#140RVW
15 years ago this was a sleeper phenomenon. I thought it was gonna suck & was far from alone. So glad to have been so very wrong… #NoSpoon
What’s more:
It may look like a called shot through your bullet-time camera today, but this was a huge risk. A sci-fi mind trip starring Canoe? You knew it was going to be a hit? Then that makes one…
In hindsight, it seems obvious. Brainy sci-fi with brilliant premise, backed with tons of guns, wire-fu and beautiful people in black?
But when they were promoting this for a March 31, 1999 release, remember that there was another little sci-fi movie coming out in May called The Phantom Menace. Other studios were avoiding this launch window like the plague. All you could hope for around May were people who couldn’t get into Episode I. Trying to squeeze in a new sci-fi property now was either a brave move by a studio that believed they had something really special, or a case of a studio sending out something they didn’t believe in to die a lonely death. I don’t frankly know which it was in this case, but I suspect the former, since anyone who watched the film could see this was a winner.
The trailer wasn’t confidence-inspiring to me. It looked gimmicky and including Canoe saying “Whoa” would be Exhibit A in how to reinforce your audiences negative impressions of an actor. But when my friends returned from the film, gushing about this amazing and unique movie, I was swayed. And for that I am grateful.
The Matrix is a phenomenal movie. The high concept story is rock solid, the effects are spell-binding, the pace is good, the length ok, the dialogue fine, the humor good and the fighting is really excellent. It is a very unique and ambitious film from the Wachowskis, and they are to be commended.
It really launched the careers of Carrie-Anne Moss & Hugo Weaving, which we can all be happy about. After that the acting is a little thin on the ground.
Laurence Fishburne would never be called Larry again, and he has a great delivery on the humorous lines, but he is given some truly dreadful dialogue. It’s worse in the sequels (EVERYTHING IS), but even here he is tasked with overly verbose exposition that makes it seem as though the Wachowskis are trying to impress us with their ability to use a thesaurus. Nothing is said simply if it can be dragged out with lots of multi-syllabic words and delivered with a reverential monotone. It’s really ponderous.
Then there’s Canoe. Ah, Keanu. This will certainly be the film he is remembered for, as is fitting. I have to say that he is absolutely perfect for this role. The first movie, I mean. He does well with the in over his head outsider bit and his eventual embrace of his importance. He retains just enough of his Canoe-ness to make you go along with him on this head trip until you’re on solid footing; helps the audience have a stake in the thing. Once you get into the sequels it gets pretty humorless, though.
Can you even imagine this film with the other actors offered the role? Will Smith, Nicolas Cage, Brad Pitt, Val Kilmer (!) or Johnny Depp? All too easily, right? ::Shudder:: THAT’S why I think Keanu was perfect.
Did I forget to mention Joey Pants? Can’t imagine why…
While directly responsible for the explosion of wire-work into every single action movie for the next 15 years, the fight scenes by fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping are fantastic. Maybe not as revolutionary to those Hong Kong action movie fans out there, but for the rest of us newbies, it’s great stuff.
It is a really unique universe the filmmaker’s have created. Production Designer Owen Paterson really highlights the difference between the Matrix and the real world cleverly, although the whole blue/green thing got seriously overdone with color-timing in post, particularly on the home video releases.
The effects are simply spectacular. John Gaeta and Manex Digital Effects created bleeding edge visuals that were truly groundbreaking. The overuse of CG doubles that plagued the sequels is non-existent here; as involved as it gets, things actually feel “real” as ironic as that may be.
As far as the philosophy and all that, whatever. It’s interesting to a point, but it’s hard not to have an involuntary negative reaction to any discussion of the deeper themes after all the navel-gazing of the sequels.
The Matrix is a great movie. It owes so much to so many different influences, from cyberpunk novels to Japanese animation, but the Wachowskis have always been very vocal in their praise for their many predecessors and very generous in acknowledging their debts. Forget whatever baggage you have from the sequels and try to watch it again with fresh eyes.
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Pass
The Representation Test Score: B (9 pts)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Keanu Reeves Neo, Laurence Fishburne Morpheus, Carrie-Anne Moss Trinity, Hugo Weaving Agent Smith |
| Rating | R |
| Release Date | Wed 31 Mar 1999 UTC |
| Director | Andy Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers), Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers) |
| Genres | Action, Sci-Fi |
| Plot | A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 136 |
| Tagline | Free your mind |
| Writers | Andy Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers) (written by) &, Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers) (written by) |
| Year | 1999 |