Scan barcode
lserver362's review
4.0
Witty and compelling, even for the Keanu movies I haven't yet seen. I especially liked the Speed chapter. Great analysis of the roles and the cultural impact of one man, even if it's just the facade of the man society & media has built up.
estadem's review
4.0
Some people got really into baking during the pandemic lockdown, others started an indoor garden, Alex Pappademas? He rewatched every movie starring one Keanu Charles Reeves. This book is the outcome of those hours watching and researching all things Keanu
I am what you would call a fair weather fan of Keanu Reeves. I've seen his blockbusters (Bill and Ted, Matrix, John Wick), shared a few "sad Keanu" memes, but I'm no means and expert or have seen everything from his oeuvre. (In fact, I don't think I watched the last 2 Matrix movies). Because of that, I learned a lot while reading this book. And added some films to my watch list. But, I can't give it a full 5 stars. It more-or-less followed a chronological order of Keanu's filmography, but then would also get scattered, trying to make connections to early or later films. It also started to drag about halfway through. The author's writing still is loose and funny kept me engaged enough to keep going. Well, that, and I wanted to get to the Always Be My Maybe cameo!
Overall, I'd recommend this to fans of the 90s, Keanu, movies, and pop culture.
While I received an ARC of Keanu Reeves: Most Triumphant from NetGalley for free, this had no bearing on my rating and review. Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams!
I am what you would call a fair weather fan of Keanu Reeves. I've seen his blockbusters (Bill and Ted, Matrix, John Wick), shared a few "sad Keanu" memes, but I'm no means and expert or have seen everything from his oeuvre. (In fact, I don't think I watched the last 2 Matrix movies). Because of that, I learned a lot while reading this book. And added some films to my watch list. But, I can't give it a full 5 stars. It more-or-less followed a chronological order of Keanu's filmography, but then would also get scattered, trying to make connections to early or later films. It also started to drag about halfway through. The author's writing still is loose and funny kept me engaged enough to keep going. Well, that, and I wanted to get to the Always Be My Maybe cameo!
Overall, I'd recommend this to fans of the 90s, Keanu, movies, and pop culture.
While I received an ARC of Keanu Reeves: Most Triumphant from NetGalley for free, this had no bearing on my rating and review. Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams!
heather425's review
3.0
I should have known this was going to be more about the author's take on the actors films and nothing new about his personal life. I like that Keanu keeps things quiet and to himself. The writing in the book was engaging and it made me want to revisit some of Keanu's works. Mostly it felt like I was learning about the authors's opinions.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!
redwrapped's review
adventurous
funny
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
This is not a sordid celebrity biography, this being about Keanu Reeves after all; what kind of torrid reveals could even be uncovered at this point in time? Especially if the scandals and the secrets are most likely just not there, since countless detractors have tried and failed to find any that would stick.
He's too clean, humble, and unknown to the public in any true capacity due to Reeves' tendency to abandon any attempt to explain himself in interviews, always maintaining a wall of privacy completely alien in our celebrity-saturated culture of oversharing, so keeping that in mind, this is a book that tries to take on the task of understanding the man Keanu Reeves through the lens of Keanu Reeves the actor and the roles he has chosen and how they've been received. So this is a bit of a film nerd's book, but put with the specific context of tracing Reeves' impact on popular culture and the ways that society's embrace of his work has affected him.
So much of that premise is dependent on the fact that Keanu Reeves is just like a blank slate that people and culture at large project our hopes and desires on, and this book is made possible by how amorphous and zeitgeist-y Reeves is. Without that eternal mystery and endless ability to analyze him, yet probably not ever get closer to the truth of who he truly is and what goes through his mind, Most Triumphant couldn't exist.
The commendable amounts of research into all aspects of Reeves' films and the subtext of each and the circumstances around many of his most popular films are delivered with zinging humor and a disregard for the contempt of popcorn-ready action movies and aimless indie flicks critics and film afficionados usually reserve; there's never any judgement for Reeves' acting technique, but actually reverence and a philosophical delineation of how he acted in each role. This is a very cool, upbeat film critic's take on Keanu's career so far, and why he's become a cinema staple and a national treasure to both Canada and America.
Thanks to Abrams Image and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
He's too clean, humble, and unknown to the public in any true capacity due to Reeves' tendency to abandon any attempt to explain himself in interviews, always maintaining a wall of privacy completely alien in our celebrity-saturated culture of oversharing, so keeping that in mind, this is a book that tries to take on the task of understanding the man Keanu Reeves through the lens of Keanu Reeves the actor and the roles he has chosen and how they've been received. So this is a bit of a film nerd's book, but put with the specific context of tracing Reeves' impact on popular culture and the ways that society's embrace of his work has affected him.
So much of that premise is dependent on the fact that Keanu Reeves is just like a blank slate that people and culture at large project our hopes and desires on, and this book is made possible by how amorphous and zeitgeist-y Reeves is. Without that eternal mystery and endless ability to analyze him, yet probably not ever get closer to the truth of who he truly is and what goes through his mind, Most Triumphant couldn't exist.
The commendable amounts of research into all aspects of Reeves' films and the subtext of each and the circumstances around many of his most popular films are delivered with zinging humor and a disregard for the contempt of popcorn-ready action movies and aimless indie flicks critics and film afficionados usually reserve; there's never any judgement for Reeves' acting technique, but actually reverence and a philosophical delineation of how he acted in each role. This is a very cool, upbeat film critic's take on Keanu's career so far, and why he's become a cinema staple and a national treasure to both Canada and America.
Thanks to Abrams Image and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
More...