The Matrix
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Movie Reviews of The Matrix
Movie Review: One of the Best Movies in the Real World
Summary: 5 Stars
Sometimes you just don't know what words to use when you're writing something. Sometimes you trip over your tongue (or fingers) and just lock up. I'm not really sure how to begin this review; all that I can say right now is that everybody I know agrees that THE MATRIX is one of the best movies on the planet.At first look, the plot is familiar enough; petty thief turned superhero, has to save the world while fighting giant robots and hacking into computer programs blah blah blah blah blah. So, if that's the case, why isn't THE MATRIX sitting on the shelves with a ninety percent price reduction like so many other movies?
A few words can answer that question. First, there's uniqueness. If anybody here can show me one movie like this one, I'll give 'em fifty bucks. (If they're lucky.) Don't even think about saying TERMINATOR. Yes, although both movies feature the same setup, they are NOT at all alike.
The second word that comes to mind is action. With most movies of this genre, yeah, you can probably expect three or maybe even four guys hunkering down with their peashooters and their water pistols and leaning around the corner of that bale of hay which provides them protection from even 12-gages to squeeze off twenty shots at a time without hitting anything. Not so here, my friends. In THE MATRIX, yeah, you get plenty of shots of heros and heroines packing a big wallop with twin Uzis. But you also get shoot-outs with men dodging bullets (for any gamers reading this, think MAX PAYNE), people jumping a hundred yards from on rooftop to another, and hand-to-hand combat like you've never seen before (John Woo did an incredible job). There's a reason that this movie won awards for the best fight scene of the year.
This superb display of action in other movies might leave little other room for the third and final word which sets THE MATRIX apart: plot. Yes, it's there all right.
Okay, so maybe you've heard this sort of thing before; guy meets old wise guy, old wise guy trains guy to blow the crap out of things with style, young guy with hair problems betrays them, etc. However, it's the style of writing that sets THE MATRIX apart most of all. Every character has a personality from Neo, the absolutely amazing hero, Trinity, the big-breasted, Uzi packing heroine, Morpheus (the aforementioned "old wise guy who trains guy to blow the crap out of things"), and Cypher (shudder....).
So. Does THE MATRIX live up to its praise? Yes. Does it break new ground in its genre? Oh yes. Should you buy it? Hmmm, let's think about this for a moment.
Heck yes.
Movie Review: The Matrix - Mind Over Matter
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this multi-level movie! It's fundamental theme seems to be the struggle between the Nihilists (represented by the machines/computers with logic, but no values nor conscience), and those with fundamental moral convictions, love of freedom, truth and hope.
It's also a movie about the process of enlightenment, as Neo wakes up from his dream world, and moves from a sleeping Buddha (normal humans), to a fully realized being (our true nature). This is similar to the dream yoga process, where you learn how to manipulate your dreams consciously, thus knowing on a fundamental level, that dreams are illusion, which enables you to see the illusion of the "real". To emphasize this connection, one of the main characters, Morpheus, is named after the Greek god of dreams who specializes in ultra-realistic dreams.
There are also fascinating sub-themes, such as Trinity being identified as the Father/Son/Holy Spirit. Whenever Neo says "Jesus" or "God" in the film, Trinity responds. Trinity resurrects Neo with a kiss, and immediately after, Neo takes a breath of life. My take is that the Wachowski's may be portraying Trinity as a feminine diety, the Divine Mother/Daughter/Holy Spirit, a being that gives life to all, like females who birth life here on earth. However, on that divine level, does it really matter whether the Trinity (Father/Son/Holy Spirit, or Brahma/Shiva/Vishnu), are male or female?
And yet the matrix trilogy gives a message of hope despite the destruction and turmoil, both the machines (nihilists), and the humans (religious), move forward ahead into the future, together.
For a couple of good essays on the Matrix Reloaded and the Matrix Revolutions, from a Buddhist's perspective see http://wylfing.net/essays/
For a neat connection of the arc of the Matrix trilogy with Godel's incompleteness theorem (a math result), see http://metaphilm.com/philm.php?id=169_0_2_0
To see the connection between the book "Simulacra and Simulation", and the movie, which discusses the post-modern aspects of the matrix trilogy, see the following article http://www.ubishops.ca/baudrillardstudies/vol2_2/rovira.htm
Most paths to enlightenment incorporate some kind of meditative practice. To see the why anyone would want to just sit and count their breath, an interesting book for those who have had some exposure to yoga/qi gong/zen, I'd recommend the book "Twenty-Five Doors to Meditation" by Bodri and Shu-Mei.
