Fresh from his latest video game outing, Keanu Reeves has a few big years ahead of him. Not only will he be reprising his role as Neo in the fourth Matrix movie at the end of next year, but he’s also slated to appear in two more John Wick movies. To say that he has a busy schedule would be something of an understatement.
While he’s played some fairly big roles over the years, it’s perhaps these two characters that have defined his career. True, he had found some success through the Bill and Ted movies prior to The Matrix, but it was not until his performance as Neo that he really became a household name. Conversely, his reemergence as John Wick helped to bring him back to the big time following a difficult few years. Both are fantastic characters, but for very different reasons.
10 John Wick: Backstory
One of the things that makes John Wick such a wonderful character is his fascinating backstory, which is slowly drip-fed to viewers throughout the course of the trilogy. In many ways, introducing him in the way that they did was a stroke of genius from the movie’s writers as it allows them to flash back or write in whatever they need to in order to enhance either the plot or the character.
It’s not something that the writers have needed to do all that often so far, although there are plenty of occasions when they have alluded to past events in order to create intrigue and mystery. Ultimately though, that viewers know so little about John’s past means that there are almost no constraints when it comes to filling in the gaps.
9 Neo: Character Progression
By introducing Neo as a normal person, the writers of the Matrix backed themselves into a bit of a corner. Unable to rely on the past to define Neo’s character, they instead had to use the events taking place in the present and Neo’s relationships with those around him. In the end though, it worked out incredibly well.
Throughout the course of the Matrix movies there is a clear and obvious transformation taking place in Neo’s character; not just as he embraces his destiny as ‘The One’, but also as he gets a better understanding of the artificial world around him. That’s not to say that John Wick doesn’t exhibit character growth too, but his is a lot more subtle and as such, can at times feel a lot less significant.
8 John Wick: Combat Skills
John Wick knows his way around a gun better than most, but he can be deadly with just about anything. Nothing highlights this better than the time when he killed three men with nothing but a pencil. He’s no slouch when it comes to hand to hand combat either and has racked up quite the body count over the course of his career.
It’s true that Neo can simply download these abilities to his brain, effectively mastering any of the many martial arts in just a matter of seconds. When it comes to actually putting these skills to use though, John has him beat hands down. That’s not to say that Neo hasn’t demonstrated some impressive combat skills during his time though, as he too has had his fair share of fantastic fights.
7 Neo: Super Powers
What really makes Neo such a fearsome foe is his control over the Matrix. Whether he’s dodging bullets or flying around like Superman, Wick has nothing in his arsenal that can match these incredible feats. Of course, outside of the Matrix one might expect a more balanced fight, but even there Neo is shown to have some powers.
Ironically, the machines that he uses these powers against are the ones that gave them to him in the first place and it is as a direct result of their shortsightedness that he is ultimately able to prevail. How exactly this works was never really explained in the movies, but it’s somewhat elementary. What matters is that thanks to his powers Neo is virtually unstoppable wherever he happens to be.
6 John Wick: Consistency
The first Matrix movie is one of the best movies of the nineties and one of the best sci-fi movies ever made. The same, however, cannot be said of its two sequels. Sure, they each had their moments, but neither was anywhere near as revolutionary as the original movie nor were their story beats even close to being as emphatic.
By contrast, all three John Wick movies have been fantastic and the series continues to go from strength to strength with each new entry. There will no doubt come a time when viewers begin to tire of either the character or format, but for now it seems a fair assumption that the next John Wick movie will be just as good as those that came before it. Sadly, the same cannot be said of the upcoming Matrix movie.
5 Neo: Destiny
It took Neo a bit of time to fully come to terms with being ‘The One’, but, following a short adjustment period, it’s a position that he has taken to in his stride. The knowledge that he is destined to save all of mankind rarely seems to phase him and provides added emphasis to everything that he does. It raises the stakes significantly and increases the narrative tension to no end.
While fate played a big role in the direction of John Wick’s life, it feels more like a man reacting to a sequence of events rather than following a predetermined course. Obviously some will see this as one of the character’s biggest selling points and it can at times lead to some incredibly exciting moments. Even so, John’s significance in the grand scheme of things is fairly minor when compared to Neo.
4 John Wick: Relatability
Being the chosen one is cool and all, but it’s hardly something that the average viewer can empathize with. As such, Neo’s character can sometimes come across more as a super human than the average Joe — even if that’s who he was at the beginning of the first movie. His relationships and interactions with his friends and loved ones do keep him somewhat grounded, but not nearly enough.
John Wick, on the other hand, is constantly having to contend with life’s many problems which is something that most can relate to. Granted, some of his problems differ quite drastically from those faced by the average person. When boiled down to their simplest forms though, loss, betrayal and pain are things that most people have experienced at some point in their lives.
3 Neo: Rivalry
Neo’s early interactions with Agent Smith and the rivalry that ensues are the things that really made the Matrix trilogy work. From their showdown at the end of the first movie to Neo’s battle with the countless Smith clones in the second movie, these are the kind of moments that movie goers yearn for and the rivalry between the two men adds considerably more weight to them.
John Wick has certainly made plenty of enemies over the years and has also been involved in his fair share of duels. Despite the wide selection to choose from though, it’s difficult to recall a showdown that felt anywhere near as emphatic as those between Neo and Smith. It’s not that the fights don’t look impressive, but instead that he’s typically up against random goons or characters whose first introduction came only a few minutes prior.
2 John Wick: Loves Dogs
When the protagonist has a dog in an action movie or a video game, the chances of it dying at some point during the story are fairly high. It’s a cheap and easy way to evoke emotion and can do so even in spite of how predictable it is. Thankfully, the first John Wick movie chooses to get this out of the way early on and since then there have been no canine casualties.
Dogs have continued to play a fairly significant role in the series though, with the death of John’s first dog setting events in motion and his connection with his second dog bringing him a little bit of closure. It’s Sofia’s dogs from the third movie that really stand out however. Watching them in action was incredible and was one of the highlights of the movie — even if there were a few heart in mouth moments.
1 Neo: His Relationship With Trinity
Despite his supernatural powers and the fate of mankind resting on his shoulders, Neo still has time for romance. Love it or loathe it, the idea of a love interest is something that’s become fairly standard in modern cinema. It’s therefore somewhat reassuring to see it included in the Matrix movies too.
To the writers’ credit, its actually woven into the narrative fairly well and enhances it on several occasions throughout the trilogy. For a character who is not particularly relatable, that Neo at least conforms to this standard makes him feel just a little more human even in spite of his god-like powers.
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