IMDB
Rotten tomatoes
genre: science fiction, post-apocalyptic, action/adventure
Characters:Neo (Keanu Reeves) is the center of the story; he who becomes the One. A computer hacker who gets dragged into the resistance against the machines (i.e. the Matrix). Morpheus believes him to be the person that defeat the Matrix and free all humanity. Neo always seemed like a little bit of blank slate because he is always reacting until the very end of the movie. However, Neo’s lack of characterization allows the supporting characters to flourish. Was that an intentional decision, who knows? Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) is the captain of the Nebuchadnezzar which is part of Zion’s fleet of ships. He seems to be the spiritual leader of his crew members and of Zion as a whole. His unshakable faith holds the Nebuchadnezzar’s crew together, almost like a family. He provides the motivation for Neo to attempt the impossible. The amount of spirituality in a movie about humans trapped in virtual reality impresses me, very similar to Star Wars.Trinity (Carrie-Anna Moss) is a crew member of the Nebuchadnezzar and Neo’s romantic interest. Before Morpheus brought her out of the matrix, she was a hacker of great renown. Trinity is her screen name (actual name is never given). She plays a fundamental role in Neo’s accession to being “The One.” Not to be rude, but she’s not the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Is that important? No, however, there were other actresses I would have chosen (cosmetically) for the role. Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) is one of many security programs called agents that protect the Matrix. As the main antagonist, he attempts to thwart Neo and friends at every turn. Smith mirrors Neo throughout the movie. Both characters seek freedom from the Matrix. Neo seeks the destruction of the Matrix and Smith seeks to be released from his duties as an agent. Like two sides of the same coin, Smith and Neo parallel each other in purpose. Agent Smith and his fellow agents represent an absolute order. He is inevitability embodied in code. The Oracle (Gloria Foster) is a fundamental program to the matrix designed to explore the human psyche, allowing the matrix to better emulate reality for humanity. For reasons that are never clear, she decides to help the freed humans against the Matrix. Her ability of foresight sets her role as a prophet. Most of the spiritualism Morpheus exhibits comes from his conversations with the Oracle. The prophecies manifest themselves as choices Neo and the others make, rather than existing in a rigid absolute.
Story:
I re-watched this movie as refresher for this review, props to the Wachowski siblings. Despite some shaky world building, events in The Matrix come together beautifully. This wasn’t the first time a protagonist found out the world was a lie. However, no movie before the Matrix created such a stark dichotomy between reality and fiction. Context: due to a war between humanity and sentient robots, the earth was laid to waste (nukes) and humanity almost went extinct. To rebuild a power source, the machines built the matrix. Humans experience their lives digitally and the electro-magnetic energy created by their bodies is harvested to run the machines. Inside the Matrix people “live” in a city that embodies the pinnacle of twentieth century living. The reality outside is cruel. Freed humans live with little comfort and almost constant terror. Born never seeing the sun, eating protein gruel and venturing back into the Matrix to free other humans. It’s soldier’s life without any comfort. In retrospect, some conceptual problems might exist because the Wachowski siblings wanted the “real world” to be devoid of joy. However, those problems (to be discussed later) are still not justified.
True to the “hero’s journey” story arc, Morpheus and friends find Neo. They offer to show him the truth using a red pill to disrupt his neuro-connection to the Matrix. He decides to “go down the rabbit hole” by taking the red pill. When he actually wakes up, he’s in a pod, covered in slime, with massive wires planted into his body. In the context of 1999, this scene is simultaneously awe inspiring and horrifying. It’s probably one of the more powerful scenes, the audience, along with Neo gaze upon the meagerness of humanity’s existence. After getting flushed by a floating janitor bot, Neo gets abducted by the Nebuchadnezzar. Seven thousand acupuncture needles “rebuild” Neo’s muscles and all is well.
The famous kung fu fight between Morpheus and Neo sparks the first major theme of The Matrix: belief. Neo wins the second round of the fight by believing in his own victory. Morpheus’ lesson: in the Matrix the mind is the ultimate weapon. Another dichotomy is created: the agents and other programs in the Matrix follow established rules, versus the humans who can transcend those the rules. The myth of “the One” is the apex of that transcendence. As the plot progresses, Neo’s belief in the impossible drives the movie to it’s closure.
Morpheus and friends bring Neo to the Oracle, hoping that she can provide him with guidance. She tells him what he already knows. Prophecy plays a fascinating role in the film. The Oracle has told Morpheus, Trinity and Neo all relevant information to each person. As the story continues, her prophecies culminate together like puzzle pieces. Morpheus is told he will find the One. Trinity is told she will fall in love with the One. Neo told is he will have to choose between his life and Morpheus’. All of the Oracle’s prophecies are based on the choices of the people who hear them. Morpheus chooses to search and believe, Trinity chooses to confess, Neo chooses one of two lives in order for The One to come into existence. The way it all fits together is some astonishingly good writing.
