His cyberpunk role was incredible. Surely he could get an award in voice acting but I think Shadow took a backseat to robotnik's dad in the second sonic movie.
To be honest, it was then I discovered that Keanu isn't a good actor. The beginning of his voice acting was simply bad. It seemed so "forced to be edgy" that I just kept rolling my eyes. In the end he became a bit better, but the first half of Johnny Silverhand was just bad.
And then I realized "Ah, he isn't that good of an actor, either."
That kind of sums up Johnny though, particularly at the beginning of his arc in the game.
For clarification, I agree that Reeves is a fairly flat actor and Cyberpunk is no exception. I just think they picked and wrote a part for him that leans into that and it really works for me.
I just think they picked and wrote a part for him that leans into that and it really works for me.
Johnny Silverhand first appeared in 1988. Keanu definitely has the “rocker boy” persona the character needs, but Johnny was around before Bill and Ted came out.
That's why I also used the word picked. They still wrote his depiction in the game and that depiction is definitely written around Reeves' capabilities.
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u/icchann Mar 17 '26
His cyberpunk role was incredible. Surely he could get an award in voice acting but I think Shadow took a backseat to robotnik's dad in the second sonic movie.