Theres not many films that put me to sleep, but on my first viewing, this one did. I don’t know why, maybe I was just tired and was lying next to my then girlfriend and she was all nice and confy, so I fell to sleep while it was on. This was a couple of years ago now and she always did tell me how good the film was, so I finally got round to giving it another watch yesterday evening. This time round I was tired aswell, but I didn’t fall to sleep this time (hooray!) and it kept me up till 2:30 this morning watching it.
First of all, I have to say that this film is great! The special effects are absolutely brilliant, but hang on, so is the plot……rather strange for a film that! Normally we either have the pleasure of great special effects or a plot, not both of them together, but this film has definitely pulled it off.
The Matrix is quite a complex film to understand, especially for me who has trouble understanding most films, but I found that if I thought about it, I got it alright. The film will put you into so many different situations quite suddenly, so be prepared!
So, what’s it all about…..erm, how do I explain this….let me start off by giving away a big part of the plot and telling you what the matrix is, it will be a lot easier for me to try and explain the film to you that way!
The matrix is a computer generated world, the world that we live created by electronic monsters. Humans are merely batteries for them, but the world we live in is created to make us happy. Humans are grown in some sort of cells until ripe for power! The actual story to the matrix is that Humans have created a world of technology that they can’t control and the technology has taken over, wiping away the world, hence the computer generated one.
Were introduced the Neo (Keanu Reeves), a computer hacker in his spare time who soon realises that the FBI are interested in him. He is then taken by morpheus (Lawrence Fishbourne)n and is introduced to the Matrix and the technology surrounding it. Morpheus trains Neo with a variety of different training programmes to make him able to cope with the new found world.
Neo soon finds out that morpheus thinks that he is the ‘one’ who can save the world and battle against the technology that has been created. Neo doesn’t believe any of this, but begins to towards the end of the film.
I’m not going to try and explain any more of this film, I’m not doing a very good job of it anyway as it’s so complex, but if I did, it will take away all the suspense that will be there for you when you watch it yourself.
The special effects used in this film are absolutely mind blowing. In one scene, and probably the most famous scene, Neo dodges bullets and you see it all in slow motion as the bullets fly past him, also the helicopter scene was absolutely amazing. It all looks real, that’s the thing that got to me. Normally in a film, you can tell that it’s special effects and you don’t think too much of it, apart from the usual ‘oh they were good special effects’. However, in The Matrix, the special effects are so good, you can’t actually see any signs of special effects and if you didn’t know they were special effects (well, if you were thick) then you wouldn’t know they were.
There is also a good soundtrack to the film which my sister bought, but after looking through her bedroom and finding loads of interesting stuff, I didn’t find this CD, so I’ll just have to think back to the bands that I knew when I watched the film! You’ll find the following tracks during the film:
Rock is Dead – Marylin Manson (I’ve heard this used in a lot of films!)
Bad Blood – Ministry
Clubbed to Death – Rob D
Mindfields – prodigy
So, from that small list, you can see what the soundtracks like and after listening to it a while ago myself, I can tell you that it is well worth buying if you ever see a copy.
So overall then this is one brilliant action packed, sci-fi film that hosts a brilliant, mind bending plot that really does make you wonder. Is the world as we know it controlled by machines, are we kept happy for something we don’t know about, what is this world all about…and also, is that spoon your holding really there or is it a figment of your imagination?
Go watch this, but remember to keep your mind working and don’t go to sleep like I did the first time round, this film deserves a lot more justice than that!