This article was originally published in 2019. It has been updated to include films that Keanu Reeves has made since then. Whoa.

Keanu Reeves has been a movie star for more than 40 years, but it seems like only in the past decade that journalists and critics have come to acknowledge the significance of his onscreen achievements. He’s had hits throughout his career, ranging from teen comedies ( Bill & Ted’s ) to action franchises ( The Matrix , John Wick ), yet a large part of the press has always treated these successes as bizarre anomalies. And that’s because we as a society have never been able to understand fully what Reeves does that makes his films so special.

In part, this disconnect is the lingering cultural memory of Reeves as Theodore Logan. No matter if he’s in Speed or

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