Keanu Reeves is clearly an Angel, so it’s natural that he’s found himself battling demons and the devil throughout his cinematic career. We take a look at those battles of good vs evil and life vs death…
It’s almost impossible not to love Keanu Reeves. He’s one of Hollywood’s good guys and an effortlessly likeable fellow with a heart of gold. He’s seen as a bit of an angel. He’s also largely found himself cast as a cinematic hero, and after a long career in genre cinema, it’s unsurprising that he’s done battle with demons and the devil himself, either literal or metaphorical. He’s also played an angel in a film too, in perhaps one of his most perfectly cast roles. It’s time to take a look at angels, demons and devils in the cinema of Keanu Reeves…
Good Fortune
Falling a little unfairly under the radar, Good Fortune saw Aziz Ansari build on the success of Master of None, with his big-screen directorial debut. It’s a fun riff on Wings of Desire, with Ansari making brilliant use of Keanu Reeves as a slightly haphazard guardian angel, whose usual specialism is stopping people who text and drive.
Gabriel (Reeves) takes on the job of guiding Arj (Ansari) whose life is in a rut. He then brings mega-rich tech guru Jeff (Seth Rogan) into the equation, with the two having their places swapped, which causes chaos and sees Gabriel briefly lose his wings, having to live and work as a human. Whilst the concept has already been done across several films (with a few pinches of It’s a Wonderful Life too), Ansari’s characters are likeable, the script is sharp, and the performances are great. Rogen and Reeves in particular have really good chemistry. Keanu is the star of the show, hands down. Give that man his nuggies.
Constantine
Greeted with solid if unspectacular box office and mediocre critic reviews, Constantine also seemed to divide fans on its release. The DC comic adaptation didn’t entirely appease die-hard fans of the source material, but in the 20 years since the film’s release, there has been no shortage of reappraisal. Francis Lawrence’s visual feast takes the aesthetics of Reeves’ Matrix and smashes them together with noir for a great result.
Does the film deserve reappraisal? Actually, yes, it does. A script that adeptly brings you into the world and its lore without resorting to lazy and lengthy exposition is rare in the comic book genre in the post-MCU, DCEU world. It does spectacle and stakes very well, and the CGI, though dated in places, has held up fairly well, in part because visual effects have probably regressed to the point of looking on par with a 2005 production featuring solid CGI (for the time). Rachel Weisz, Tilda Swinton (as an androgynous Angel Gabriel), and Peter Stormare (as the Devil) are in fine form. Reeves as the titular demon hunter is superb. From indifference to a film with a frenzied fanbase demanding a long-awaited sequel. Quite the journey for this DC property, and I’m game for Reeves’ return, if and when it happens. Not least because if there’s a minor criticism, it’s that Reeves seems just a bit too youthful and pretty for this hard-bitten noir (albeit he was actually 40 when the film was made). A more weathered Keanu would be aesthetically perfect for this type of role now.
The Devil’s Advocate
It might be a bit on the nose to have a law firm run by Satan himself, but that’s the premise for the source novel, The Devil’s Advocate (by Andrew Neiderman), which was then adapted on the big screen by Taylor Hackford. Reeves plays an ambitious lawyer who gets a job with a prestigious firm but soon suspects there might be more to his boss than meets the eye, with his wife starting to experience horrible visions.
Dark, moody and atmospheric, the film is also histrionic. That’s in no small part due to the dialled-up direction and performances, but mostly down to how big Pacino goes. It’s classic barnstorming, scenery chomping Pacino here, and though occasionally Reeves gets overpowered, he still delivers a decent performance.
Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey
Bill and Ted returned having passed their school report, but struggling to hone themselves into becoming the band that would later save the world. To make matters worse, Evil robot Bill and Ted killed them and sent them to hell. Reeves, as Ted (Theodore Logan), and his best pal Bill (Alex Winter) see the devil and end up playing the Grim Reaper in a series of games to try and win their lives back.
Whilst this wasn’t nearly as good as Excellent Adventure, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey was far from bogus. Reeves and Winters are a great double act, and William Sadler is great as the Reaper. It’s just a perfect jaunt in and out of hell and heaven, before their final battle with their robot doppelgangers, and the maniacal Joss Ackland. The soundtrack is also most triumphant.
The Matrix Sequels
The Matrix sequels, Reloaded, Revolutions, and Resurrections, expanded on the biblical metaphors even further than the original film. Reeves is a messianic figure meeting a distinct Antichrist in the form of Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) as well as a number of fallen angels, coded demons in the dark crevices of the Matrix programme.
Whilst the original film was a masterful and pretty groundbreaking genre reinvention, the sequels were a mixed bag, with each film housing interesting ideas, perhaps confounded with clunky delivery, particularly with the almost aggressively awkward (occasionally pretentious) exposition dumps. Even the most maligned of the films and most recent, Resurrections, began with some intrigue and promise, with enjoyably meta humour and a wistful Thomas Anderson trying to figure his lot in life. By the time that final film resorted to retreading the final acts of the first and third (but less effectively than even Revolutions), Lana Wachowski’s grip on the reins had long slipped.
The Neon Demon
Not to be outdone in criticism for indulgence and pretentious cinema, Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon is a metaphorical and allegorical look at the all-consuming fashion industry. Winding’s very neon world and its underlying demons (people and places) make for an interesting and certainly divisive film, with many fans succumbing to the film’s visual temptation and dreamlike style. Almost as many were actively repelled by its performance styles, pacing, and arthouse trappings. I was in the former camp, finding it hypnotic and compelled to dig beneath the surface.
It’s certainly a world away from Refn’s more crowd-pleasing work in Drive. Keanu Reeves represents one of the dark characters within the story, made up predominantly of metaphorical demons who all in some way seek to consume the youthful innocence of Jesse (Elle Fanning).
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Vampires are pretty demonic creatures, and that’s true of the Count in Francis Ford Coppola’s grandiose and dazzlingly overwrought adaptation of Dracula. The story begins with Gary Oldman’s Count renouncing God and making a pact with the Devil, becoming the cursed creature who later terrorises Jonathan Harker (Reeves) and his fiancée, Mina (Winona Ryder).
Originally greeted with polar responses of love and hate, Coppola’s film (like many of his more initially divisive works) has grown in stature. For one thing, it’s visually astonishing. Reeves isn’t at his best by any stretch, feeling completely miscast, but hey, he’s got to do battle with a demonic character. Ryder also feels out of place. Oldman, on the other hand, is incredible.
47 Ronin
Director Carl Rinsch might be in a spot of bother at the moment, but back in 2013 he made a big budget samurai fantasy with Keanu Reeves. The film tanked but did cultivate a loyal group of fans, in a film featuring Reeves battling ancient Japanese demon samurai, known as Oni.
It never quite nails its individual elements, despite some nice visuals and design work. It feels as if it wants to ride the coat-tails of Lord of the Rings a little too much at times, or infuse some Manga-esque elements, whilst never really ramping up the Japanese folklore quite enough. Despite Reeves and Hiroyuki Sanada adding class, this one might feature demons, but it’s not Keanu’s best dalliance with them.
What’s your favourite Keanu Reeves film involving angels, devils or demons? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Tom Jolliffe
