The Matrix (1999)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Matrix (1999) – The Wachowskis

So, yes, at its heart The Matrix is an action movie – and the various scenes of kung fu fighting (including the climatic battle between Keanu Reeves and Hugo Weaving) are great fun, especially because the actors were really trained by Hong Kong veteran Woo-Ping Yuen and also because special effects allow them to defy the laws of gravity.  But just having a few great fight scenes wouldn’t be enough – the Matrix is special because of the mystical acid-trip it lays on the viewer (written by Lilly and Lana Wachowski, who also directed).  Keanu Reeves is a computer hacker who is contacted by a mysterious group led by Laurence Fishburne (as Morpheus) and Carrie-Anne Moss (as Trinity) who then reveal to him that our reality is not what it seems and that we are really slaves subjugated to heartless masters.  If only the scales could fall from our eyes!  Of course, viewers could easily be thinking about the 1% who control resources and the world and keep us down but The Matrix is much weirder than that – and if our success with AI holds up, perhaps prophetic.  For those who haven’t seen this film (anyone?), Keanu is Neo, a.k.a. the One foretold to be the saviour who rescues our species.  Of course, the world is trashed in this version of the future, so it’s hard to say whether we are worth saving and where we would live if we were (underground, I guess).  But the quasi-religious sci-fi dystopian overlay here is enough to keep the brain tickled until the next action set-piece rolls out.  Seen on blu-ray, the run-down green-tinged cityscapes and ruined/underwater futuristic vistas aren’t particularly beautiful but they are effective and the costumes are mighty stylish.  I watched the two sequels back in the day but I don’t feel the need to see them again now – with luck, the 4^th film now in production will remember to fill in the gaps.  If you’ve never seen this, the first time is probably the best (but remarkably it still holds up).