So, I finally saw The Matrix. And I gotta admit, it was really awesome. My tiny mind was blown by the impressive visuals, Keanu Reeves’s kung fu skills, the amazing fight choreography, Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith, and Lawrence Fishburn’s sexy, soothing voice during the talking scenes. It was phenomenal, and felt faster then it actually was. But anyways, I will talk about this stuff later. Let’s get to the base information.
The Matrix is a 1999 Sci-fi Action adventure film directed by The Wachowski brothers and starring Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburn, Hugo Weaving, Carrie-Ann Moss, and Joe Pantoliano as Neo, Morpheus, Agent Smith, Trinity, and Cypher respectively. With a run time of 136 minutes, it was released on March 31st, 1999, and has grossed 465.3 million dollars.
Plot Time!
In an abandoned hotel, a woman (later revealed to be Trinity) is cornered by a police squad but quickly overpowers them with superhuman abilities. She flees, pursued by the police and a group of mysterious suited Agents capable of similar superhuman feats. She answers a ringing public telephone and vanishes.
Computer programmer Thomas Anderson, known in the hacking scene by his alias “Neo”, feels something is wrong with the world and is puzzled by repeated online encounters with the phrase “the Matrix.” Trinity contacts him and tells him a man named Morpheus has the answers he seeks. The Agents, led by Agent Smith, apprehend Neo and threaten him into helping them capture the “terrorist” Morpheus. Undeterred, Neo later meets Morpheus, who offers him a choice between two pills; red to show him the truth about the Matrix, and blue to return him to his former life. After Neo swallows the red pill, his reality disintegrates, and he awakens in a liquid-filled pod among countless others attached to an elaborate electrical system. He is retrieved and brought aboard Morpheus’ hovercraft.
As Neo recuperates from a lifetime of physical inactivity in the pod, Morpheus explains the truth. In the early 21st century, there was a war between humans and intelligent machines. When humans blocked the machines’ access to solar energy, the machines responded by harvesting the humans’ bioelectric power, keeping them pacified in the Matrix, a shared simulated reality modeled after the world as it was at the end of the 20th century. While the machines have taken over the world, the city of Zion still remains as the last refuge of free humans. Morpheus and his crew are a group of rebels who hack into the Matrix to “unplug” enslaved humans and recruit them; their understanding of the Matrix’s simulated nature enables them to bend its physical laws, granting them superhuman abilities. Morpheus warns Neo that death within the Matrix also kills the physical body, and that the Agents he met are powerful sentient computer programs that eliminate threats to the system, while machines called Sentinels search to destroy humans in the real world. Neo’s prowess during virtual combat training lends credibility to Morpheus’s belief that Neo is “the One”, an especially powerful human prophesied to free humanity and end the war.
The group enters the Matrix to visit the Oracle, the prophet who predicted the emergence of the One. She implies that Neo is not the One and warns that he will have to choose between Morpheus’s life and his own. The group is ambushed by Agents and tactical police, tipped by Cypher, a disgruntled crew member who seeks to betray Morpheus in exchange for a comfortable life in the Matrix. Morpheus allows himself to be captured so the rest of the crew can escape. Cypher exits the Matrix first and murders several crew members as they lie defenseless in the real world. Before he can kill Neo, Tank, a crewman whom he had only wounded, kills him.
In the Matrix, the Agents interrogate Morpheus to learn his access codes to the mainframe computer in Zion. Tank proposes killing Morpheus to prevent this, but Neo resolves to return to the Matrix to rescue Morpheus; Trinity insists she accompany him. While rescuing Morpheus, Neo gains confidence in his abilities, performing feats comparable to the Agents. Morpheus and Trinity exit the Matrix, but Smith ambushes and kills Neo before he can leave. As a group of Sentinels attack the Nebuchadnezzar, Trinity whispers to Neo that he cannot be dead, because she loves him and the Oracle told her that she would fall in love with the One. She kisses Neo and he revives with newfound power to perceive and control the Matrix. He effortlessly defeats Smith, and leaves the Matrix just in time for the ship’s electromagnetic pulse to disable the Sentinels.
Later, Neo makes a telephone call inside the Matrix, promising the machines that he will show their prisoners “a world where anything is possible”. He hangs up and flies into the sky.
Actors!
Keanu Reeves is a Canadian actor (age 55) who plays Neo in this film, and I think he does a terrific job. Some of his line deliveries are a bit clunky, but overall, he does a good job embodying the everyday man swept up into a crazy situation. He also had to learn kung-fu for this film, along with Lawrence Fishburn and Hugo Weaving. His career includes: The Matrix 1-3, John Wick 1-3, Speed, Toy Story 4, Point Break, Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and Constantine.
