'Youngblood' The Beginning of it All

Ah yes. It is 100% true that Keanu Reeves starred in a movie called 'Youngblood', but more than that, it was his first film, dating back to 1986. Along with his beautiful young self, you had Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze star in the film, so you can only imagine the "hunkiness" the film had to offer back then. And it's NO. JOKE. You get some ass shots, sweaty man jawlines, the most unexpected splits and even a cougar, and I don't mean the animal...But apart from the horrifyingly long intro with the ever so catchy 80's music and misty protagonist first look, the movie actually includes Reeves quite a bit. So, I've decided to timestamp every single time he appears in the film (where I can actually see him) and will continue to do so for all the films in which he is not a main character. With that being said, Keanu appears as Heaver (who thought of this name?), aka the Mustangs goalie. According to my research, Reeves actually played hockey in high school, and was good enough to have earned the title of "The Wall". That's way better than Heaver...Anyways, as the film continues, we get more subtle appearances of Reeves, two scenes in particular, where he showcases his obvious skills in ice hockey. Timestamp 23:33 where he gracefully and knowingly knows how to do proper hockey drills and timestamp 1:31:10 where he actually catches the puck before going into the goal. So impressive. Now let's dial back to a mini review of the film before delving into my overall thoughts of Reeves performance.

The film itself on a scale of 1-10, 1 being that time John Wick's dog died (which is just the worst) and 10 being that time Neo did a backbend (which is just the greatest), it would probably sit at a 4. It's not THAT bad. But it's not good enough to recommend either. It took me about two days to complete the film and there was reason for that. The scenes are too long at times and I continuously had to force myself into not looking at my phone or get distracted by something else to pass the time. Hence the reason for the timestamps as well. I felt the need to really examine the film and one of the only ways, at least with this one, was by marking every shot Reeves was in. He was my saving grace. Barely. And to be completely fair, this film was made in 1986, the times that having nice voluminous hair (but really WHAT were they thinking), random chance meetings and falling in love after some minor "low-key" stalking (please don't do this in real life), and pranks galore (what was with people and this mistreatment), were all deemed as completely alright. Society was a very different place in the 80's and we know that, so at the end of the day, it really did fit right in. So yes, it is completely unrelatable to today's standards, but if you like ice hockey and the brutality that it can or used to be, you may like this film. But don't have high expectations.

Now on to our favorite human, Keanu Reeves. As I mentioned earlier, Reeves clearly knew how to play proper ice hockey and after seeing him perform in a few scenes, you almost want to play yourself. Of course Swayze and Lowe ruin it a bit with their intense grudges and constant fights against others, but that's not the point. Reeves, and correct me if I'm wrong, has a French accent?? At least an attempt at one in the film. It's definitely a bit strange, but then again Reeves does have Canadian citizenship and grew up there so it is 100% possible he decided to use one for the film. I only question the accent mostly because the film centers around always joking or pranking, so you really just don't know if he's serious about it or not. But apart from the accent, mention of his experience sleeping with a cougar, Ms.McGill, and yelling like a neanderthal along with the rest of the team, his role is really just as minor as can be. But it's okay, because it was his first movie, and everyone has to start somewhere. The only thing to look forward to now, is his next film, where he has much more screen time. FINALLY.

Thank you to everyone who has decided to read this impulse hobby of mine, I appreciate any feedback and I do plan on posting as often as I can. Please comment below what your thoughts are on the film if you have watched it, but if you haven't...maybe don't.

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