Two noteworthy things happened on March 20th 1999. One I guess I shouldn’t talk about (because she’d probably kill me!). But the other is that I got my first look at ’The Matrix’! All I saw was a one-minute teaser trailer. It looked mysterious! I knew instantly that this was something very different and I just had to see this film. I wanted to know what the ’Matrix’ was. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this film is just going to blow you away... it’s going to cause your head to explode!
The film has a story that has been described as difficult to explain and hard to understand when watching, but thankfully it wasn’t like having to watch Mission Impossible! Without giving the whole thing away this is what’s happening. You have Reeves playing Thomas ’Neo’ Anderson, a computer programmer for a big company who is also a computer hacker in his spare time and sells the illegal stuff to the ones who want it. But right now Mr Anderson has been having some very bad dreams, dreams that seem so real. He keeps getting told about this ’Matrix’ in these strange dreams. I mean just what is this ’Matrix’? Some suspicious black suited men also want him for something. He doesn’t want to stick around to find out! Soon someone known as Morpheus (Fishburne) contacts him and explains to him that he also is looking for him, plus he’ll tell him about his vivid dreams and he’ll explain to him just what the ’Matrix’ is. We begin to find out that reality isn’t what it seems.
Well what the hell is the ’Matrix’!? Finding out wasn’t going to be an easy task. As the tagline said ’Unfortunately no one can be told what the ’Matrix’ is.’ So I could see that I was going to have to pay my money and go find out just like everyone else!
The story is original and very unique, taking a truckload of ideas, thoughts, effects, action and fitting them nicely into something just over 2 hours long. What makes this movie work so well is the strong story element. It’s also one of those really rare sci-fi action films that actually makes you think. It raises some questions and it has its own answers. But besides being an education lesson it is extremely entertaining. So entertaining that it’s almost unbelievable that such a film can be exposed to the public! It manages to make itself so incredibly cool. Take ’Men in Black’ and double it and you’re not even half way there. But think a futuristic John Woo film and you’re pretty close! Most of the action takes place in the second half of the film where all hell breaks loose. The action is very stylish, very over the top and also well thought out. You don’t see someone run up a wall, dodge bullets at high speed and park a helicopter spectacularly in the side of a building in your traditional boring ’let’s go shoot some bad guys’ action film. This is something very different.
The Matrix will do for special effects what Terminator 2 did for... well, um... special effects! This is ground breaking stuff. Used to a major extent in the film are the Flo-Mo effects where the camera circles around the action. It’s unlike anything else and it just looks outstanding! The shootout between Reeves and Weaving as they freeze in mid air, the camera goes 360 degrees around them. It’s just unbelievable!
Everyone is cast perfectly in their roles with Reeves and Anne-Moss looking beyond cool throughout the film. Fishburne is great too, and is helped with the fact that his character is highly knowledgeable. But the best performances have to go to those black suited men known as ’Agents’, led by Hugo Weaving. They seem so simple and smart, the way they talk with their monotone voices! They are very, very nasty... and I like it!
The speedy fight scenes and use of wire frames all work really well, adding more to the effect of believing the unbelievable! There are so many unforgettable little touches, which make this movie stand out amongst others. The way you see bullets slowly fly out and make crisp sounds as they hit the floor, the lush watery effects, even the spoon (!) and of course the woman in red! She’s unforgettable! There’s also the nice touch of adding in a few hidden features which may make the real enthusiast want to watch the film a couple more times to find everything out. Of course there will be some that’ll watch it again because they didn’t understand it at all (Though it’s usually these people that hate the film). But I’m sure most will watch it again for the reason that it’s just so damn good!
Those Wachowski brothers have created a masterpiece of a movie. And I’d just like to say well done to them! Basically I knew that if I was only going to see one movie in 1999 (just in case I ended up poor or something!) then it was going to be this! I’m afraid I can give it no more then the 5 out of 5 it deserves.
Points Of Interest:
·The film has made over $450 million at the box office worldwide.
·The film is part of a trilogy with two more films to follow. The Matrix Reloaded is expected to be released Christmas 2002.
·The films distributor Warner Bros gave the go ahead for the makers to double the number of effects shots after seeing just 8 minutes of footage.
·The UK version has been cut so that it can be narrowed down to a 15 certificate.
·The Matrix website has a link that requires a password. Once entered you can access extra information. The password is hidden in the film.