We’re back with yet another instalment of Respawning’s Let’s Talk series, where every Friday we get every one of our charismatic writers together to discuss a new topic! This week we’re taking time to discuss our favourite moments from Keanu Reeves who recently took the crown of coolest man in the world from Chuck Norris. While remembering that each and every one of us are breathtaking let’s talk our favourite Keanu Reeves moments..
William
Keanu has plenty of great films and interview moments to talk about but I want to make a mention of the man’s charity work. Something he keeps quiet or at least doesn’t make a fuss out of for publicity. For years Mr. Reeves has been donating MILLONS of dollars to children’s hospitals and cancer research. He barely mentions this and doesn’t put his name to the foundation he formed but he continues to donate huge sums of money to it. He has a personal reason for this as his sister was diagnosed with leukemia way back in the 90s but luckily went into remission, though the events clearly influenced his decision and now so many children’s lives have been changed by the John Wick star’s quiet actions! BEST BOY!
Mikey
Well I’m not topping Will’s entry for emotion so I’ll go for action. Yes Keanu Reeves has recently taken on the role of coolest man on the planet but he’s been a bad ass to me since I first saw him way back in 1999 (yes I had first saw him in Bill & Ted but was too young to appreciate his excellence at that point) . As a 12 year old lad there was no way I was getting into the cinema to see the Matrix but from what I had heard, I NEEDED to see this movie! So on one warm summer’s evening me and some friends managed to get hold of a pirated VHS tape (remember those kids!) and sat down to watch The Matrix for the first time. Even through the terrible tape quality I was able to be amazed by everything this man was doing, special effects or not, I was blown away by the action I was witnessing. The rest of that summer was filled with me and my mates constantly falling on our arses as we tried to replicate all of Neo’s moves from the movie. I absolutely love everything Keanu has gone on to do but that first memory may always be my favourite.
Will J
Keanu’s many things; a very enjoyable actor, a lovely presence in interviews, and, of course, breathtakingly good-looking. But my favourite Keanu Reeves moment isn’t a line from a movie, or an appearance in a video game. No, my favourite thing about Keanu Reeves is his generosity, and his humility.
You see all the time, big-name actors taking tens of millions of dollars in paychecks and then spending it on gigantic Californian mansions and supercars – For a job that is both very fun and very safe (Most of the time, at least), you can’t disagree that actors are severely overpaid. Yet, Keanu takes the paychecks and does good with them – Be it being a cool guy and buying a Harley-Davidson motorcycle for everyone who worked on ‘The Matrix’, or being a living legend by funding childrens hospitals, Keanu Reeves has been spending his money on the things that matter to others, not saving it all for himself.
And that’s why I really respect him, and people like him. Patrick Stewart, Robert Downey Jr, Keanu Reeves – Actors that do good things with their bank accounts and places in the spotlight.
Clarissa
My favourite Keanu Reeves moment has to be The Matrix… Yeah, I know its a cliche but I have a really fond memory of the film series. Basically we had to analyse a media form for English in GCSE’S. My English teacher (Who was my absolute favourite teacher ever – Mr Yates, you’re awesome) basically said we could watch the first Matrix film… We watched that and then he was like… Well you should probably see the others for context… And that then lead to about a month of just dossing off in English class! Amazing! I still really enjoy the films to this day!
Alexx
I don’t know a great deal about Keanu Reeves having only seen him in the Matrix trilogy and three John Wick films so far, all of which are exceptional films. I know he has remained humble in his decades as a beloved actor, and gives a lot of his earnings to charity which is always nice to hear.
My favourite thing about Keanu, however, is the memes. Following his ‘breathtaking’ moment at E3 that people will never forget, he has become the catalyst for many incredible memes. Gone are the days of the ‘Sad Keanu’ memes from years ago and now his appearance in Cyberpunk 2077 has confirmed him for the lofty title of Meme King of the Internet for 2019.
Dea
So Keanu Reeves is in Cyberpunk 2077, Mr Matrix himself – I tell you what, the first movie I remember seeing him in was Speed. I still have a copy of it to this day and it’s not a bad film, probably my favourite Keanu film of all. Sure, Matrix is the go-to for naming faces, but for me it will always be Speed. It’s such a simple film but it brings me back to the old area of action hero type movies. It’s not flashy, and nither is Keanu, least not in the movie, we all know he can be a bit of a fashionista with all the roles he’s played!
Joe
Now we’ve had a lot of Matrix-loving in this Let’s Talk… But quite honestly, the gunfight with Neo and Trinity in the guarded lobby to try and save Morpheus was fan-fucking-tastically choreographed. So much so that you see parodies to that scene in particular all over gaming… And yes, even in Daxter.
Big props to the final Mr Smith fight for it’s sheer madness and scale. The Matrix has always had some of the best fight scenes in film, and Keanu is a big reason for that fact.