The movie opens. 00101010001110010... or something that looks similar to that. The screen is flooded with little green symbols and letters that trickle down the screen that Joe Average is to assume is leet computer speak. Two voices are heard exchanging words on this 'one' character and then we are blasted into the Matrix!
The first Matrix movie to my eyes is flawless. A perfect example of story telling that the audience can really dive into. Although it's all in the eye of the beholder. What you could say is dumb fun, I could say is just dumb. You could say that it's boring and long and I could say is artistic and poetic. Different kinds of people love different kinds of things; I am to assume that this is the reason how Scary Movie and Epic Movie actually made any money. I can't say I hate the Executive Producers on those movies but I have as much respect for them as I do for a half naked hooker that's just vomited in the back seat of my car. Getting to my point; to me, The Matrix is the greatest telling of cyberpunk that I have seen and is 136 minutes of perfection.
To the uninformed (and people who are too cool to care) Cyberpunk is generally how the people of yesteryear viewed how the Internet would work. We would have Internet cops who'd jump on their Internet bikes and drive after the Internet baddie who wants to take of the Internet (long awesome Internet sentence)! Now the Matrix is basically the same, just change the word 'Internet' to the word 'Matrix' and change the phrase 'surfing the web' to 'the entire human population of Earth was wiped out and oppressed by robots and are now being used as an energy source for the machines.'
Back to the plot. The audience has just been given a mouth full to take in within the first seconds of the movie. Before they start scratching their heads and fidgeting out of boredom the screen bursts out with action that basically sets the pace for the rest of the movie. Trinity, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, starts pulling off some radical skillz as cops burst into the room. She leaps into the air ready to kick a cop in his dirty pig chest. Moments before the strike the camera spins around her in slow-mo 360 degrees which has been dubbed from now to the end of time as, 'Bullet Time!' So she's punching and kicking and breaking the cops in two, the audience sits in awe (drool and all). Suddenly a government man burst through a door and our awesome Trinity is now reduced to a blubbering little girl.
The thing I favor the first Matrix above the rest of the series was the fear you felt for these 'Agents'. Computer programs used to monitor and keep the Matrix safe. A form of firewall to the virus that is human free thinking if you will. They can dodge bullets and punch through concrete. They are real men and drink VB beer! Yet, while they're pure awesomeness reincarnate, the directors felt a change was needed for the second and have changed them into piss weak men in suits, even though they're apparently 'upgraded'. I guess our human minds will never understand the way machines think.
The rest of the movie is concentrated on Keanu Reeves. A small time hacker who's found the Matrix but doesn't know what it is. There's a small cat and mouse, spy vs spy ploy as both the Agents and the resistance, lead by the charismatic Laurence Fishburne, try to find Keanu Reeves. Apparently he is the 'one' that will bring freedom and rebellion to the Matrix as some Jesus/Gordon Freeman figure. It turns out that he's not, but then he is again and then in the second movie we find out that he's kinda but really not the one and in the third he flies and is beaten up by a bum on a train.
The major thing about this movie is the key fight scenes. Whether it's a gun battle to the tune of Spybreak or an Agent punch up, each fight brings its own unique justice to the film and to the use of bullet time, that from then on has been constantly raped and shat on by big hairy men with lots of money. What other movie can you watch Keanu Reeves dodge bullets in slow-mo as the camera rotates around him 360 degrees without the use of doves (for any screaming John Woo fans out there).
But what gets me is why use Keanu Reeves to play the part of Neo? He doesn't strike me at all of cyber hacker that couldn't get a girl in his life (cause he was dead when he did! Boom-tish). He has and always will remind me of that excellent air-guitar-playing duo in Bill and Ted. Strangely that was his best acting role because it was the only one where he has another character besides Neo. I guess the casting agents thought it was best since he's already had training with the cyberpunk genre in Johnny Mnemonic. Before you say, "That was a great book, I wonder what the films is like?" Don't! Stop. Your brain doesn't need to see that mess. Move along.
Overall, I recommend the movie. It's the pinnacle of cyberpunk and has a deep and rich story. I'm sure everyone's seen it at least five times each but I suggest you watch it just once more. Buy the movie if you haven't already and purchase all the merchandise like the action figures and doorstops. Free your mind to the Matrix... human slaves!
blackadvent: Kudos all around. Skip the other Matrix movies and pretend they never happened.
