When Speed was released in 1994, an action star was born. Since then, Keanu Reeves has appeared in a number of action movies that have put his abilities to good use. Some of them are stone-cold classics, while others… aren’t. Here’s every one of Reeves’ action movies, ranked worst to best.
Based on the William Gibson cyberpunk novel of the same name, 1995’s Johnny Mnemonic follows the story of a man with a cybernetic brain implant that helps him store information. As is the standard for Gibson novels, humanity’s reliance on technology and the dystopian corporate environment of this future keep people in a kind of endless servitude. Reeves stars in the title role, with supporting performances from Dolph Lundgren and Ice-T.
Sadly, Johnny Mnemonic’s premise just isn’t exciting to watch, despite the action being pretty heavy. As Johnny tries to recover his own childhood memories that have been replaced by years of data smuggling, the main conflict loses tangibility, and no amount of action is enough to make us care about his plight. Johnny Mnemonic is basically a guy running around a sci-fi future trying to remember something he forgot, which doesn’t exactly make for a great cinematic experience.
47 Ronin was one of the biggest box office bombs of 2013. The overly-ambitious project reportedly fell victim to a constantly-shifting focus in production and a lack of experience on the part of first-time director Carl Rinsch. There was also a debate around the project about the balance between Eastern themes and a perceived need for “more Western touches.”
One of those Western touches was the addition of Reeves to a mostly Japanese cast of the film, which retells an old legend about 47 rogue samurai avenging the death of their master. What really brought 47 Ronin down was that, despite its well-choreographed fight scenes and slick use of 3D and CGI special effects, the movie was surprisingly dull, with little to no development from Reeves or any of the other one-dimensional characters. But don’t worry — Reeves did go on to make another martial arts movie in 2013 that turned out much, much better than 47 Ronin. We’ll get there. Keep watching the video as we continue ranking every Keanu Reeves action movie worst to best!
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Johnny Mnemonic | 0:18
47 Ronin | 1:07
Chain Reaction | 1:57
The Matrix Revolutions | 2:48
Constantine | 4:12
The Matrix Reloaded | 4:59
Man of Tai Chi | 5:56
Point Break | 7:05
John Wick: Chapter 2 | 7:49
John Wick | 8:33
Speed | 9:24
The Matrix | 10:07