According to the Oracle (Gloria Foster), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) is destined to find the one that will save the world from intelligent machines that use humans to harness energy. Using some sort of device inside an abandoned ship called Nebuchadnezzar, Morpheus, and the rest of the team are able to jump from the real world to the Matrix, a world created by Artificial Intelligence to keep people's consciousness. Inside this synthetic reality is a computer programmer named Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) or Neo, the presumed Messiah that will save the world.
But pulling him out of the Matrix will not be easy. Standing in front of their way are sentient computer programs they call Agent Smiths (Hugo Weaving). Their objective is to erase anomalies in the system like Morpheus and extract the Nebuchadnezzar’s code to find and destroy it.
With the help of Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), they were able to locate Neo and after explaining the Matrix to him, Morpheus presented him with two pills, a blue one and a red one. The former will let him stay in this artificial world, while the latter will set him free from it. Neo must make a choice.
Compelling all the way through!
What if life is a simulation? What if memories aren’t real? What if everything is made up of codes instead of molecules and atoms? These philosophical and existential ideas are what elevates “The Matrix” to the next level from its genre.
Action movies have a formula and it involves a lot of fist fights, gun fights, chase downs and explosions. Expositions can often occur, but that is only to move the narrative ahead without any effort. It’s almost a cheat, a cheap excuse to have two characters fight. Logic, philosophy and science remain on the backseat and they are not supposed to get in the way.
Until “The Matrix” came and changed the game.
The Wachowskis transformed the genre by creating a movie not devoid of any intellectual content. It has genuinely compelling questions that are valid in hindsight. “The Matrix” is brimming with references from literary science-fiction to music videos to Christian allegories. Even the story arc of Neo such as his friend’s betrayal, his death and rebirth can be attributed to the story of Jesus Christ in the Bible. But even though this film is filled with allusions and scruples, it does not insult the viewer’s intellect. It does not elbow the viewers when a reference was dropped or dramatically declare what was happening out loud. The Wachowskis did not overcomplicate things, the plot is as straightforward as it can get.
As for the technicals, everything from the editing to the sound design are all good and surprisingly fresh, besides the CGI. This is somewhat inevitable and understable since technology continues to evolve and everyday it becomes better. But back then, “The Matrix” was ground-breaking with its visuals. It even won the Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and up to this date, the ‘bullet-time’ sequence remains a very iconic scene in cinema as it solidifies the marriage of CGI and filmmaking.
Of course “The Matrix” will never be this successful without it’s trinity of stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss. Everybody loves Keanu but he is often criticized for his acting. In “The Matrix” though, he’s phlegmatic demeanor actually gives the character more substance and layers. Neo is calculative, he’s not reckless and he’s always thinking and learning, though on top of his mind, he’s burdened by the responsibility of being the Messiah. And in Reeves’s acting, it shows this struggle. Fishburne and Moss provide solid support to Reeves as their characters appeared as his contrast.
Besides laying down the formula for future sci-fi action films, “The Matrix” remains relevant for a reason and that is it’s awareness of real-world problems, like the people’s tendency to fall in love with their digital life and the peril in connection to the unstoppable uprising of technology. With this, there is no doubt that the Wachowskis intellectual action film is still one of best in its own genre.
4.5/5
