Keanu: Cadê Meu Gato?!

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.

First off, I love Key & Peele... I was devastated when I realized that the last episode was their series finale. The movie plays as a weird surreal action movie... I guess it's like Ride Along but played with less slap stick. After watching the trailer multiple times, I figured Keanu was going to have a lot more... but the trailer had all the best parts and the best punchlines.

The plot is a bit shallow as the premise is a runaway kitten and then being found and then going to get the kitten back from captures. I guess you can compare this with Pineapple Express which basically is a simple story of stoners running away... but Pineapple Express has a ton of interesting characters and weirdo situations. Keanu had a couple of weird situations and no real interesting characters except one cameo. Watch the trailer and you're good - it pretty much sums up the entire film and all it's jokes.

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.

Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key) is a conservative suburbanite with a wife and child. His cousin, Rell (Jordan Peele), is a bong-smoking slacker. Then one day Rell finds a kitten on his doorstep and immediately takes it in. He names the kitten Keanu. A few weeks later, in a case of mistaken identity, members of the Blips drug gang break into his house, ransack it and take Keanu. Rell and Clarence set off into Blips territory to recover Keanu.

Only watched this because it stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Loved their comedy show, Key and Peele, and a full-length comedy feature film starring them sounded promising.

The movie certainly retains much of the trademark Key and Peele humour. Add in an absurd-yet-fun plot and a cute kitten and you have a good comedy movie. Some great scenes and lines. Key and Peele are in fine form in the lead roles, with spot-on delivery and the wonderful comedic chemistry that their TV show demonstrated.

Not brilliant though. As with many transitions from TV to film, the momentum and ideas seem to diminish as the movie goes on - the core plot line proves difficult to sustain for 90+ minutes. The comedy is still there, but the movie becomes more uneven the further into it you go. Some pretty weak scenes towards the end. The plot becomes quite haphazard and farcical.

Overall, however, Keanu is good fun and well worth watching.