Review of Keanu (2016) by Tjman09 — 09 May 2016

When I first heard about Keanu, a feature film debut for the comedy duo Key & Peele I was very excited because I love the show. Key & Peele have consistently shown that they are clever comedians, and Keanu only serves as further proof of their talent. Keanu is often funny, mostly because of the infectious chemistry of it's leads, despite a few narrative weaknesses. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Keanu is the originality of the jokes, in a day and age where comedies are typically very lazily made.

A lot of comedies today are like modern horror movies, they are extremely lazily made and not very good at what they are supposed to do. Keanu features some very clever jokes that are really funny, and border on being hilarious. Some of the jokes fall flat, and this isn’t the funniest comedy I’ve ever seen, but a lot of the jokes are funny, and original. The movie is at it’s best when the two main characters are on the screen, as their chemistry is electric.

The biggest selling point of this film is Key & Peele, because those two comedians have proven to be hilarious, and are even better when they are together. The two main characters, played by Key & Peele, are the obvious focus of the film, as every other character in the film is clearly an afterthought. Given how the story progresses it’s easy to care about the two main characters, but all other characters lack the same depth, making the clear focus of the film Key & Peele, but sacrificing quality in the process.

While the film is clever, somewhat original, and often funny it also has a few too many plot holes. Like most comedies today, the story of Keanu was written simply to tie a long list of jokes together, and because of that it feels weak. There are multiple moments where the cleverness that was infused in the jokes, is abandoned for the story. The film’s story is also not as original as the jokes, as the story feels at least a little like Taken.

All-in-all the jokes are what matters in this film, as many, if not all, who see this movie will see it for the humor and not the story. The jokes are clever, fairly original, often funny, and don’t fall short very often. For those who like Key & Peele, this movie will not disappoint, and may even exceed expectations. If you like their style, or if you like funny movies, this movie is definitely for you.