Long before he was the dog-loving assassin John Wick, the feeling towards Keanu Reeves
from both critics and audiences was less than ideal. While everyone is now fully aware of how breathtaking the actor and action star truly is, this was not always the case, as the response to his largely panned 2008 crime thriller, which has now found success thanks to streaming, demonstrates.
Directed by Training Day and The Beekeeper filmmaker David Ayer, the action thriller Street Kings
finds Keanu Reeves in the lead as a grieving cop who turns to violence and alcohol following his wife’s death. Starring Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Common, and The Game alongside Reeves, Street Kings is now jumping in and out of the top 10 on the free streaming platform, Tubi
, and you can check out the official synopsis for the thriller below.
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“Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves), a veteran member of the LAPD, is still mourning the loss of his wife and trying to navigate through a world that does not make much sense anymore. When evidence implicates him in the death of a fellow officer, Ludlow begins to question the loyalties of everyone around him.”
There Was a Time When Keanu Reeves Was Panned Far More Than He Was Praised
While Keanu Reeves has had a hugely successful career for decades now thanks to roles in the likes of the Bill and Ted series, Speed, Point Break, and The Matrix franchise, there was a time when the actor was often heavily criticized for being “wooden” and lacking screen presence. Now that Hollywood has finally (and quite rightly) fallen in love with the actor, this seems ridiculous, but the reviews for Street Kings offer a warped window into a time when Reeves was panned far more than he was praised.
At the time, Street Kings landed a score of 37% from critics and 58% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian was particularly harsh in his assessment, saying, “There’s plenty of empty bravura, and Reeves is fundamentally blank and uninteresting.” While Brian Rentschler of Screen Rant concluded, “Throughout the entire movie, the believability factor of Reeves playing a cop is about the same as when Kevin Costner played Robin Hood. Somehow, it doesn’t matter, though. Far more detrimental to the movie are plot holes and logic gaps in the story that could accommodate a big rig.”
However, there were some in Reeves’ corner, with Ian Nathan of Empire calling Street Kings, “Another mean, violent and decently acted slab of Ellroy-flavoured criminality, with an impressively battered Keanu Reeves, but Ayers is no Curtis Hanson.” Kirk Honeycutt of THR summed things up by saying, “Fast action combined with rock-solid characters.” In any case, things could have been far worse, as the Reeves-less direct-to-video sequel Street Kings 2: Motor City proves.
Keanu Reeves has, of course, found huge success in recent years with the John Wick franchise, which sparked something of a renaissance for the actor and his reputation among both audiences and critics. While it looked like John Wick: Chapter 4 wrapped things up for the character (with Reeves seemingly putting the idea of another sequel in its grave), Jenefer Brown, EVP and Head of Global Products & Experiences at Lionsgate, has now revealed that John Wick: Chapter 5 is in development.
“This world continues to grow and expand in incredible ways. Up next, of course, we have Ballerina, which is our first spin-off movie and [we] can’t wait for that to release to the world. Of course, we’ve announced we’re working on a fifth John Wick film. I think there are more spinoffs to come, a TV series, video game.”
Source: The Guardian, Screen Rant, Empire, THR
Street Kings
- Release Date
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April 10, 2008
- Runtime
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109 Minutes
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