Movie Review: "There is no spoon"
Summary: 5 Stars
In the Matrix, which is the virtual world we all(think that we) live in, the laws of physics don't apply. If the hero of this film Thomas Anderson aka Neo(Keanu Reeves) had gotten hold of that concept there would be no film. I was tempted to give this film 4 stars rather then five, but that would've been hipocritical since I went back to see it twice since its release. I will explain.The most riveting scene in the film for me was a very simple one, the group of rebels led by Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) lead Neo back inside The Matrix for the first time since he learned of its existance. He watches the hussle in the streets he used to walk, he points out a resteruant he used to visit "I used to eat there, great noodles." I wish there was more of that in the film, more observing of those hopeless (or are they?) humans that unwittingly walk through a manufactured existance. I wish there was more of a human element to the film, wouldn't it have been incredibly fascinating, to actually observe a couple of characters who live within The Matrix through the eyes of one of our heroes. What happened to Neo's friends (virtual they maybe). The Wachowski's only provide hints of this, instead they throw at us incredible action sequences that are unsurpassed in movie history. There are no words to describe how exhilerating the action is, and its reason enough for the five star rating. But by going for an action overkill they lose the poignancy that a film like DARK CITY created. The Matrix frequently breaks its own laws, for example if Neo and his gang of cyber rebels can jump from rooftop to rooftop because they recognise that in a virtual world there is no gravity, why don't they employ this technique when being chased by the agents? Ofcourse this kind of nitpicking would have deprived this very thrilling film of its thrills. The action geek within me is saying "This movie rocks", but on an intellectual level, it is a near masterpiece that doesn't quite follow through on its compelling premise.
Consider this. This review you are reading right now doesn't actually exist, but it is infact a collection of tiny electrons projected on to your screen. If amazon doesn't transmit it, it would cease to exist.
Take a little of The Matrix, throw in a portion of Dark City and add the entirity of Orwell's 1984 and you have a documentary made in 2048. Hey, if Carrie Anne Moss would be there I wouldn't mind it one bit.
Movie Review: What is the Matrix?
Summary: 5 Stars
The Matrix will go down in film history books as "The film that changed cinema forever". True, films have done that before: (Jaws, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction et al) but the Matrix is different in that not only did it change audience's expectations of action cinema but also impacted on countless movies to date.The film itself is the epitome of cool that stands out from the slew of unimaginative science fiction that Hollywood reels out, and with Keanu Reeves and Carrie Anne Moss making an unlikely duo in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by artificially intelligent machines, the film finds itself worlds away from admittedly second-rate sci fi cinema.
You could argue, as some critics did, that the film's plot is simply an excuse to hang cool effects on, but the premise slowly shapes into such an intricate plot, where machines have taken over the world (a popular idea for sci fi films, with this having similarities to Terminator 2) and then the small amount of snotty critics are silenced. What the Wachowski brothers have done is so imaginative that no film has ever come close to its intricacies and futuristic ideas. Add hints and nudges from Vertigo, classic Western films and Kung-fu karate films into the story and the amazing journey is made even more fascinating and involving.
The visuals incorporated throughout the story are absolutely amazing; with the "flow-mo" being the coolest visual effect those effects boffins have done since that water tentacle flowed through air in The Abyss. Imitated to death, the scene where Keanu's character Neo dodges bullets is nonetheless the pinnacle of uber-coolness. With thought provoking, mind-bending lines like: "It's the smell, if there is such a thing"; the film's script is peppered with fascinating lines concerning the very nature of "what is real?" Hence the clever advertising campaign for the movie's release: "Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself".
The Matrix has indeed changed cinema. Regardless, it's a great film, loaded to the retinas with out- of- this-world effects, great villians (Agent Smith!), great action set-pieces and awesome stunts from martial arts expert Wu Ping. And with the DVD (awesome stuff, everyone has to own this disc) and upcoming sequel in progress- The Matrix Reloaded, the Matrix is a film that not only has affected filmgoers everywhere, but has also leaked into the fan boy culture of the movie world. To quote Neo: "Whoa".
Movie Review: What is The Matrix?
Summary: 5 Stars
The Matrix will go down in film history books as "The film that changed cinema forever". True, films have done that before: (Jaws, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction et al) but the Matrix is different in that not only did it change audience's expectations of action cinema but also impacted on countless movies to date.The film itself is the epitome of cool that stands out from the slew of unimaginative science fiction that Hollywood reels out, and with Keanu Reeves and Carrie Anne Moss making an unlikely duo in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by artificially intelligent machines, the film finds itself worlds away from admittedly second-rate sci fi cinema.
You could argue, as some critics did, that the film's plot is simply an excuse to hang cool effects on, but the premise slowly shapes into such an intricate plot, where machines have taken over the world (a popular idea for sci fi films, with this having similarities to Terminator 2) and then the small amount of snotty critics are silenced. What the Wachowski brothers have done is so imaginative that no film has ever come close to its intricacies and futuristic ideas. Add hints and nudges from Vertigo, classic Western films and Kung-fu karate films into the story and the amazing journey is made even more fascinating and involving.
The visuals incorporated throughout the story are absolutely amazing; with the "flow-mo" being the coolest visual effect those effects boffins have done since that water tentacle flowed through air in The Abyss. Imitated to death, the scene where Keanu's character Neo dodges bullets is nonetheless the pinnacle of uber-coolness. With thought provoking, mind-bending lines like: "It's the smell, if there is such a thing"; the film's script is peppered with fascinating lines concerning the very nature of "what is real?" Hence the clever advertising campaign for the movie's release: "Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself".
The Matrix has indeed changed cinema. Regardless, it's a great film, loaded to the retinas with out- of- this-world effects, great villians (Agent Smith!), great action set-pieces and awesome stunts from martial arts expert Wu Ping. And with the DVD (awesome stuff, everyone has to own this disc) and upcoming sequel in progress- The Matrix Reloaded, the Matrix is a film that not only has affected filmgoers everywhere, but has also leaked into the fan boy culture of the movie world. To quote Neo: "Whoa".