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The Matrix
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Starring: | Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss |
| Directed By: | The Wachowskis | |
| Written By: | The Wachowskis |
Many people believe that this is the film that has everything: martial arts, superpowers, guns, superb special effects and an ingenious plot. Unfortunately they are wrong. This impression is just an illusion projected by the studios to try & control the general public's need for violent blockbusters. Welcome to the Matrix.
Now before you get all uppity, I'd just like to say that The Matrix is a good film. It's well written & directed, the majority of the cast are superb & the concept is sound. However, I can't forget why the Wachowskis made the film: They wanted to put superheroes in today's world & they needed an excuse; hence The Matrix. To me, superheroes have been done better, but not by much.
Much praised for the impressive special effects, The Matrix was the pioneer of "Bullet Time", the process which seemingly allows the action to freeze or slow down whilst the camera sweeps round to another angle. Whilst startling at the time, the same process is now being used for a Centerparcs advertisement, so it's not quite as exciting anymore. Despite this, it probably marks the biggest leap in CGI and the like since Jurassic Park. The whole industry needed another prod in the right direction, and it got it with this film.
The story is surprisingly simple. After hearing about people who needed to see it twice to understand, I wondered if this was Mission: Impossible all over again (I had to explain M:I to a friend just after it had finished, later that evening and the next day). But, the basic concept, combined with effective writing surprised me. But then again, Hollywood tends not to trust it's audience with complicated ideas or multi-syballic words. Unsurprisingly though, it left itself wide open for sequels. It's alarming how many successful films were originally designed to be a trilogy isn't it? Even moreso when that fact is announced after the first weekend's box office takings are announced.
The cast is mostly impressive: Lawrence Fishburne is superb as Morpheus, Carrie-Anne Moss is a bolt from the blue as Trinity & the supporting cast does it's job well. However, special mention must go to the star, Keanu Reeves. Mr. Reeves has not been praised as the greatest actor in Hollywood, and there's good reason. Although he has proven himself competent more than once, and is only occasionally painfully bad, he is restricted to only three facial expressions. And he only uses two of them in The Matrix. It's almost as if the role of Neo was written for him, as his specialities (confusion and surprise) are the only ones the part requires (with an occasonal foray into impassiveness). Despite this, he makes for an impressive figure in gunbattles and fistfights, but only because he doesn't say anything & is hiding behind a pair of dark glasses.
Speaking of which, one might suspect that there's a strong feeling of product placement in The Matrix. Keanu might as well have walked up to the camera and said "Hi, my name's Neo & I use Nokia for all my telecommunication needs. Oh, and don't my sunglasses look great? They can be yours for just $179.99 plus tax." The sale of long leather jackets went up by 64% after the release of this movie, but then again I'm just making that statistic up. It sounds realistic though doesn't it? Go out on a Friday night & you'll see more full-length PVC and leather jackets than ever before. OK, I admit it, I've got one too, but it's more of a homage to Silent Bob.
And now for the ultimate revelation: The beginning is interesting, the end is exhilirating, but the middle is just plain boring. It tries to plumb the depths of the characters, but doesn't come up with anything interesting. The whole thing is kind of formulaic as well. There's tension between Neo & Trinity (guess where that leads), Morpheus is revealed to be important (and there was I thinking he was just the janitor of a post-apocalyptic future) and *gasp* SOMETHING GOES WRONG! Wow, we didn't see that coming, what with that guy looking so shifty and all (it's not really a spoiler as much stating the bloody obvious). Big fights, loud music, overcome adversity, roll credits, cue sequels.
Summary: Impressive settings, impressive special effects & impressive idea. Yes, this film is impressive. But that's the only positive adjective I can think for it. It's nothing new & like all blockbusters is all about the budget, not the story. It beats the other special effect bonanzas of 1999, but it didn't really have much competition. Shame, it had so much potential. Just add alcohol & it'll seem perfect.
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