There are some people who would have you believe Keanu Reeves is an actor lacking in range. But nothing could be further from the truth. From romantic comedies to period dramas, Reeves’s career is littered with proof that he is so much more than just a cool guy with very nice hair.
His filmography reads like almost no other A-list star on the planet. He’s done everything and, by and large, done it well. Along the way he’s got to play some of the coolest characters on the planet in some of the most iconic films from the world of action and sci-fi. But on top of that, Reeves has been happy to dip his toes into some weird and wonderful movies down through the years, some more well known than others.
10 Wackiest: Ortiz The Dog Boy (Freaked)
Reeves did a major solid for his Bill & Ted co-star and friend Alex Winter by appearing in this bizarre cult comedy from the early 90s. Winter stars as Ricky Coogan, an egotistical actor who winds up among the exhibits at a mutant freak farm run by a deranged scientist aptly played by Randy Quaid.
It’s just as surreal as it sounds, featuring Bobcat Goldthwait as a talking sock person, Mr. T as a woman with hirsutism and Keanu Reeves as Ortiz the Dog Boy. Winter co-wrote and co-directed Freaked, which went unappreciated upon release but worth seeking out.
9 Coolest: Ted Logan (Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure)
The film that started it all. While, academically speaking, Ted "Theodore" Logan may have technically been a loser and his band, Wild Stallions, weren’t likely to be giving Van Halen a run for their money anytime soon, there was something undeniably loveable about him.
More to the point, both he and his similarly dim-witted bandmate, Bill S. Preston (Alex Winter), gave off a kind of effortless cool that helped turn their time travel escapades into the stuff of film comedy legend. Reeves was in his element, playing it straight, having fun and reaping laughs aplenty as a result.
8 Wackiest: Johnny "Mnemonic" Smith (Johnny Mnemonic)
Reeves took his first foray into cyberpunk with this chaotic thriller based on a William Gibson story. Keanu plays the title character, a data courier with a cybernetic brain implant that allows him to transport large volumes of information.
Set in a dark, East Asian-inspired dystopian future, the film sees Mnemonic forced to ward off attacks from a string of Yakuza and other criminal types intent on stealing the information in his head. It’s a strange, often jarring, experiment that doesn’t always pay off. Reeves’ cold, withdrawn performance garnered negative reviews, but it definitely warrants reappraisal.
7 Coolest: FBI Agent Johnny Utah (Point Break)
Johnny Utah is the living embodiment of the American dream. He’s a former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback who, after suffering a career-ending knee injury, dedicates his life to locking up bad guys for the FBI.
He’s fearless too, happily going undercover to not only infiltrate a gang of armed bank robbers, but a gang who happen to have a penchant for surfing and skydiving. On top of that, he enjoys a little romance with his surf instructor, as well as a bromance with the leader of the bank robbers he is tracking. This all adds up to major cool points.
6 Wackiest: The Dream (The Bad Batch)
Desert-dwelling cannibals, teen pregnancy and a deaf/mute Jim Carrey - when it comes to wacky films, The Bad Batch is wackier than most. Reeves is in his element as The Dream, a Hugh Heffner-like leader of a cult residing in a post-apocalyptic settlement known as The Comfort. The Dream thinks he’s a decent guy - he houses his female companions, providing them with fully-working plumbing and all-night raves.
All he asks is that they help him sell narcotics and serve as concubines. He's definitely not a decent guy but he is pretty weird and Keanu makes sure viewers know it.
5 Coolest: Officer Jack Traven (Speed)
Reeves brought a cocksure sensibility to his portrayal of Jack Traven in Jan De Bont’s Speed. Nicknamed "Hot Shot" by his SWAT team peers, it’s Traven’s quick-thinking that foils ex-police bomb specialist Howard Payne’s (Dennis Hopper) kidnap plot involving an elevator full of people and explosives in the film’s opening.
Unfortunately, Traven ends up somewhat humbled after Payne enacts revenge with a plot involving more bombs and a bus that can’t travel under 50mph. Speed finds Reeves in all-action mode, with the actor proving intelligent, agile and - thanks to an uncredited Joss Whedon script rewrite - witty too.
4 Wackiest: Keanu Reeves (Always Be My Maybe)
Ali Wong and Randall Park may have been the main focus of this charming rom-com, but it was Reeves who stole the show with a cameo that saw the actor at his brilliantly wacky best. Playing a love rival and fictionalized version of himself, Reeves pokes fun at Hollywood pretentiousness, donning glasses with no lenses, spouting pseudo-spiritualism and eating dishes in fancy restaurants that “play with the concept of time."
A big fan of Wong’s stand-up, Reeves was apparently desperate to be involved in the film and even came up with some of his character’s hilariously bizarre eccentricities himself.
3 Coolest: Neo (The Matrix)
Will Smith must rue the day he turned down the role as Neo in The Matrix, especially since he ended up starring in Wild Wild West instead. Yet you have to wonder whether the character would have been as cool with Smith in place of Reeves.
Though he’s garnered some criticism for appearing emotionally detached in his roles, this approach works perfectly for the character of Neo, the listless hacker-turned-hero who senses something is not right. From learning kung fu in the blink of an eye to requesting “guns, lots of guns,” Reeves made this role one of the coolest of the 90s.
2 Wackiest: Duke Caboom (Toy Story 4)
Reeves has tried his hand at almost everything out there and surprised plenty in the process. Duke Caboom is a case in point. Taking on the voice role of Canada’s greatest ever stuntman, Reeves steals the show in Toy Story 4 with a performance that’s both hilarious and surprisingly heartfelt.
The gravel-voiced Duke Caboom is a man of action and energy and that comes through in spades during Reeves’s vocal work. Yet he’s also a toy with a sad backstory about the kid he led down by failing to deliver much of what was promised in his TV commercial.
1 Coolest: John Wick (John Wick)
Neo set the blueprint for cool, modern action roles, but John Wick was the one that put it in motion. This was a role that demanded a different kind of performance from Reeves.
Wick is a man of few words and he lets his action do the talking. It’s this action that helps make Wick one of the coolest characters to ever grace the big screen and almost all of this is down to Reeves, who underwent months of firearms and martial arts training to bring the character to life. The result is strikingly authentic, brilliantly devised and ridiculously cool.
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