THE MATRIX RATING: 7.5 / 10 -->Very Good Movie
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What is The Matrix? The Matrix is a movie that splices plot elements from the superior DARK CITY (9/10) and STRANGE DAYS (8/10), slaps in plenty of computer mumbo-jumbo and some AI (Artificial Intelligence) and mixes it all into a healthy bowl of snazzy special effects and tremendous fight sequences that will make your eyes bubble over in supersonic amazement.
PLOT: It is the year 2199, and the world is now being run by an artificial intelligence. It has constructed a computer-generated dreamworld, called the Matrix, in which human beings live their daily lives, without any knowledge of their false existence. Some rebel humans discover this horror, and recruit the help of computer hacker Neo (Keanu Reeves), hoping that he will be "the one" to rescue the world from this cyber-slavery.
CRITIQUE: The last thirty minutes of this movie just kicks ass all over the place! It combines special effects, with crazy fights featuring freaky Hong Kong action and unbelievable strengths, and a non-stop pace to a chase that seemed inevitable from the start. Unfortunately for my taste, this film's second act ran into a major slow-down when it delved too minutely into the intricate details of the explanation behind this "matrix". This muddled back-and-forth wasn't improved upon by the set of questions that seemed to answer the previously presented set of questions. Anyway, that aside, the film starts off with a bang-a-gong that will set anyone's taillights ablaze. The Wachowski brothers obviously have an eye for style, and fully take advantage of their respected talent during much of this film's progression. The slick action shots, decent suspense, and awesome cinematography accentuate this flash, and feed us with plenty of excitement to let slide the less interesting, and more standard scenes within the "real world" outside of the matrix.
The acting is solid all around, with Fishburne making a fine showing, despite the excessive unflattering close-ups of his once pretty face, and Reeves pulling off a decent performance as the hacker caught in and over his head. Whoa! One guy that did standout in my mind, was the head of the "bad guys", Australian actor Hugo Weaving, who fed us with a fine dish of confidence, terror and an awfully annoying chatter style. All in all, this movie could have been trimmed a spot during its over-elaborate second act, but comes through on all cylinders in respect to style, vision, mood, and premise. But the biggest selling point of this film, a detail not gone unnoticed by its own overzealous marketing team, is the visually stunning special effect action sequences which trounce your pre-existing notion of "a great fight sequence", and present all future filmmakers with a new benchmark for fun and excitement. Kung-fu, crazy special effects, a girl in a black rubber suit, John Woo-esque slo-mo action shots, and Keanu Reeves in a shaved head. What is The Matrix? Cyber-kinetic futuristic fun for the whole family!! :)
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: The four main actors including Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving had to endure four months of martial arts training (9 to 5 every day, but Saturday and Sunday), under the auspices of Hong Kong Kung Fu master Yuen Wo Ping, before any of the principal photography on the film had even begun. This film was filmed on location in Sydney, Australia. On soundstages and, for two months, on Sydney's streets and rooftops and in warehouses. Actor Keanu Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon, but brought up in Toronto, Canada. His name means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian. He dropped out of high school when was 17 to become an actor. His father is part Chinese, part Hawaiian. He was a geologist, but is now serving time in prison. His mother is English. She was a costume designer for such rock stars as Alice Cooper. He also plays bass guitar in his band "Dogstar". Actor Laurence Fishburne began acting at the age of 10, and was only 15 years old when he won the role of a young G.I. in Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam War epic APOCALYPSE NOW (7.5/10). And where did the black-rubber-suit-wearing actress Carrie-Ann Moss come from? Well, she was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She began her career as a model and moved to Europe, modeling in Japan and in Spain. While working in Spain, she landed a regular role in the television series "Dark Justice," which was produced in Barcelona for its first season. Moss moved to Los Angeles the following year when the series switched locations. In the six years since her acting career began, Moss has appeared in more than 60 hours of television as well as two television series prior to her present role in THE MATRIX. Ironically, in 1993, she starred in a TV series called "Matrix". Bad-ass Hugo Weaving is one of Australia's most acclaimed actors. You may remember him from his part as Tick/Mitzi in 1994's THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT. He has also voiced the animal voice of "Rex" in both BABE movies. And here's what the official MATRIX web site says about the Wachowski brothers. Larry and Andy have been working together for 30 years (They are actually in their early 30s). Their most recent feature film was 1996's BOUND (8/10), which they wrote and directed. Little else is known about them. We do know that they were born in Chicago, Illinois :) Producer Joel Silver is one of the most successful producers in the motion picture industry today. The combined gross of his films is near $3 billion. He was behind all four LETHAL WEAPON films, the first two DIE HARD films, COMMANDO, PREDATOR, THE LAST BOY SCOUT, DEMOLITION MAN, and many others.
Review Date: March 31, 1999
Directors: Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski
Writers: Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski
Producer: Joel Silver
Actors: Keanu Reeves as Thomas "Neo" Anderson
Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus
Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity
Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith
Genre: Science-Fiction
Year of Release: 1999
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(c) 1999 Berge Garabedian
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