Matrix

Matrix

Some might say that we have all been hitting the bottom of the barrel in the last few years when it comes to the quality of the movies (and music) that we have been subjected to, with everything that is “new” really being boring, derivative and unimaginative but more importantly paling in vast comparison to the undisputed classic stuff which we’ve seen in the past. The interesting thing is in tracing just when this downward spiral began with the most likely and acceptable theory being that it was just at the turn of the millennium (2000) when the vast majority of mass produced art began turning into crap. Ironically in 1999, a science fiction film was released written and directed by The Wachowski Brothers (now both of whom are Sisters) that was hailed as being the creative savior of the motion picture industry, when in reality upon closer look one comes to the disturbing realization that it might be THE most cobbled together from past sources, derivative film of them all! One can now with a clearer head see obvious references to (for starters) Star Wars, Superman, Terminator (man vs machine), Japanese manga and anime, cyberpunk fiction, chop socky martial arts action films, Stephen King’s The Stand (little old black lady as Prophet / Oracle) and scores of ultra violent shoot em up action movies (again, just for starters). Nonetheless, the film was a sensation for its time, grossing hundreds of millions of dollars, winning four Oscars and filling many people (especially science fiction geeks) up with the excited possibility that creativity and originality were not dead in Hollywood when the truth was that when the sequels were released a few years later and The Wachowskis had to further their story and mythology on its own merits, the films were considered a failure and the brothers / sisters found themselves exposed as not being quite as good as they were originally hyped to be. Yet, there was still quite a bit of good to be found in this first outing, which starts off by telling the story of a renowned criminal hacker (Keanu Reeves, often lambasted by many for his seemingly airheaded persona but actually a pretty good actor whenever he wants to be) who is following the case of an infamous worldwide “terrorist” who is wanted everywhere around the globe for his cybercrimes and goes by the handle “Morpheus” (Laurence Fishburne, finally sinking his teeth into a mainstream Obi Wan / Mentor role and having fun with it). Turns out that Morpheus has also been seeking out Reeves’ Neo as well, presumably to get him to join his cyber terrorist network but in reality recruiting him to join in a much more vast and complex rebellion. Morpheus finally explains to him that the world in which he lives in (circa 1999) is but a total and complete fabrication, a computer generated false reality in which EVERYTHING is created and controlled by an apparently malevolent force and that the REAL world that actually exists is 200 years in the future where after the invention and perfection of AI (Artificial Intelligence), humans and machines engaged in an all out nuclear war and everything that survived on both sides went down below the earth where humans then became harvested as energy sources in order to keep everything running smoothly for the machines, living (barely) in amoeba like wombs and having their minds and consciousness plugged into our “modern” and imaginary world (The Matrix) in order to keep them asleep as the power was drained from their bodies. Moreso, the machines continue to hunt down those humans who are “free” from this virtual reality and pose a threat to their established order with Morpheus telling Neo that he is “The One” who is prophesized to defeat and destroy the machines once and for all and free everybody into the year 2199 (or at least the ones who can handle it). The role of Neo is of course tailor made for Reeves who has spent the majority of his career playing different variations of The One / Messiah type roles depending on the nature of the story (even if he never escaped the surfer dude persona of his Bill And Ted salad days). Fishburne for his part seems to be having some fun with his (as written) ultra serious role and his crew also includes Joe Pantoliano doing a good job as the sardonic hacker who admits to hating his “new” life in the real world and wishing to return to the creature comforts of the fake 1999. Then there’s Carrie Anne Moss as the female member of the group named Trinity, as divisive a female character as has ever been seen in movies. On the one hand, she can fight alongside the best of them, but on the other hand was the absolutely ridiculous elevation of the character by select fans / nerds as being the hottest and most beautiful female action character ever, an assertion that’s canceled out immediately by more sensible types due to her rather butchy look and personality. Moderately attractive? Yes, but not exactly a goddess who just so happens to kick ass even if Moss’ actual performance is just fine given the standards of the story. After that we have Marcus (son of Tommy) Chong as Tank, the “operator” of the group whose job is to sit on the ship when the others go into The Matrix and guide them through the landscapes while also enabling their escapes by directing them to a nearby telephone which he calls and then zaps them out when they answer. Chong actually does a nice job here acting wise, giving his character a likability amongst the other stiffs who comprise the rest of the crew and the filmmakers’ decision to screw him out of the sequels (and the money therein) simply because he asked for a little bit more than last time and also expressed a desire to be featured on the posters with the other principal players (not unreasonable because he was alive and well at the end of the film and had helped save the lives of several of the others) leading to him being unfairly written out and nearly blackballed from acting entirely really shows the merit (or lack thereof) of the people behind this series. The low point of the film of course is the infamous Oracle scene, a character who is built up enormously throughout and turns out predictably enough to be just a chainsmoking little old black woman baking cookies (with strong shades of Mother Abagail from The Stand) who has a bunch of other young “potentials” who can alter reality on their own and (even worse) comes off as being incapable of delivering a straight answer, making the entire sequence in and of itself come off as pretentious (and much of the movie’s rather ludicrous plot often comes off as being dead serious and humorless as well). Fortunately, there is also the driving force behind this actually being a GOOD movie and that is Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith, an apparent law enforcement “program” who can insert himself into the body of any random human and also possesses nearly unbeatable fighting skills, but it is the quieter moments that count with Weaving bringing a cold, dry wit to someone who is essentially the human form and representative of the machine collective, at times showing subtle shades of individuality (a subversive touch) such as when he expresses his literal hatred of the human race and more importantly, playing this villain as someone whom we’d definitely like to see more of if just to see what he will do or say next. The action sequences don’t really get rolling until the second half of the film and the concept that innocent humans who are still trapped in the matrix “dream” (and operating under the concept that they are just doing their jobs as law enforcement / security) are actually considered to be fair game to be slaughtered by the “heroes” seeking to free their minds is amusing at best, but the final showdown between Neo and Smith is really given just the right amount of gravitas in the proceedings as it is explained that Neo must basically choose to be “The One” in order to literally be “The One” even though Fishburne’s Morpheus has been saying that he is almost nonstop throughout the whole movie. At the end of the day, we get quite the jam packed rollercoaster ride here, coupled with a concept and script that reputedly nobody was able to fully understand when it was first being developed. While it never should be lumped in with science fiction classics like Star Wars or Terminator, it was still pumped with enough adrenaline to signal both the end of the millennium and of original storylines as well…

8/10

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