Let's take a brief trip back to 1999. Bill Clinton was president of the United States, war was raging in Kosovo, two young men committed mass murder at Columbine High School, everyone was paranoid about Y2K and September 11th was still a day with no negative significant meaning. In cinema there was only one sci-fi movie on everyone's minds: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. But not one month before that film opened, Andy and Lana (as it seems we must call him/her now) Wachowski brought us a sci-fi movie that must have had George Lucas panicking when he saw it: The Matrix, a trippy, visually spectacular and groundbreaking look at what the future could be like. And it was shot in Australia.
The brothers Wachowski were influenced by many earlier sci-fi and fantasy texts (among others, various cyberpunk films and novels, anime and even Alice in Wonderland) when coming up with the story for The Matrix. Keanu Reeves stars as Thomas A. Anderson, a white-collar worker for a software company who leads another life at night, one lived in computers as the hacker Neo. He believes the world he exists in is
completely real and is tracked down by a band of outcasts rebels led by the enigmatic Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and the tough female Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss). From Morpheus Neo learns that the world the
"real" world he knew beforehand is actually the Matrix, a virtual dreamland run by evil supercomputers in which most of humanity is unknowingly trapped. Believing Neo is the messianistic "One" who will liberate humanity from the Matrix, Morpheus gives Neo the chance to join him. Neo does, and now the battle to save humanity begins.
However, the rebels' efforts are thwarted by Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), a ruthless and almost indestructible sentient program that will remorselessly kill to maintain order in the system.
Ignore Keanu Reeves' wooden acting and the occasionally uninspired dialogue; after all, this isn't a movie that depends on flawless acting and writing to succeed. Unlike so many other sci-fi films before and since, The Matrix provides stimulation for the mind as well as eye candy in equal measure. The Matrix's story is a confusing (for first-time viewers) but very mentally stimulating one, discussing themes of dystopia, corruption, totalitarianism, the power of the individual and humanity's potentially hazardous relationship with technology. But the true meat in the sandwich undeniably lies in its technical prowess. The highly groundbreaking and inventive special effects have been written about, copied and have caused The Matrix to become one of the most parodied movies ever made, and not once do they show 11 years. The sound design and effects could just be the very best I have ever heard. Zach Staenberg's editing is frenetic, fluid and crisp, making the convoluted plot and all the flawlessly executed technical elements come together perfectly for maximum impact. The Matrix earned Oscars in all four of these categories and justice certainly was served. Also worth mentioning is the gritty yet aesthetically pleasing art direction by Aussie Owen Paterson, Bill Pope's inventive cinematography, which arguably what was the real reason why the bullet-time sequences were so revolutionary, and Don Davis' Vangelis-esquire score adds to the suspense enormously. Love or loathe this knockout masterwork, you could never say that it didn'ttake its genre in a very new direction.
Every so often, a movie with almost no hype surrounding it comes out, takes the world by storm and comes to have a lasting impact not just on pop culture but film-making as well. The Matrix is such a movie. Although it took me quite a few years to fall completely under its spell (when I first saw it at 11 it confused the hell out of me), The Matrix is a movie (like very few others) that never fails to suck me in and leave me stunned and eager for more by the end. Unfortunately it was followed by two unoriginal sequels that arguably were only produced to fill cash registers, but even they did nothing to tarnish the brilliance of this one. The Matrix has earned its place in humble all-time top twenty films list, and I can't see it falling out of that list for a long time. A true roller-coaster ride of a movie.
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