Movie review
April 29, 2016 · 100 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Keanu is a 2016 buddy action comedy starring Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key as two middle-class black cousins who pose as hardened gangsters to retrieve their stolen pet kitten from a Los Angeles drug gang. The story focuses on their chaotic fish-out-of-water adventures, friendship, and silly attempts to project street toughness while dealing with real criminals. Light comedic bits draw from racial stereotypes and code-switching, but the film shows no strong identity-driven messaging, political lectures, activist themes, or modern social critiques.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Keanu.
Woke representation / casting
Black leads and supporting cast naturally match the Los Angeles gang-infiltration premise with no visible forced diversity or story mismatches.
Woke political dialogue
Tough-guy slang and threats appear only as comedic set pieces in gang scenes, with no modern political or activist speeches.
Identity-driven story themes
Humor partly comes from middle-class black characters clashing with adopted gangster stereotypes and code-switching, but this stays comedic and non-activist like their TV sketches.
Western institutional / cultural critique
No portrayals of toxic masculinity, patriarchy, or systemic critiques framed in activist terms; gang life serves as a funny plot obstacle.
Production
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No substantial backlash or debates accusing the film of woke content; reception focused on comedy, not identity politics.
Creator track record context
Jordan Peele shows a pattern of racial identity themes across his filmography, while most other crew have comedy or commercial backgrounds with limited or no activist signals; Steven Mnuchin adds conservative context.