Lawrence Fishburn is an American actor(age 58) who does a fantastic job enthralling me with his silky voice. He plays Morpheus, and does a good job in the mentor role for Neo, and an amazing job soothing me with his sexy vocal chords. His career includes: The Matrix 1-3, John Wick 2 and 3, Apocalypse Now, Man Of Steel, Event Horizon, and Ant-Man And The Wasp.
Hugo Weaving is an English-Australian actor(age 59) who does an excellent job as Agent Smith, the unstoppable killing machine sent to kill Neo and the team. He is suitably scary and machine-like, but the scene were he talks about the stench of the Matrix(the place) is one of the best parts of the movie. His career includes: The Matrix 1-3, The Lords Of The Rings 1-3, The Hobbit, Captain America: The First Avenger, V For Vendetta, Hacksaw Ridge, Happy Feet, and Babe.
Carrie-Ann Moss is a Canadian Actress(age 52) who does a fine job as Trinity, the second-in-command and love interest of Neo. She delivers a preformance that is ok compared to everyone else’s, but that’s not to say she did bad. Her career includes: The Matrix 1-3, Memento, and Jessica Jones(TV).
Joe Pantoliano is an American Actor(age 68) who delivers the most underrated performance in the movie. As Cypher, the guy who betrays the team, he delivers a good motive for it: He wants ignorance, and hates how messed up the world is. For him, The Matrix(the place) is an escape. He isn’t evil, he’s just human. His career includes: The Matrix, The Goonies, Memento, The Fugitive, Risky Business, Bad Boys 1 and 2, and The Sopranos(TV).
Now, For the new and improved version of the best scene!
There are a lot of good contenders for best scene in this film. Now, there’s the obvious ones’ like the bullet dodging scene, or the red pill/blue pill scene, and some underrated ones, like the fight between Neo and Agent Smith that ends with Neo gaining powers and stopping bullets, or Agent Smith’s monologue about the stench of the Matrix(the place). But for me, the best scene was the training-room kung-fu fight between Neo and Morpheus. It starts with one of my favorite quotes ever(Neo: I know kung-fu. Morpheus: Show me) and progresses into a fight scene so well choreographed that it reminded me of the Marvel movies. The fact that both of those actors know kung-fu in real life makes it even better.
Now for a new category: my favorite overall thing about this movie!
There are a lot of good things about this movie. The good acting, Lawrence Fishburn, Hugo Weaving, the core concept(more on that later), and a host of other stuff. But my favorite thing was the impressive CGI, and the amazing cinematography. The CGI wad revolutionary a the time, and still holds up well today. But the cinematography is phenomenal. The cinematographer, Bill Pope, really knows how to make beautiful, artistic shots. The shot of the building exploding behind Trinity as she is rescued by Neo is stunning, and the shot of Neo looking at the incubation pods when he awakens is similarly awesome. Even when it comes to lighting a scene, Pope does it well. He is the man responsibly for giving the Matrix(the place) its distinctive green tint.
Another new section: The theme and deeper meaning behind the movie!
The Theme is pretty obvious. I think it’s finding one’s self and never giving up. Pretty motivational for a dark, depressing movie with a horrifying deeper meaning behind it.
The Deeper Meaning Ties into the core concept very well. The idea that all humans are living inside a simulation is crazy-scary. And it’s throwaway line to Deja-Vu being a glitch in the Matrix(the place) spawned a scary theory: What if the real humans(us) are living in a simulation? It makes some sense. Everyone has experienced Deja-Vu at some point. Everyone has experienced some weird, un-explainable thing in their life, small or big. And the concept of the Agents being Men In Black is kinda scary. It also gives a good message on what could happen if machines became self-aware. But Terminator already did that.
Another Brand-new section: The bad stuff.
Not much is wrong with the first Matrix. Keanu Reeves delivers some lines badly, and he isn’t the greatest actor, but he’s still fun to watch. Or maybe the underused of Agent Smith compared to the other movies. But therein lies the problem. The next two movie suck. The Matrix(the movie) is a simple action movie, with good CGI. The next two try to expand on the deeper meaning of the first and had absolutely horrific CGI. and both were made within the last twenty years!
Well, wrapping up.
Overall, The Matrix(the movie) is very enjoyable. It has good acting, good characters, good writing, good CGI, well-choreographed fight scenes, and stunning visuals. I recommend that you watch this movie as soon as possible, and ignore the fact that the two sequels exist.
Final Score: 8/10
The Underage Critic 