Cypher steps into the spot light right before the team undertakes the Oracle trip. As a character, He foils Morpheus in motivation through his desire to return to the Matrix. The other crew members value reality and freedom from the Matrix. After seeing the horrid truth, Cypher seeks the false world. He betrays his comrades by leaving the matrix early, disabling the operator (a person on the outside that provides support for the freedom fighters) and attempting to kill each member of the crew. This is done by unplugging the head cable of one who is still connected to the matrix. His devotion to return creates a pinnacle point. Morpheus is captured by the Agents and tortured for his codes to Zion (the underground city where the freed humanity lives). Cypher is stopped by the operator (Tank). Trinity and Neo leave the Matrix. The Oracles’ prophecy for Neo comes to fruition by his choice to save Morpheus.
Both of them go back in. The shoot out in the lobby and helicopter scenes are probably the most prolific parts of The Matrix. Those scenes reside in my memory the most. After a series of awesome slow-motion actions sequences, Morpheus is saved. They all escape, except for Neo. An epic fight between him and Agent Smith breaks out. Eventually he dies. Morpheus’ faith is destroyed. Trinity completes her part of the prophecy by confessing her love to Neo postmortem. My interpretation: Her confession is the final piece. She needed to say that before Neo could become the One. He resurrects and kicks butt. Despite how wondrous the story, the conceptual base isn’t stable in a critical lens.Concept:
The basic question The Matrix asks: what is reality? The amount of philosophy and philosophical referencing is astounding. It’s why I like this movie. At the core, the Matrix is a Cartesian idea. A philosopher called Descartes calmed that if all of our senses could be doubted, then nothing could be considered real. He famously presented this as the “Evil Deceiver” theory in his book: First Meditation (source: http://www.iep.utm.edu/descarte/#SH6a). The Matrix represents the evil deceiver/demon and the humans are the deceived. When Neo is sitting in his apartment, some junkies come for illegal software which he stores in a book called Simulacra and Simulation. This was philosophical discourse written by Jean Baudrillard interrogating the relationship between symbols and reality. ( source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulacra_and_Simulation). As Neo starts to question whether his established reality is real, Alice in Wonderland refers are thrown all over the place.
The nomenclature in The Matrix tickles me as well. Neo means new. The One is something new, never seen before. Morpheus is the name of the Roman god of dreams. In the film, Morpheus “enters” the dream reality of the people he frees. Cypher (normally spelled cipher) is a coded form of writing. He deceived his comrades (i.e. a secret code for the Agents). Trinity is the only name that confuses me. My interpretation: Morpheus, Neo and her are all necessary for The One to exist. Maybe her name signifies she is the last piece? Her name in relation to the title of “The One” has some odd Christian theological context as well. The names aren’t subtle, but fun to ponder upon.Problems:
Unfortunately, the world building of The Matrix blows nuts. It reeks of bad writing and a lack of creativity. Machines versus humans was just as cliche in 1999 as it is now and it only gets worse from there. At some point in the twenty first century, humanity existed in utopia (don’t believe for a second). Then they created artificial intelligence. Someone or some robot decided that war was a good idea. The humans lost the war. The earth got nuked or as Morpheus says, “scorched the sky” (why didn’t he just say nuked?) because the machines were solar powered. Apparently this left the machines kinda screwed. So what is the most efficient source of electricity? People of Course! Thus the Matrix was created so the machines could farm the humans.
1) How did humanity lose a war with robots that were solar powered?
Seriously, rain clouds would take them out. People in the Northwest or England need not fear the machines at all. I guess the fools from Olympus has Fallen were running the world government. That must be why we lost.
2) Who was the moron that thought creating a nuclear winter was a good way to defeat the machines and continue the existence of mankind? Was that person retarded? Mentally ill? Younger than the age of ten? Michael Bay? Meanwhile in the war room:
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1) How did humanity lose a war with robots that were solar powered?
Seriously, rain clouds would take them out. People in the Northwest or England need not fear the machines at all. I guess the fools from Olympus has Fallen were running the world government. That must be why we lost.
2) Who was the moron that thought creating a nuclear winter was a good way to defeat the machines and continue the existence of mankind? Was that person retarded? Mentally ill? Younger than the age of ten? Michael Bay? Meanwhile in the war room:
The world general speaks in a strong southern accent, “Gentleman, it’s looking grim. Some how those solar powered bastards are winning. For reasons unknown to me, none of our conventional weapons are effective. What the alternatives?”
A sharp, handsome scientist stands up. “If we cut off their power supply, we have nothing to fear.”
The General nods. “You’re good looking so you must know what is going on. But how do we stop the sun?” Silence settles over stoic faces. Johnson, a plain looking military aid, raises his hand. All eyes track to him.
