Star: Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves is known for being one of the nice guys in Hollywood. Everyone loves him, and he doesn’t have a bad word to say about anyone, but he has occasionally hinted at his discontentment with some of the darker things that happen in this world.

Keanu’s career initially gained momentum with movies like Bill & Ted, Point Break, Speed, and Johnny Mnemonic; then he took things to a whole ‘nother level when he starred as the main man in arguably the most iconic movie ever made: The Matrix. He also had a resurgence as an action hero in recent years after performing well in Man Of Tai Chi and 47 Ronin then starring as John Wick in the cult classic saga of assassin themed movies by that name.

Keanu is not much of a martial artist, but he has learnt a few bits to help him in his roles. He’s a great actor, he’s athletically trim, he makes a likeable character, and undoubtedly has always had the talent to become a great martial artist if ever he wanted to be.

The Matrix Resurrections (2021) – Keanu Reeves

This is the fourth instalment of The Matrix, which waited 18 years since the trilogy came out in 2003, so understandably some of the old characters are missing or replaced (Morpheus is no longer played by Laurence Fishburne, and Agent Smith has changed face) and those actors who returned are much older now – Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) are now both in their mid 50s, pushing near 60, which makes their romance a bit less glamorous to say the least. Still, Keanu and Carrie-Anne did alright, and Jessica Henwick (of Marvel’s Iron Fist) makes a very refreshing addition to the cast – she’s probably the best thing about this movie. There’s even a small role for Priyanka Chopra – she did alright too.

Jada Pinkett’s role as the elderly leader of the new city was not so fun – her face was covered in a disgusting looking mask to age her, and her attitude was grossly callous with a false sense of nobility.

The writers seem to have got carried away with psychology this time, and the fight scenes are less succinct here. Replays from previous movies are abundant. Neo can’t fly anymore but is throwing chi balls like there’s no tomorrow. There’s also a strong zombie horde theme, like so many movies released around the same year (representing the rumoured side-effects (or primary intended effects) of something people started adding to their bloodstream since late 2020 / early 2021).

All in all, The Matrix (IV) Resurrections deserves a 7/10 for my taste, since it’s fairly watchable and mildly entertaining. This movie is several levels below the original. Still, there is a fair amount of the good stuff that you’d expect from any Matrix movie. Best viewed soon after seeing the original movie, or after watching the entire trilogy that precedes it.

47 Ronin (2013) – Keanu Reeves

There are some great action scenes in this movie, with great backstory to them. But it’s also a very cold & lonely, depressing movie for the most part, and the ending reflects this most of all. So you may love this movie the first one or two times you watch it, as I did, but once I got used to it, I had to balance its pros & cons to arrive at the rating of Decent – one level better than a mere OK.

There’s way too much glorification of suicide in this movie. In reality, I believe there’s nothing honourable about suicide – it’s among the greatest of sins. And there’s nothing glorious about pride & honour – that’s a minor sin, best replaced with humility. So the fact that everyone voluntarily suicides to honour their “lord” in this movie, makes it quite off-putting. It’s quite sacrilegious in this way. But it still has some great action scenes with some great script detail and great screenplay by some great cast members, so I guess I have a love-hate relationship with this movie.

Keanu Reeves stars in 47 Ronin as a half-breed man trained by demons and capable of all their tricks. I’m not sure if half-breed means he’s half Japanese, half white; or if it means he’s half human, half demon. Anyway, he was wronged and banished from his hometown, then teamed up with other banished ronins (former samurai, whose master was killed) to take back his hometown and rescue the princess from a wedding she wasn’t comfortable with. That’s the story in a nutshell. The acting and action is good but the story is frequently gloomy and depressing so it’s a movie of pros and cons for fans of the smooth action hero genre like myself.

Keanu is his usual self. He does a decent job here and is supported by good choreography and special effects.

His main sidekick in this movie – a banished Samarai who frees him from slavery and joins him in rescuing the princess, is played well by Hiroyuki Sanada.

The leader of all Japan, who doesn’t get much screentime but still adds plenty of value to this movie, is played by the legendary Japanese-American actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (from Licence To Kill 1989 with Timothy Dalton; Showdown in Little Tokyo 1991 with Brandon Lee & Dolph Lundgren; Mortal Kombat 1995 with Christopher Lambert; Elektra 2005 with Jennifer Garner; Tekken 2009 & 2014, and many more movies aside from these classics).

The Matrix (1999) – Keanu Reeves

The Matrix poster

ACTION BUSYNESS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
MOOD SETTING ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
SCRIPT COHESION ⭐⭐⭐⭐
PLOT DENSITY ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This quality of movie simply cannot exist without high budget, great lead actors and a lot of love & dedication by the writers, producers and some supporting cast.

The Matrix is an action-packed, convincing sci-fi thriller with a significant element of martial arts although not performed by martial artists – it’s all about the acting, stunts and special effects here. From instant (computer-assisted) learning of kung fu and other martial arts which are exhibited with great camerawork, to the eccentric use of guns and stunts – this movie is a great example of what can happen when people make a real effort and don’t cut corners in producing a movie that was cutting edge for its time.

A cool plot involving hacking and conspiracies make this sci-fi both believable and doubly entertaining. This is a classic performance by Keanu Reeves, who has made many great action movies, including several John Wick movies more recently, but The Matrix saga stands out as something extra special to Keanu and to his fans who constantly remind him of it. It has transcended the movie industry, especially in recent years where conspiracies abound.

Due to the overall quality of acting and production, I give this movie a 9.5/10 – to get a perfect 10 it would probably need a more genuine representation of great martial arts training exercises, and it would need a deeper, broader or generally more significant base of philosophical teaching behind the movie. These are of course both areas this movie has significantly worked on, I just think it’s still lacking something in these departments.

Still, it’s an excellent movie as it is, from start to finish, and the only real disappointment is how its inevitable sequels don’t manage to maintain the standard set by the original although they are still well worth watching sequentially, but sometimes you might still want to enjoy the original by itself.

It’s not so easy to rewatch every year like Bloodsport is, but what it lacks in sustained comfortable vibe, it makes up for in frequently cutting-edge features. The Matrix has more of an intermittently chilling vibe – it’s not the same genre as Bloodsport and doesn’t try to be – they are both masterpieces in their own niche genres. Like apples & pears, they can’t easily be compared. When asked what’s my favourite movie, I tend to say Bloodsport for simplicity and to avoid pushing something that I have mixed feelings about, but in an objective transparent assessment I can not say it’s definitely any better than The Matrix – I rate them both about equally and can not choose a clear favourite between them.

The Matrix is packed with action in all its forms, with a few drama-ish scenes between. It includes a bit of fighting, a bit of running, a lot of shooting, and there’s a strange kind of war going on. The plot is almost confusing, but it kind of works and has become a massive cult classic. The cast includes several strong performances and a few less strong.