Keanu Review
R: Violence, Language Throughout, Drug Use and Sexuality/Nudity
Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, RatPac Entertainment
1 hr and 38 Minutes
Cast: Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key, Tiffany Haddish, Method Man, Nia Long, Jason Mitchell, with Luis Guzman, and Will Forte
When Rell’s beloved pet kitten Keanu is taken from his home, he and his friend Clarence seek out those responsible to recover the cat, but find themselves in over their heads dealing with violent gang members.
REVIEW: As lovers of comedy, we can agree the comedy duo of Key and Peele are hysterical. Fresh off of their sketch comedy series that had it’s finale in 2015. It was only a matter of time they would transitioning from the small screen to the big screen. Now with their first feature film, Keanu, you’ll be glad that Comedy Central can’t contain their humor anymore.
THE GOOD: With a premise as stupid as it looks/sound the chemistry between Key and Peele really make it work. Sometimes when you see two actors pair up in a comedy you think, “Okay these are just actors in roles just playing off of the script.” But with Key and Peele you already know they’re close friends, so for them playing cousins in this film is very much believable and it works really well. The scenes they share together where they’re riffing off each other or just conversing are thoroughly entertaining and genuinely funny. There is just a point that you don’t feel it’s Key and Peele playing as characters, but it’s just them taking on the world.
One of the best things about this film is that it has good pacing. It doesn’t drag itself to the two hour mark as I’ve been seen with other comedies of this type recently. It knows how to get in and get out and not take forever. And best of all, it follows an actual script where a great majority of it works. It doesn’t rely on extended scenes of just ad-libbing where you’re just dreading the film to end. There is only one moment where a sequence centered on a 5 minute cameo drags on forever but has a hilarious payoff that you can forgive it for. When it doesn’t get a good joke in, it does a good visual gag, when that doesn’t work then its the “screw it” button and everything goes bonkers. There are some jokes that you see coming from a mile away, but it sometimes done with a nice twist that you are surprised to see. The movie tries everything to make you laugh and believe it or not, it thoroughly gets you going the entire ride. The movie does impress with some slo-mo action sequences that is violent yet flipping (pun intended | you’ll get it when you see it) cool. It makes you wanting more Key and Peele in new adventures after this ends.
THE BAD: Though the movie has a good setup, by the time it gets going it doesn’t know what to do. So when it gets stuck, it results to using expletives (more specifically the N word). But the use of the language of the film actually benefits the story and gets them into the situations that they wouldn’t without it. It doesn’t come off offensive or very stereotypical [until the climax]. The movie does unfortunately follow the same tropes as every straight man turning into something they’re not movie more specifically 2015’s Get Hard [also released from New Line Cinema]. It’s as if writers Alex Reubens and Jordan Peele watched Get Hard and said “this is just bull crap let’s rewrite something like this but the right way.” Which they do, but there are moments it’s just retreading Get Hard more specifically the last act all the way through the ending.
LAST STATEMENT: Though it does follow familiar tropes that we’ve seen before, Keanu is a thoroughly funny and inventive comedy that prospers from an actual script and the chemistry between Key and Peele.
Rating: 3.5/5 | 71%
Super Scene: Clarence takes Holy Shit
