go for a swim in Reeves’ pool.
It isn’t surprising that Keanu Reeves took the role. He appears to be having fun with the work he is doing, taking chances which are not highly dramatic or serious. Almost all of Keanu’s movies usually have a science fiction element to them that makes Keanu Reeves a novelty and holds him at bay from becoming too dramatic an actor.
But Knock Knock is a comedy which Keanu Reeves has dabbled in at least a few times in his career. For instance, his animated science fiction thriller A Scanner Darkly is along the same lines where the comedy isn’t juvenile but it’s edgy and dark.
In the not too distant past, movie critics would ride the beltway in agreement with the idea that Keanu Reeves’ performances in all of him films were too wooden, lifeless, and drab. After a while there was a risk that movie goers would buy into it, especially with every passing sequel of The Matrix, where there was a chance it would come true.
Keanu Reeves has been reported to say a few times in his career that it hurts when people don’t respond well to his work. He’s admitted to the the flops of the past but Keanu Reeves has held steadfast because he enjoys the work.
As the world view has changed to accept that there’s no real way to know what will trend and when, Keanu Reeves shows that he’s a type of actor that viewers can accept by letting Keanu be himself.
As Keanu Reeves has gotten older, the critics appear to be taking this in as well, because unless it’s a criticism of the film and not Keanu Reeves, it’s essentially a hard pass to try and knock down Keanu’s performances when they’ve adjusted well to the market, or rather, when the market has adjusted to them.
One example of him mellowing out in his age is with his reasonably passive involvement with a motorcycle designer, for a motorbike company he co-owns called Arch Motorcycle Company, where he custom built his own line of motorcycles.
As a result, he has collaborated with Neiman Marcus for their Christmas Book where for 150,000 dollars, anyone will be able to spend two days to hang out with Keanu Reeves and the designer as detailed in a write up on The Arizona Republic.
.@OfficialKeanu was in Dallas Tuesday as Neiman Marcus unveiled its annual Christmas Book http://t.co/rj0stXQIXu pic.twitter.com/7fawyu1pxr
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) October 7, 2015
Keanu Reeves’ turn to riding motorcycles is a serious approach to mellowing out overtime. His attraction to zen philosophy drives his focus in all things, one of them is no doubt, to know when the right time is to get involved in promising projects. Reeves’ zen approach is also apparent in his movies with directing and especially, whenever Keanu uses martial arts.
The revelation of Keanu Reeves turning down Speed 2 for being too ridiculous shows that he’s got the smarts to take the right film roles. But everything comes full circle, proving that nothing is impossible. Currently there’s talk about adding a third Bill & Ted Adventure to complete the trilogy of the popular 90’s comedy series.
At this point, there’s no risk for anything Keanu Reeves wants to or could do. To refer to Speed 2 again, in hindsight Jason Patric is held responsible for sinking the film, which showed Keanu’s star power at the box office. There’s no indication that he’s serious, but Reeves has said recently that there could be a Speed 3, but it’s still in the realm of it being just talk.
What is a sure thing is his return for the John Wick sequel, which Reeves is more than happy to take on. Keanu Reeves gave some specifics to The Collider during the Knock Knock premiere.
“I think we have a really good premise, and it’s an organic premise. It’s basically — to me there’s John Wick and then there’s John. You know, John is the married guy whose wife just died, and that five years of his life. Then there’s John Wick, who’s the mythical assassin. In this, John Wick’s past comes and infiltrates John’s life and John Wick, in a way, has to fight for John.”
A bold contrast between what audiences wanted from their movies in the past. And for Keanu to say it’s a organic premise is that sweet spot movie audiences look for and clearly Keanu Reeves believes his John Wick sequel has it. No doubt rabid John Wick fans demanded it too, generating enough excitement for Keanu to make the film.
And even with all of this, it’s still hard to say where Keanu Reeves is at in his personal life. Years ago, there was a viral meme showing a sad Keanu Reeves, which was no doubt a joke on how shy or disconnected he appears.
Keanu Reeves has said in at least one interview he’s a pretty boring guy, just living his life. Up to this moment in his life and career, he’s been a centered Hollywood staple.
Overall, this is a good time in Keanu Reeves’ career, and appropriate, too, since he’s now at the beginning of the halfway mark of his life, as he mentions in a clip from his recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel.
Reeves is a great example of an actor who has fallen into the groove of working past the capacity of just being another high-powered star. Keanu dabbles in indie films when he wants to and million dollar blockbusters when he’s called for them. Keanu has already directed at least one film and has earned enough respect now to equal that of a dramatic actor’s, and without an Oscar nod. That’s because there’s a place for Keanu, and his fans are even more supportive because of him.
Now a fifty-one-year-old, this star has a career where he’s played superheroes such as in The Matrix and pulpy, high-octane hitmen like John Wick, and at the rate he’s currently going, there’s no sense of Keanu Reeves stopping.
His career now is a more realistic and better Speed sequel.
[Featured Image By Jason Kempin / Getty Images]
