I’d like to start by declaring that I’m a big big fan, so there maybe a slight bias in this review. It blew me away when I saw it. Action films generally get the adrenaline up, but this one was so much more. It contained all the right ingredients that I like in a movie. Science fiction, action, adventure, kung-fu, a little romance and some religious overtones. These things alone don’t necessarily guarantee a great film as the plethora of bad sci-fi demonstrates, but they help. The special effects, plot and camera work really make it stand out above the rest.

It’s easy to see why it appeals to so many people. The main character is a computer nerd who finds out that the world isn’t real, learns kung-fu, gets some cool sunnies and a coat, dodges bullets and gets the girl. Sounds like every geek’s dream. It’s unfortunate that they then try to be cool by buying long coats and jackets, thereby devaluing the coolness of the long coats in general.

Anyhoo, I came out stunned. I’m not a Keanu fan and his acting here is hardly award worthy, but it suffices. It does have a nice contrast with the rest of the actors. His main expression is a mixture of surprise and disbelief, compared with Morpheus’s self belief and zeal. Admittedly, he does get hit with a few big revelations, but a little more range of expressions wouldn’t have hurt.

The script is definitely cult. There are a few standard cliches but these are mixed with some really cool lines. This results in nearly the entire movie being a series of quotes. Morpheus even gets thunder after some of his lines.

One of the enjoyable parts while watching it for the first time was the ambiguity of the good guys at the start of the film. Trinity kills a group of cops in the first scene and Morpheus’s instructions that the only escape is down the scaffolding seems crazy and delusional. These hardly seem like the actions of the good guys. Neo has to choose a side in a war he knows nothing about. Of course, when the agents stick the bug in his belly button, Neo’s already chosen his side. He wasn’t very keen on the establishment in the first place. This is where the lack of any idea of what the film is about helped. Although there are no shades of gray here, there’s plenty of mystery at the start.

The action and special effects are ground breaking. CGI has made a lot of progress recently and this is one of the best. The rotating camera and slow motion have been imitated many times demonstrating it’s success.

One of my favourites is the end of the sequence after Morpheus is rescued where Neo sees the helicopter about to crash and knows what to do. I get shivers down my spine from the excitement, or possibly because I watch it late at night in the cold. Neo is better than most action heroes, because he gets to perform super cool moves. Because he’s the one, he can do pretty much anything, unlike a lot of action movies where the hero does something lame or unbelievable at the end of the movie. It’s much more satisfying to have the hero using different physical rules.

One of the subtler effects is the different lighting effects. The matrix usually has a green tint to it. This is just one of the many touches that make this film great. Another of these is the very sad scene where Switch and Apoch die. They were given enough character to make you care about them. It was very sad for them to get so far and then die like that.

I’ll admit that this film has a couple of rough edges. Aside from Keanu, there are a couple of plot holes that weren’t fully explained, but I’m quite happy to gloss over them. Also, the matrix idea isn’t entirely original, but it’s very close. Some reviewers complained about this a lot but it’s nearly impossible to have a completely original sci-fi plot. There’s likely to be some sort of borrowing of ideas, even if it is only subconscious. I think it’s a fantastic idea and I don’t know if they’ll be able to top it in the sequel. One other problem I have is that there was a couple of irritating exposition moments where the term EMP was explained. I know the general audience is daft and needs to have these things explained to them, but I would have thought Neo would already know these terms. I’d like to see a 1940’s film where they explain radar or laser.

“I’ve got a Messerschmitt on the radar coming in fast”
“Radar?”
“Yes, it’s this new radio detection and ranging machine that we can detect stuff far away with.”

But these are minor points. This is a fantastic film that everyone should love and if someone hates it, beat them until they’re converted. Especially those reviewers who didn’t like it when it came out (a too far fetched plot was a common complaint), yet now say it is a classic and bag the sequel for exactly the same problem.

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This entry was posted by the illustrious Andy Cocker on Sunday, May 25th, 2003. It concerns such pressing issues as . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.