A man of action
In a career spanning over 40 years, Keanu Reeves has had his fair share of cinematic hits and misses. His latest film, John Wick, is definitely one of the former and in the case of the titular hero, sort of literally, as Reeves plays a vengeful hitman who's not afraid of getting his hands dirty.
And if there's anything Reeves knows how to do, it's a sucker-punch action scene. We took a rifle through his back catalogue to pick out all the triumphant Keanu action scenes guaranteed to make you go, Woah...
Falling
The Film: Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)
The Action Scene: Okay, we're only partly joking. This moment's kind of action-y, in the sense that the action itself is pretty damn dramatic. Namely: falling into Hell. Having been banished to the flaming pit, Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Reeves) fall. A lot. They also scream. A lot. Until they realise that's a bit pointless...
The Bridge
The Film: Chain Reaction (1996)
The Action Scene: Eddie (Reeves) attempts to escape the cops by running up Chicago's Michigan Avenue bridge, except then the bridge starts opening. With his escape route cut off, Eddie's forced to hop down onto the bridge's second level... It's a stunt Reeves performed himself, despite the freezing winter temperatures and danger factor.
Scientists Down
The Film: Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
The Action Scene: Next time, knock, baldie, jokes Johnny (Reeves), a courier with a data storage device implanted in his noggin. He's caught up in an early action scene when Yakuza fighters raid a meeting Johnny's attending, forcing him to fight his way to freedom. That includes going up against a guy who has a laser whip that slices through anything. Yeah, scary.
Historical Bar Fight
The Film: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
The Action Scene: Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Reeves) have taken a trip through time and befriended Billy the Kid in a Wild West bar. After a game of poker turns into a riotous bar brawl, the tubular dudes get thrown through a wall and smashed along the bar before coming to Billy the Kid's rescue. Radical!
Bar Brawl
The Film: The Replacements (2000)
The Action Scene: It may not be quite as epic as some of the other action scraps on this list, but this moment from The Replacements gets a shout out thanks to Reeves' surprisingly convincing 'drunken stagger' (as former quarterback Shane Falco) not to mention his delivery of a few choice put-downs as his team of 'replacements' go up against the miffed Sentinels.
Eye Of The Tiger
The Film: Man Of Tai Chi (2013)
The Action Scene: Donaka Mark (Reeves) and Tiger Chen (Tiger Chen Linhu) meet at a temple, where they go claw to claw in an epic death match to end all epic death matches. The dialogue's ridiculous (you owe me a life, growls Donaka), but the fighting's sublime, not least when a knife comes into the equation.
What Explosion?
The Film: Chain Reaction (1996)
The Action Scene: If there's one thing Reeves loves doing, it's spitting in the face of physics. In The Matrix, there's a reason he can defy pesky things like gravity, but there's basically no reason for his ability to out-race a hydrogen explosion in this action flick. Hopping onto his trusty motorbike, his student Eddie speeds away from an exploding lab and survives, despite the mushroom-cloud detonation. Brilliant.
Surf's Up
The Film: Point Break (1991)
The Action Scene: Johnny Utah (Reeves) is confronted on Latigo Beach by a group of surfers who want to use his face as a punching bag. Ever resourceful, Johnny fights back with his surf board. Alright, so Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) comes in to save the day, but Johnny gets in a few good smacks before finally getting wrestled into submission.
Smith Army
The Film: The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
The Action Scene: Just when you thought you'd seen everything the Wachowskis had to offer with their Matrix films, along came this scene, in which Neo (Reeves) goes up against thousands of duplicate Agent Smiths (Hugo Weaving). Fighting in the lashing rain, it's the battle to end all Matrix battles, replete with orchestral singing and slow-mo rain-sploshing. FIGHT!
Foot Chase
The Film: Point Break (1991)
The Action Scene: Rookie FBI agent Johnny Utah (Reeves) stakes out a bank with partner Pappas (Gary Busey) in order to take down the thieving 'Ex-Presidents'. When they pitch up, he gives chase in a delirious action sequence through the streets of Malibu. Includes Jonny jumping into an aqueduct, just because.
Traffic Tunnel
The Film: Speed (1994)
The Action Scene: Jack (Reeves) finally comes face-to-face with bad guy Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper), confronting him in the subway, where Payne has hijacked a train. They fight on the train's roof as it hurtles through the tunnels, proving just how fearless Jack really is. Ends in decapitation by signal light, naturally.
Neo Vs Morpheus
The Film: The Matrix (1999)
The Action Scene: It's training time for Neo (Reeves), who's just been unplugged from the Matrix and tipped head-first into the real world. Cue a spot of Kung Fu fight training with Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) in a simulated dojo, where the laws of gravity don't apply something Neo quickly (and brutally) learns.
Elevator Epic
The Film: Speed (1994)
The Action Scene: A bracing introduction to LA SWAT officer Jack (Reeves), whom we meet attempting to rescue an elevator full of people while a malicious bomber threatens to blow them up unless he's handed $3m in cold hard cash. As if the rescue attempt isn't pulse-racing enough, Jack then has to choose between shooting his partner or letting the bomber escape. Guess which he goes for...
Chateau Skirmish
The Film: The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
The Action Scene: Neo (Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) attempt to protect the Keymaker (Randall Duk Kim) from the Metrovingian (Lambert Wilson) and his terrifying dreadlocked twins. Naturally, Neo does most of the fighting, using his God-like powers to stop bullets mid-air and then beating the crap out of his opponents without even breaking a sweat. Now this guy's cool...
Home Invasion
The Film: John Wick (2014)
The Action Scene: An early one from John Wick and, don't worry, we won't spoil it for you. All you need to know is that this is the moment John (Reeves) is confronted in his home by black-masked baddies. It's pretty much a 20 against one scrap, but when did Reeves ever pay any attention to odds during a skirmish?
Subway Station
The Film: The Matrix (1999)
The Action Scene: Neo (Reeves) comes face to smug face with Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) in a New York subway. It's the first time they've fought, and it's pretty much everything you want from a fight between two of the most badass movie characters ever. Neither of them escape unscathed it's fair to say, this is the beating of Neo's life.
Mind The Gap
The Film: Speed (1994)
The Action Scene: You know the one. It's the scene that enthusiastically defies the laws of physics as SWAT officer Jack (Reeves) and Annie (Sandra Bullock) hurtle their non-stop bus over a gap in an unfinished highway. Gravity-defying and ridiculous, it's also proper heart-in-mouth stuff and we love it.
On The Highway
The Film: The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
The Action Scene: The crowning glory in this second Matrix film, the highway set-piece is a thing of adrenaline-fuelled beauty. Trinity's (Carrie-Anne Moss) wrong-way Ducati driving is the thing of (thrilling) nightmares, while Neo (Reeves) flies in to save the day. EPIC.
In The Club
The Film: John Wick
The Action Scene: We included this scene for the sake of creating a complete list, but we're loathe to spoil it for those yet to watch the film. We'll simply say that it's a scene in which John Wick (Reeves) infiltrates a club and shit goes down. Big time.
Corridor Clash
The Film: The Matrix (1999)
The Action Scene: How could this be anything but number one? Morpheus has been kidnapped, so it's up to Neo and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) to rescue him. Which of course means breaking into a high rise and taking out security in one of the most thrillingly bullet-riddled action scenes ever committed to film. There is slow-mo and it is glorious.
