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Review : The Matrix
I am spending my Saturday cleaning my apartment in some spring cleaning but it is too hot right now until the sun sets so I am watching The Matrix on DVD.
The Matrix came out in 1999 and movie audiences did not really know where to put this movie. It is not a typical Sci-fi movie, not a typical action movie, not quite a drama and not quite an art movie.
It can be enjoyed by cinema nerds, Hong Kong action buffs, action movie lovers and Star Trek/Wars/Gate dorks all about the same amount.
It is a big budget action sci-fi movie that takes large inspiration from Philip K Dick, Cyberpunk, Anime, Hong Kong "Wire Fu" flicks, William Gibson, BDSM and leather fetishes.
This movie had the unfortunate luck of being released in the same year as the Columbine high school massacre and it was not well received by those who advocate media censorship to solve social issues. So Joe Lieberman and Lynne Cheney are not big fans of this movie. This movie contains nerds in dark trench coats shooting a lot of bad guys who look like policemen in slow motion. This has become the number one objectionable subject matter in a youth targeted film. Still the idea of killer nerds has America's panties all knotted up in a bunch.
The movie is rated R and like other violent movies are not meant for kids. But just to put things in perspective American males can see this movie on their 17th birthday and have one year until they have to register for the draft. So remember kids violence in trench coats is bad but violence in the military is ok... mmmkay.
The movie comes from the creative but reclusive minds of the Wachowski brothers who both wrote and directed the movie. They had only had the movie Bound under their belt when they started making this movie and the fact that they got the budget they did on a relatively unproven weird movie was quite a gamble on the movie studio part.
The look and feel of The Matrix is centered around a blue green artificial wash and all free thinking nerds who go to a corporate office can relate to the early plight of Neo as a free thinker confined in a corporate world. I think this is one of the reasons that this movie appeals so much to Internet nerds, that and the hot hacker chicks in tight leather and guns.
The Matrix also contained a major plot twist that not all reviews of the movie at the time of it's release reveled. The fact that Neo was living in an artificial dream world was almost a common movie secret like Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker's father.
One can not help thinking about the almost heavy handed references to Through the Looking Glass and the Christian mythos ( I know some people get offended when people use the term mythology and Christ in the same sentence. Your offense is mentally noted.)
Another thing that sets this movie apart is it's strong women and the fact that it has positive black role models ( I did not say African American be cause the character of Morpheus is not from the current USA ) who mostly do not die. This is quite a this is departure from standard sci-fi and horror cliches where minority characters have a higher than average mortality rate.
On to the cast.
The lead nerd slash Christ figure is Neo played by Keanu Reeves. His character is a rather blank hero who the audience can relate to easily. Think of him as a main hero in a video game RPG at the start of a game.
Laurence Fishburne plays Morpheus a guide, leader, prophet and revolutionary. Mr Fishburne is the coolest bad ass black man in a leather coat since Shaft. His performance adds to the dramatic legitimacy of this movie and it needed a pick me up after Keanu in the lead. He has a rich dramatic voice that lingers in your head. He has come a long way from his days on Pee Wee's Playhouse. Carrie-Anne Moss plays the ever sexy and androgynous Trinity. She is the Mary Magdalene to Keanu's Christ figure. Or to reference William Gibson's Neuromancer she is the Molly to Neo as Case.
Hugo Weaving ruled the screen as Agent Smith. The most creative and refreshing movie antagonist in years. Smith is tortured, he hates his job and he is not truly evil just trying to escape the system by trying to stop our heroes. Hugo Weaving is a well know Australian stage actor. Yes he was Elron the Elf king in the Lord of the Rings and yes he was Priscilla Queen of the desert.
The move also stars state of the art special effects, slow motion action and innovative camera work. It is eye candy but it is still damn tasty. It is not the most mentally nutritions but you don't see me turning away. The Directors employed legend of hong Kong action Yeoh Woo Ping to direct the action and fights and it show. Some US film audiences think that this was created in for this movie but it dates back years in Asian Action cinema.
Oh I almost forgot to mention that the whole concept of using humans to generate electricity is totally flawed due to the laws of thermodynamics. Humans do not generate and endless supply of energy and to breed and feed them is not going to replace the amount of energy they would produce. Also why not just make them all brainless and comatose then create the dream world of The Matrix. Then there would be no movie I guess.
The Matrix is not the most creative and original movie in the world but it was very well done and is unforgettable. I only wish that the US got more films like this.
Q: How come you can not eat soup in the Matrix.
A: Because there is no spoon.
Jake at May 31, 2003 
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Comments
Jake....you said....
"( I know some people get offended when people use the term mythology and Christ in the same sentence. Your offense is mentality noted.)"
Did you mean Mentally noted? or mentality noted. Which are 2 different things....and have different connotations as you well know.
Posted by: pete at June 1, 2003 1:16 AM
It is called a look alike typo. It is a glitch in the Matrix when ever the agents change something.
Posted by: Jake at June 1, 2003 10:19 AM
Boo! Hiss! The *bus* was called Priscilla; Hugo Weaving was Mitzi. :P
Nice review!
Posted by: Raena at June 1, 2003 10:45 AM
Oh, you're cleaning on a semi-regular basis now? :)
Posted by: missy at June 1, 2003 7:34 PM
Hey I saw Tim today on the ferry. We chatted for awhile and talked about movies and whatnot. How come nobody commented on my review of the matrix reloaded? **sniffle**
Posted by: pete at June 1, 2003 8:00 PM
Uh oh - here comes Steve :-)
Jake, you said "Also why not just make them all brainless and comatose than create the dream world of The Matrix. Then there would be no movie I guess."
Well, basically, yes. But understand, the story obviously comes from the mind of someone who not only thought this one out, but created shootoffs from the main plot that make you wax philosophical. So, to answer that question - if you remember Neo speaking to the leader about how man and machine cannot exist without one another, that would be your answer. Althought in reality they are being kept alive by machines, they have to exist within their own minds in order to sustain, therefore they cannot live without the machines and the machines cannot live without them.
To rebuke on the rest of your commentary Jake, I am a bit disapointed in the shallowness of your view points. I would have expected much more from you in your interpretation of the overall concept of the movie. The violence and leather clad hot chicks added so the testosterone injected nenaderthals could have something to enjoy. Unfortunatly, that as well as the special effects, can drown out the various subtle "pokes at society" the movie takes if you are not looking - which is why a lot of people needed to see Matrix and reloaded, twice. A good comparison is the Simpsons. There is enough stupidity in the show to keep the idiots laughing with enough subtle outakes to keep those who are socially educated laughing as well.
Since everyone depises me getting into super long posts, I will not point out the many, if not never ending, social paradoxes this movie and storyline contains. Its unfortunate we all have the attention span of fleas, so ones viewpoints cannot be completely taken into consideration. Folks like Homer and Aristotle would never survive in todays microwave madness.
Posted by: Steve at June 2, 2003 11:15 AM
But the AI bred machines can live without humans. They have fusion plants and they could build orbital solar power plants I guess. Machines needing humans for power is about as logical as the water soluble alien invaders in Signs. Your right there was some anti-social sentiment in the form of some black comedy.
Posted by: Jake at June 2, 2003 11:36 AM
Tell you want Steve. Write a review for this movie and I'll post it as a guest review.
Posted by: Jake at June 2, 2003 2:29 PM
I will do that, but still, you question the logic of the movie, but thats just what it is, questioning the logic of what we preceive as reality. On a much deeper level, its that age old question of what is our purpose here?
Posted by: Steve at June 3, 2003 8:00 AM
