Director Peter Atencio, a veteran of Key & Peele, starts with a kitten escaping a gangland shootout, and his awkward, tiny leaps are ironic punchline against the violence behind him. The premise taps into something we all internalize from Internet culture: everyone loves a cute kitten. Parts of Keanu are thin and meandering, and yet there is enough cuteness/creativity so the laughs never quite stop. While they have perfect sketch-writing instincts, their command of tone and comedy falters when they need to focus more on plot, character, and pacing. Keanu is the first feature-length film from this duo, and it presents a challenging transition. Their spoof of eighties exercise videos looked the part, for example, and some sketches ended with their characters exploding. Their defunct Comedy Central show Key & Peele was unique for two reasons: they would end a sketch abruptly when its premise wore thin, and they would copy the cinematography of whatever pop culture artifact they wanted to skewer. Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key are gifted comic actors and sketch writers.
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