Unravelling the Matrix

Reviewed by Vickie, Cinema Geek

Vick's Rating:

= There's two hours of my life I'll never see again. Is it too late to ask for my money back?
= They could have done SO much better. Wait for the video.
= Not bad at all. Some solid work.
= Wow! I'm very impressed. I might go see this one again.
= For the love of all that is good and kind in the world, what an amazing movie!!!

Directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski

Cast:
Thomas/Neo................Keanu Reeves
Morpheus............Laurence Fishburne
Trinity...............Carrie-Anne Moss
Agent Smith...............Hugo Weaving
Cypher..................Joe Pantoliano

What is "The Matrix?"

Well, for starters, it's slick. It's stylish. It's smart. It's flashy. It's way, way cool. Not a bad way to begin, I'd say.

Written and directed by the Wachowski brothers (Bound), The Matrix is a high-tech, special-effects-laden sci-fi-action film that poses the question: what if our reality is really a fantasy, and our worst nightmares are, in fact, our reality? Set in 1999 (sort of), the story follows computer whiz Thomas "Neo" Anderson (Keanu Reeves), who's being pursued by some creepy, suit-and-sunglasses-clad men led by steely Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving). Apparently, they want Neo deleted from the world...permanently. To the rescue comes a mysterious figure named Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), who claims that he too has been searching for Neo all his life but for very different reasons. Morpheus knows all kinds of neat, seemingly unknowable things and invites Neo to open his mind to the possibily that the world isn't really what it appears to be.

What an understatement.

With the help of Morpheus' ultra-cool, ass-kicking colleague Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), Neo has the wool lifted off his eyes and is shown the reality that he's been blinded to since birth. While I could go ahead and explain all that that entails, I won't because part of the fun of the film is discovering what it all means, how it comes together and where the story is headed.

Suffice it to say that Neo discovers that everything he's ever believed has been a lie, and he'd better get his act in gear because he is the "chosen one" on whose shoulders rests the fate of humanity.

Interested yet?

By this point in the film, I was completely hooked. The jaw-dropping special effects that pushed the film's budget into the seventy-million-dollar range were enough to make me feel my time and money were being well spent. But add to that an intricate storyline, some smooth performances and a nice, zippy pace and you've got a solid piece of entertainment. The Wachowskis have woven numerous film genres (action, comedy, drama, sci-fi, etc.) and some intelligent Biblical undertones into a story that's not only interesting, but well told.

The Matrix also possesses one of the things that made me enjoy Bound as much as I did--art direction. In fact, the brothers Wachowski have carried over some of the elements of that wonderful film here (witness the black rotary-dial phones, the giant old apartments and Chicago-esque setting). Bound was filled with mood lighting, dim hallways, murky spaces; it had a style and flavor all its own. Similarly, the distinct look of The Matrix, from the sets to the lighting to the costumes, contributes to the overall feel of the film. Things seem perpetually underlit. It's gloomy, it's creepy, it's distant. It works.

The performances, while clearly not the focus of a movie like this one, also fall into place. Laurence Fishburne has the imposing presence and voice to pull off his role, and Carrie-Anne Moss leaps into the feature film world with some work that is sure to catch the eye of critics and casting directors alike. She made me want to sign up for kickboxing lessons and buy some sleek leather pants. Joe Pantoliano (another Bound carryover) is effectively jumpy, while Hugo Weaving (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) is so rigid and cold that it's not hard to believe him as a non-human being.

And say what you will about Keanu Reeves, but he does a fine job as Neo. His role isn't talky--he spends much of the film running or shooting or looking perplexed. There isn't a whole lot of dialogue to weigh him down. Let's face it, drop him into an ultra-cool black leather outfit, play some electronica and roll the film in slow motion...whoo! Who needs profound words? (Although, there are plenty of those in this quasi-apocalyptic story, as well.)

What more can I say? I truly enjoyed The Matrix and am growing to appreciate it more as time passes. It's the first official summer-type cinematic offering of the year and, if it's any indication of what we can expect for the rest of the blockbuster-movie season, I'm primed and ready for more.

Also in theaters:

Fame, its repercussions and the public's insatiable appetite for gossip are the focus of Ron Howard's EDtv (). Matthew McConaughey plays unshaven, amiable slacker Ed, who works in a video store and who's plucked from obscurity by an exec (Ellen DeGeneres) at a documentary cable channel to be the "star" of, well, his own life--which will be broadcast twenty-four hours a day, live, as it happens. A seemingly wonderful idea at first, Ed's world soon becomes fodder for the media at large, and his life is quickly thrown into the public domain. McConaughey is charming as the well-intentioned Ed, while Woody Harrelson, Jenna Elfman, Sally Kirkland and Rob Reiner are among the stellar supporting players who help and hinder Ed's efforts to manage his newfound celebrity and maintain his not-so-private private life. It's a fun movie, with some serious undertones, and is easily another well-made film from director Howard.

Vickie, a self-confessed movie addict, has spent the last few years working at an entertainment magazine in Canada. When she's not toiling away at her computer in the office, she's toiling away at her computer at home-- hacking away at unfinished screenplays and planning her acceptance speech for the Academy Awards.