The Matrix is so real, it gets under your nails.
Why fool yourself about the real world when those in control
are doing such a good job at it for you? If you thought there
were problems with contemporary politics, wait till you get a
gander at what's in store for us 200 years from now. The
landscape looks like "Terminator" leftovers, but everyone is
deliriously oblivious to its existence because they're protected
by the state they experience as reality. (Sound familiar?
Where were you last Saturday night?) While masked from
everyone's detection by transmitted imaging, the sinister
workings of another world (that feeds upon fetal flesh and blood
for its subsistence) are only penetrable by those who enter and
grow to know the Matrix. Confused? Go see the film and get
yourself straight. (Or not, as the case may be.)
The Matrix
© Warner Bros BV
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In one of the endless derelict buildings of tomorrow's world,
Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), deliciously dressed in black
leathers and frequently donning a look that could kill, is
interrupted in her daily anarchistic activities by a group of dark
men who act like Blues-Brothers' refugees with a digital mission
to search and destroy. These shade- carrying right-wingers are
led by the notorious Agent (are you ready?) Smith (Hugo
Weaving) who will stop at nothing to break the opposition.
Trinity breaks away and flies over the rooftops like Sigourney
Weaver with aliens at her back, leaping like a Bladerunner
toward her hot-line to Tron. Lucky for her no vandals got to the
phone booth first (which would have, most likely, been the
case if she had been living 200 years earlier).
In a mixed world of mythological and biblical people and
creatures (with names like Oracle, Cypher, Tank, Mouse,
Switch, and Dozer), Mr. Anderson, soon-to-be-known-as Neo
(Keanu Reeves) enters an Alice-like-Wonderland after being
pursued by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), a powerful leader
who senses that this is the man he has been searching for.
Neo doesn't know what's in store for him in a world filled with
tentacle-bearing Sentinels and Oracle (Gloria Smith) is the only
one around who holds the cookies. Before endeavoring into
this venture, however, he was fairly forewarned by Morpheus
who told him from the start, "All I am offering is the Truth". Is
this guy for real?
After the first twenty minutes or so, Mr. Fishburne's character
takes it upon himself to explain what's going on (for the
densely-minded viewer). At this point, the once-rapidly-rolling
tale takes a break to bore us with clichés and details. Is there
anyone out there in the MTV world who can't follow this
quickfire romp? If so, please leave the cinema and let the
editor take out the superfluous dialogue so that we can get on
with the story at hand and the visuals that attend it. (When you
enter the Tunnel of Horrors, you don't necessarily need a floor
plan.) On the other hand, Neo, the new-boy-in-town, is always
near at hand and well-supplied with a short retort here or there
to keep the action flowing: "Guns. Lots of guns".
The music is hot (Prodigy, Meat Beat Manifesto, Rage Against
the Machine, Marilyn Manson, Lunatic Calm) and suits the dark
surroundings well. And Don Davis' score adds suitable tension
to the dread filled realm. The cinematography of Bill Pope is
absolute perfection and assisted throughout by the sharp
edged editing work of Zach Staenberg. Owen Paterson's
production design is dark, ominous, and gloriously portending.
Special FX, supervised by John Gaeta, are to die for (if you're
not careful).
The Matrix
© Warner Bros BV
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The Brothers Wachowski (Larry and Andy) have made an
exciting, contemporary, grim fairy tale, but have, unfortunately,
drawn upon traditional concepts without exploring their
potential depths fully. The result, although enjoyable, is
several levels short of rooftop. The pity of this is that the story
never dares to go quite far enough to become ground-breaking,
whereas similar films which do make the leap (like Terry
Gilliam's brilliant "12 Monkeys") often fare less well on the box-
office receipt chart than this vehicle undoubtedly will. So we
wind up with a bit of biblical tradition here, a bit of David
Lynch's "Dune" there, a bit of Greek tragedy and contemporary
sitcom, a bit of Obi-Wan-Kanobe with Luke Skywalker and
presto: virtual reality. None of the actors manage to get in the
way.
In the meantime, which would you prefer, red pill or blue?
© 1994-2006 The Green Hartnett
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