The Matrix

The Wachowski Brothers, USA, 1999, 136 minutes

The Matrix figures within a recent trend for films which fit into a larger cinematic sequence; apparently, there is a prequel and a sequel, which can only make life for us humble cinema-goers even more confusing in the next few years. In the meantime, Keanu and crew take us on a rollicking good ride through a computerized future world where the machines are in control and a few lone rebels, aided and abetted by "The One", fight for freedom. The word which immediately springs to mind about this movie is cool.

From the cool soundtrack and cool little phones to cool Laurence Fishbourne's cool shades, and the cool black suits of the baddies to the cool leather trench-coats endlessly copied by slightly less cool gothic wannabes, the film virtually exudes coolness. Cool. Apart from anything else, the innovative approach to action sequences taken by the Wachowski brothers has been copied and spoofed in endless movies since. If you need any further evidence, watch out for the hotel lobby shoot-out - it is visually and aurally stunning, and must have taken about a million years to film.

Sometimes the dialogue might raise a wry smile from the more cynical viewer's lips, but that is only because all this talk of the chosen one has been done many many times before. This is a drop in the ocean however, and cannot detract from the fact that what we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is a bloody good film. Enjoy.

Review by Adam Woollaston
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2002

What it is The Matrix?

What is reality? What if everything you thought was real was merely a well-constructed illusion? Would you be able to tell the difference? After all, what can we rely upon if not ourselves?

Imagine a world where your dreams are the reality and your reality is false. Imagine watching a waking dream, so beautifully put together that you could not see the joins. Imagine a world where Keanu Reeves/Neo Anderson looks convincing. Imagine a world which can freeze in an instant and pirouette through space and time. This is the world of The Matrix.

In this world if you know what the rules are, you can bend them. You can do things which seem to defy the laws of the universe. Penetrate the illusion and you can witness the sheer efficiency of the underlying mechanism. Marvel at the perfect casting of the characters in your "reality"; the way in which it is possible to bring a comic-book styling to life. Gaze in awe at the spectacle before you, constructed from nothing more than vivid imagination whilst eschewing the normal conventions. This is like a waking dream... or a nightmare. What if you knew you were in that dream, would you want to leave? Or would you prefer to stay safe, content to live your life in a predetermined world? Don’t you yearn to follow Alice down the rabbit hole and find out what awaits? Perhaps The Matrix is nothing more than life itself. Experience the power of The Matrix again, and again, for after all, it's not real...

Review by Neil Chue Hong
Taken from EUFS Programe Autumn 1999