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The
Matrix (1999)
 Like
James Cameron's The Terminator, the bleak-future fairy
tale it most closely resembles, The Matrix is a bracing
mixture of exhilarating action thrills and first-rate science
fiction storytelling. Imagine the ultimate Marvel Comic, drawn
by Frank Frazetta or the Brothers Hildebrant and scripted by
Harlan Ellison or Philip K. Dick — the sophomore effort from
brother filmmakers Andy and Larry Wachowski (Bound)
gives you all of that and more. If sci-fi spectacles are your
bag, this is the kind of film you'll never forget seeing for
the first time and will relish watching over and over again.
The story
focuses on Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves), a computer
programmer who uses the alias "Neo" to moonlight as
a top-dollar hacker specializing in under-the-table software
solutions. Neo is contacted by a fellow cybersneak named
Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), who helps put him in touch with a
mysterious revolutionary called Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne).
Both inform Neo that the world around him is not everything he
believes it to be and offer to show him the truth. The plot
thickens when he's picked up at work by a trio of government
goons who confront him with a fat file detailing his
techno-crimes and offer an exchange: a clean slate in return
for his assistance in bringing Morpheus to justice.
To reveal more
about the plot would be a grave injustice. For all its layers
and complexities — which are both myriad and fascinating —
the Wachowskis' ingenious script is a model of exposition and
pacing. Seeing its marvelous secrets unfold gradually is half
the fun. The dialogue, in particular, is excellent, with nary
a wasted word nor a misplaced monologue and the caliber of the
performances matches that of the writing. A slimmed-down
Reeves proves perfectly suited to his heroic lead role and
breathtaking newcomer Moss, a former model, is an immensely
appealing heroine. The always-excellent Fishburne radiates
just the right level of gravitas and moral authority, and
Australian actor Hugo Weaving is a four-star sensation as the
principal villain, the menacing Agent Smith. Most thrillers
would toss off a taunt like "Human beings are a
disease" without a second thought — but here, between
Weaving's delicious delivery and the Wachowskis' sharp
screenplay, it morphs into one of the most resonant, riveting
speeches in the movie.
The visuals are
stunning throughout, exactly as advertised, but never at the
expense of the story and characters. It's rare in the current
climate of for-its-own-sake f/x wizardry that special effects
this breathtaking should fit so unobtrusively into the
sequences they are meant to enhance. Commendably, the
Wachowskis have put equal care into the futuristic
razzle-dazzle and the more mundane, meat-and-potatoes details:
we've all seen stuntmen dangle from a helicopter before, but
such scenes are rarely executed so crisply as the one you'll
see here. And the positive effects of the rigorous kung-fu
boot camp the principal actors participated in prior to
filming show up in every fight scene.
It's not quite
possible to recommend The Matrix without reservation.
The high-octane clashes between good and evil ultimately
spiral outside the boundaries of good taste when the movie
arrives at a climactic shootout in the lobby of a secured
office tower that manages to incorporate — albeit with a
bare minimum of bloodshed — just about every harmful fantasy
about guns and bullets Hollywood has ever promulgated. What
keeps this sequence from derailing the entire production is
the visual grace with which the Wachowskis have imbued it —
not even John Woo has ever made heavy ordnance look this
pretty. If you can forgive such detours into excess, this
wildly imaginative thriller is a futuristic head trip you most
definitely want to take.
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