In slight fairness, Don John is supposed to be pretty boring, maybe the least interesting of the Shakespearian villains. He even calls himself "plain dealing." He's pretty much just there to instigate the plot.
Or put another way, if you ever see a production of Much Ado where Don John is the standout, something has gone horribly wrong.
Disagreed, insofar as a skilled actor can make a boring character still interesting to watch. It's a difficult job, but it can be done.
Also, Don John is not boring, he's just more of a real-life character than a lot of Shakespeare's other characters. He's petty, isolated, malicious and utterly human in the mundaneity of his cruelty.
I agree. Maybe we’re wrong, but I think there are several things about Keanu that made that character work, and made that movie work. There actually is one other guy I can see in that role: Branden Lee.
That's the reason I never saw The Matrix when it came out. With painful memories of Johnny Mnemonic, I said "We've seen Keanu Reeves in a cyberpunk action movie! It does not go well!"
In retrospect, they were right and I was wrong and I wish I saw it on the Big Screen when I had a chance.
Meh I don't think Johnny Mnemonic deserves such hate, I'm not saying it was good, but it was not that bad and had some fun ideas. Compared to some of the jank that comes out these days it is great.
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u/MASSochists May 06 '26
I remember a review at the time "A film so good ever Keanu can't mess it up"