“We could shoot enough nukes to cause a nuclear winter. That’ll keep the sun away.” The general and the rest of staff leap from their seats. The he skips over to Johnson and slaps him on the shoulder in jubilation, “Thank God you’re here son. You saved the human race.” Someone else in back ground yells, “It’s crazy enough to work!” Among the celebrators, Gary the intern stands up.
“Wait? Wouldn’t nuclear winter kill humanity and every living creature as well?” The handsome Scientist’s curly cue wiggles as he turns his head in disgust. “Gary you’re fired. Why did I even hire you?” Gary tries to respond but security hauls his ass out the room.
Fiction aside, this is a prime example of bad writing (and I don’t mean the war room =P). Furthermore, this piece of information doesn’t add anything to the movie. Who cares how the earth looks? It’s controlled by robots and the people live underground.
3) Using humans as an energy source is fundamentally stupid, even for pseudo-science.
Nuclear power. That’s the solution to the machines’ energy problem. Easy to build, requires small amounts of fuel and refueling is easy. Pollution isn’t a problem since machines don’t care about the environment. The humans body does create electromagnetic energy, but not nearly enough to be useful. One wouldn’t have to waste time building the Matrix to enslave humanity. This “logic” was cooked up for the sole purpose of justifying the existence of people in the dystopia. It makes no sense. There are better reasons for humans to be in the Matrix than energy.
4) If EMP is the only weapons the humans have against the machines, they deserve to lose.
I stated early that some creative decisions might have been made to illustrate how awful life was for the freed humans. The EMP falls under that category for me. Unfortunately, the stupidity is too much of a burden. If humans could hack into the Matrix, build an underground city, build ships that travel using electromagnetism, produce a fair number of these ships and program code then EMP is not the only option. Ever heard of a computer virus? If the machines hadn’t found Zion yet, there’s a fair chance a human could write a virus the machines would have trouble defeating. What about conventional weapons? Cannons or some sort of anti sentinel guns (excluding the hand held ones). Besides the obvious problem of EMPs, it broadcasts your location like a light in a dark room. The Machine overlords notice that some sentinels suddenly stop working. What could kill a Sentinel? An EMP. Just send more Sentinels to the same location because the humans won’t be to escape. Boom and done.
It’s a shame that such a great story is undermined by some crappy world building. If the Wachowski Siblings has taken a little more time to construct their world, the Matrix would be close to perfect. Special Effects:
Fiction aside, this is a prime example of bad writing (and I don’t mean the war room =P). Furthermore, this piece of information doesn’t add anything to the movie. Who cares how the earth looks? It’s controlled by robots and the people live underground.
3) Using humans as an energy source is fundamentally stupid, even for pseudo-science.
Nuclear power. That’s the solution to the machines’ energy problem. Easy to build, requires small amounts of fuel and refueling is easy. Pollution isn’t a problem since machines don’t care about the environment. The humans body does create electromagnetic energy, but not nearly enough to be useful. One wouldn’t have to waste time building the Matrix to enslave humanity. This “logic” was cooked up for the sole purpose of justifying the existence of people in the dystopia. It makes no sense. There are better reasons for humans to be in the Matrix than energy.
4) If EMP is the only weapons the humans have against the machines, they deserve to lose.
I stated early that some creative decisions might have been made to illustrate how awful life was for the freed humans. The EMP falls under that category for me. Unfortunately, the stupidity is too much of a burden. If humans could hack into the Matrix, build an underground city, build ships that travel using electromagnetism, produce a fair number of these ships and program code then EMP is not the only option. Ever heard of a computer virus? If the machines hadn’t found Zion yet, there’s a fair chance a human could write a virus the machines would have trouble defeating. What about conventional weapons? Cannons or some sort of anti sentinel guns (excluding the hand held ones). Besides the obvious problem of EMPs, it broadcasts your location like a light in a dark room. The Machine overlords notice that some sentinels suddenly stop working. What could kill a Sentinel? An EMP. Just send more Sentinels to the same location because the humans won’t be to escape. Boom and done.
It’s a shame that such a great story is undermined by some crappy world building. If the Wachowski Siblings has taken a little more time to construct their world, the Matrix would be close to perfect. Special Effects:
Watching this movie in 2014 is a little painful. Computer generation and other specials effects have vastly improved since 1999. However, like James Cameron's Avatar, The Matrix was game changer. The slow motion fights and bullet waves were cool. Why else does Neo’s epic bullet dodge reside in our minds so easily. The explosion in the lobby of the military building was awesome despite explosions not looking that in real life. I don’t much else to say about this. It was good effects for 1999. Score: 8/10
This is great film. Thankfully the conceptual problems don’t show themselves until the sequels. Reloaded was fairly good and Revolutions sucked butt. My advice: watch this movies and forget the rest of the franchise.
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