Keanu Reeves has long been a star in Hollywood with incredible talent, but it feels like, in some ways, everything led up to his role in John Wick. Reeves began acting in TV spots and TV movies during the early 80s, but it wasn’t long before he began landing leading roles and shaping up to be a true Hollywood star. And in the 40 years since the beginning of his career, he has come a long way and accomplished a lot.
While he got his start in more minor projects, and then moved into playing comedy-centric roles, Reeves’ career has seen him grow to be one of the most impressive action stars in recent decades. His films do also tend to feature some sort of quirk, or sci-fi/fantasy element that sets them apart from traditional action films, but this ultimately combines to serve him well in his current roles, like playing the leading man in the John Wick series of films, and his career has shaped him to be the perfect actor for such a role.
While Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure may appear to be a far cry from John Wick, it is the first movie that gave Reeves a big break in his career. He had been given small parts, or appeared in ads for brands, but he had yet to become the face of a movie and get to fully embrace playing a character that would go on to be popular with a large audience. Bill & Ted changed that, making Reeves an icon, and pushing him to become a bigger name in Hollywood and that could help him to take the next step up the ladder.
The movie is wacky and full of fun moments, which is different from John Wick, but it does also see Reeves becoming a somewhat reluctant hero. Ted is just a kid, and he wants to do normal things like hang out with friends and play music. Wick is also someone who wishes to be left alone to enjoy his own hobbies and steer clear of trouble. However, both characters are dragged into a world that challenges them at every turn.
Just five years later, Reeves underwent an incredible transformation from boy to man when he starred in Speed as Jack Traven. Here, Reeves begins to take things to the next level when it comes to action and playing the hero as he is a cop off duty who gets stuck in the middle of a dangerous terrorist attack that could kill many innocent people. As Traven, Reeves remains cool under pressure, and uses his skills in diplomacy to deescalate the situation and try to reach a resolution.
While Traven is a law enforcement officer, and Wick acts outside the law that is most familiar to audiences, there are clear differences between both protagonists. However, both men once again are dragged into the middle of a conflict that they didn’t ask for. Both put on a brave face, and set out to do what they need to do to make things right, and both appear to be extremely skilled at their jobs. Ultimately, this role contributed as much as many of the others listed here to prepare Reeves to one day play Wick.
The following year, Reeves took on a very different role in the sci-fi action movie, Johnny Mnemonic. The film was written by William Gibson, who is also the author of stories like Neuromancer, and the father of cyberpunk, which would be an influential element later in Reeves’ career. The movie combined the action and adventure of Speed with something that felt out of this world, and firmly rooted in the future. It also gave Reeves the opportunity to use his imagination more, and explore characters removed from the real world.
As the titular character, Reeves plays a special courier who uses part of his own brain capacity to upload and transport sensitive messages. The technology featured in the movie, and many of the graphics have become more dated, but the stylistic choices also help to make it feel intentional and fresh. However, the narrative of a secret specialist travelling through an advanced alternative world that the audience does not understand feels very similar to John Wick.
Continuing in the narrative of cyberpunk, the Wachowskis’ incredible film, The Matrix, made huge waves when it was first released in 1999, and it raised questions about reality, simulation, and truth. This was also the first time that Reeves played a character that could seriously outmatch any rival thanks to his extraordinary skills and his connection to the world in which the machines existed. This development in Reeves’ career is potentially one of the most clear influences that would go on to land him the role as Wick, and certainly his most popular up to that point.
While Reeves had played action heroes before, and taken on the role of the leading man several times, Neo was a very distinct character. Neo had a greater understanding of the world around him once he was able to tap into the Matrix, and it made him an almost unstoppable force. John Wick is a similar power, with his tremendous skills making him nearly impossible to kill, or to take down for good. Sure, he takes an occasional hit or two, but thanks to his comprehensive understanding of how his world works, he navigates it seamlessly.
Six years later, Reeves would once again tackle the role of the unwilling hero, but this time, the film included a whole new host of supernatural rivals. Constantine is a film based on the DC Comics series, Hellblazer, with several changes to the original narrative. However, this supernatural horror film does not lose anything from the source material, as the visuals and the narrative combine to create something that pays tribute and homage to the source material.
Reeves plays a stubborn anti-hero with a callous approach to life. He is tired and frustrated with the evil that exists around him, and while he makes his best effort to save people and put the wrong things right, he is also struggling to correct things in his own life. Constantine is also a fighter and a kind of dark avenger who dispels the forces of darkness through his efforts. In some ways, this ties into the ideas that make up a character like Wick in the world that is full of assassins and governed by the laws of The High Table.
A few years later, in 2008, Reeves began embarking on his villain era as he moved away from playing the action hero, and started to tackle roles that were morally gray. In Street Kings, Reeves plays an undercover detective in the LAPD named Tom Ludlow. Ludlow recently lost his wife and became an alcoholic as a result. Of course, this begins to impact his work, and he tends to be much more loose and extreme in the way that he handles his cases.
Ludlow is still a cop, and ultimately, he makes the calls that save the day, but he is also one of Reeves’ less heroic characters. Ludlow murders criminals, with little consideration for what the repercussions may be. He also chooses to allow criminals to do bad things, so he has a defense when he takes them out with cold precision. Ludlow is a killer, similar to Wick, but his intentions are distinctly different, and more angry, than Wick, who lost his wife and chooses to leave a life of murder behind him until it comes to his door.
In 2013, Reeves tackled a role that was a clear antagonistic character when he played Donaka Mark in the Chinese-American film, Man of Tai Chi. Mark is a brutal killer, and a wealthy businessman who runs criminal operations such as a fighting ring. Mark is out to make money, and he does not care who has to die to get what he wants. He is also not afraid to get his own hands dirty when he joins in the fight and chooses to teach the contestants a lesson.
This role showcases Reeves’ impressive physical skills despite being decades older than earlier action roles. It also sees Reeves tackle a role that sheds any semblance of trying to be heroic or good, as he fully leans into the villain arc required by the narrative. It doesn’t seem fair to call John Wick a villain. However, the character is an expert killer who spent an undisclosed number of years fighting, killing, and taking work as a hired killer. Getting into the mind of such a villain as Mark would have been helpful when preparing for the role.
In the same year, immediately preceding the release of John Wick, Reeves also starred in 47 Ronin. The movie sees Reeves as a hero, working to save and protect the people he loves from evil forces. The world of 47 Ronin contains magic and monsters, but it also sees Reeves approaching friends and mentors in an effort to prepare for his greater challenge. While the film is distinctly different from John Wick, there is also a lot in common.
Both films see Reeves becoming a legendary fighter who is well known in his circles. Both see the primary character preparing to face a great threat that seems overwhelming and insurmountable. Both also feature some close friends who can offer some support and advice on how to approach their situation, or provide them with the right tools for the job. Ultimately, this movie, and all the others in Reeves’ filmography, helped prepare him to become the legendary John Wick.