Keanu

I went into this thinking it was going to be a dumb way to pass the time, as I wasn't a fan of their sketch comedy and a couple of their earlier works. But this movie surprised me - it was fun!

There's a lot of good actors and actresses in this, some fun cameos, and the story while completely absurd is entertaining and will keep you laughing throughout. It's also got a lot of really well done action sequences, specifically at the beginning and end, which you wouldn't expect from this type of movie.

Don't judge a book by its cover with this one. Yes it's silly, but it's really well done and definitely entertaining.

I'm not sure what people are after when looking for comedy. People have different views on what makes a belly laugh or just a smirk. For me this was just what I needed at the time, yes it's silly and yes it's not a serious action movie but it did make me laugh, so it's a 6 from me.

Assassins (Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key) shoot up a drug factory. A kitty escapes. Rell Williams (Jordan Peele) is depressed after getting dumped by his girlfriend. He is lifted up by finding the kitty on his doorstep and he names her Keanu. His cousin and best friend Clarence Goobril (Keegan-Michael Key) needs to man up for his wife Hannah (Nia Long). Rell's home is ransacked and Keanu goes missing. Small time dealer Hulka (Will Forte) points the finger at a local gang. The guys take on gangster persona "Tectonic" and "Shark Tank". They meet Hi-C (Tiffany Haddish) and leader Cheddar (Method Man) who mistakes them for the assassins Allentown Boys.

Firstly, the kitty is really cute. The guys have great chemistry. The ridiculous premise is set up for outrageous humor. There are some cute laughs at times but it doesn't stay at a high enough level. It's funny skit material but it doesn't fill out. It's a little thin. The movie tries to add a couple of comedic performances from Will Forte and Anna Faris. They only really hit singles rather than home runs. The movie needs to be more ridiculous. It needs to take on the gangsta genre in a deeper way. The guys are capable of more.

Who hasn't been waiting for Key and Peele to put out a movie together? 'Key and Peele' was one of the best sketch comedy shows of recent memory. Their dynamic on screen is always must watch television and so we were all waiting to see how it would translate to the big screen. For the most part, Keanu works. It does a good job of incorporating the same humor from their show into the film. I just wish they pushed it even further. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments, but the plot of Keanu falls back into clichéd territory far too often.

It's largely a spoof of action films in the same vein as the avidly popular Jump Street films. Instead of going undercover to take down drug dealers, the duo played by Key and Peele, pretend they are drug dealers to win back the kitten that was taken from them. But besides that, the plot unravels exactly as you would expect. You could make the argument that it's not even necessarily a full on spoof, especially with its attempt at drama quite a few times throughout the film.

With that said, when the laughs hit, they hit hard. There's something about the quick witted banter between Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele that it becomes addicting to watch after a while. I just feel they could have taken it a step further. The runtime feels a little long in the tooth too, especially towards the climax.

The supporting cast is okay, with a few surprises here and there, but the real hero here is Keanu the kitten. It isn't named Keanu by accident, and I enjoyed how they played off his name throughout the film. But don't go in expecting Keanu to be the center focus. The kitten only gets like 25 minutes of screen time, but it isn't wasted.

Overall, Keanu features the incredible duo of Key and Peele and fans of the sketch show will no doubt walk away loving this, but there was still some untapped areas to be tackled. Whether it's a sequel to Keanu, a return to TV, or a completely fresh idea, I'm down to watch anything these guys do.

+Incredible duo

+Brilliantly stupid premise

-But it ends up feeling cliché and uninspired

-Uneven

6.8/10

This was one of the best comedies that I have seen in some time; that isn't to say you will fall out of your seat laughing - but the laughter was consistent from beginning to end, and that is pretty much the only thing that matters to me when I decide to go see a comedy.

Seeing how this movie was a clear reference to Keanu Reeves "John Wick", at least as far as the marketing is concerned, I thought the movie would be more of a direct spoof of that movie; but it wasn't - it was more so just a general action comedy and I wouldn't even go so far as to call it a "spoof" movie even though they were certainly playing off well known action tropes.

My bottom line: Is this movie worth shelling out the $ to go see in the theater, in my opinion, yes it is. Get some friends and go have some good laughs.