Matrix, The [21]

I will try to avoid any *SPOILERS* since this movie plays well if you let it introduce you to the Matrix. (Note here: A really good movie was ruined for me from a spoilers: The Sixth Sense. )

I will say this: the scene, where Neo comes to the realization of what the Matrix is, is one of the darkest and most depressing moments in Sci-Fi history. At least in The Truman Show (see also Group29 reviews), we are all in on the "Everything you know is a lie" ruse. In The Matrix, the viewer is Neo in the first person. We know what is going on, when Neo knows what is going on.

The appeal of the movie to me is that, since it is in the first person, we all experience Neo's growth as a character. And when the time comes for Neo to kick some Matrix a$$, we are superheros right along with him.

The "rotating camera" scene (properly called "bullet time") is quite cool and otherworldly. It really makes you feel that Neo can warp reality.

Keanu Reeves does a stellar job here. His cyberpunk persona works well again here much like in Johnny Mnemonic. I did not like Keanu in Dracula, but he is redeemed here. Hugo Weaving as the Computer agent Smith is certainly unsettling. His voice has a distinctive "serial killer lilt" to it. He gives me the creeps. I was one of the few Sci Fi fans to see this movie for the first time AFTER Lord Of the Rings: Fellowship of The Ring. I would have had a tough time with Agent Smith as Elrond. However, Elrond as Agent Smith worked for me. I thought the Neo/Trinity relationship to be hokey and the hero worship by Morpheus' character to be strange. Also, that a human could "read" the Matrix on a terminal screen was outlandish.

All in all, Neo gives us a superhero thrill ride to the end. {BB}

See Expectation

Alternate Review

Matrix Summary The Matrix is a film first released in the USA on March 31, 1999, written and directed by the Wachowski brothers (Andy and Larry) and starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Hugo Weaving. The Matrix received Oscars for film editing, sound effects editing, visual effects and sound. An important development, heavily used in the film, is the slowing down of real-time to show effects, a concept called bullet-time.

Note: The first example of bullet-time can be found in the obscure 1981 film called Kill and Kill Again. In film, the effect is achieved by a set of still cameras surrounding the subject which are activated simultaneously. The pictures in the still cameras are then displayed consecutively and spliced into movie frames.

Added: May 23rd 2004
Reviewer: BB
29 Point Scale Score:    [21]

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