I try really hard to. I don't know why there was such a change between number one and two. Maybe all the money rushed to their heads. Seriously, most of the stuff in the sequels could have been cut or changed. Who many times did they mention the word 'love' in the third.
Pfft pfft, the Matrix isent famous for its fighting scenes, they were just the entry ticket. This movie you see, is the best expose of post-modern philosofy in the realm of movies. The whole thing is about hackers who fight the govorment. In this case it's really cool hackers who fight the govorment, but the main points of the movie are anarchist sentiments.
Not to say any of this is bad, the movie is one of the best i have seen and trying to watch it with a philosofical eye makes it even better. But the fighting scenes are to the Matrix as the fishing was to "The Old Man and the Sea".
sammyfreak: Pfft pfft, the Matrix isent famous for its fighting scenes, they were just the entry ticket. This movie you see, is the best expose of post-modern philosofy in the realm of movies. The whole thing is about hackers who fight the govorment. In this case it's really cool hackers who fight the govorment, but the main points of the movie are anarchist sentiments.
Not to say any of this is bad, the movie is one of the best i have seen and trying to watch it with a philosofical eye makes it even better. But the fighting scenes are to the Matrix as the fishing was to "The Old Man and the Sea".
Actually, the Matrix films were about making a modern superhero movie, the Wachowskis have admitted in interviews.
sammyfreak: Pfft pfft, the Matrix isent famous for its fighting scenes, they were just the entry ticket. This movie you see, is the best expose of post-modern philosofy in the realm of movies. The whole thing is about hackers who fight the govorment. In this case it's really cool hackers who fight the govorment, but the main points of the movie are anarchist sentiments.
Not to say any of this is bad, the movie is one of the best i have seen and trying to watch it with a philosofical eye makes it even better. But the fighting scenes are to the Matrix as the fishing was to "The Old Man and the Sea".
Actually, the Matrix films were about making a modern superhero movie, the Wachowskis have admitted in interviews.
Interesting, but a modern superhero is rather post-modern.
yup still love this film but the sequals dissapointed me nearly as much as phantom menace (it still hurts even now)
Slight subject change to phantom menace and the best description of that film ever ala Simon Pegg from Spaced -
You are so blind! You so do not understand! You weren't there at the beginning. You don't know how good it was! How important! This is it for you! This jumped-up firework display of a toy advert! People like you make me sick! What's wrong with you?! Now, I don't care if you've saved up all your fifty 'p's, take your pocket money and get out!
The Matrix was a good movie. The second and third were a bit lamer, but for a mech enthusiat like me, I couldn't say no to the Squiddys and APUs. Reloaded was much more a "come-look-at-me!-I'm-a-sequel-and-will-screw-this-movie-up" thing when, as Purple stated in the review, the Agents were replaced with wusses. And Hugo Weaving started acting like he ate a bad Trojan for lunch with the whole multiplication thing. In conclusion, I agree with this review.
Drong: yup still love this film but the sequals dissapointed me nearly as much as phantom menace (it still hurts even now)
Slight subject change to phantom menace and the best description of that film ever ala Simon Pegg from Spaced -
You are so blind! You so do not understand! You weren't there at the beginning. You don't know how good it was! How important! This is it for you! This jumped-up firework display of a toy advert! People like you make me sick! What's wrong with you?! Now, I don't care if you've saved up all your fifty 'p's, take your pocket money and get out!
Lol, I watched that episode again this morning, still cracks me up. "Babylon Five is a big pile of shit!" - "GET OUT!"
Nice summary Rain. To the point, as there is so much detail to analyses in that film its insane. But a nice little read.
sammyfreak: Pfft pfft, the Matrix isent famous for its fighting scenes, they were just the entry ticket. This movie you see, is the best expose of post-modern philosofy in the realm of movies. The whole thing is about hackers who fight the govorment. In this case it's really cool hackers who fight the govorment, but the main points of the movie are anarchist sentiments.
Not to say any of this is bad, the movie is one of the best i have seen and trying to watch it with a philosofical eye makes it even better. But the fighting scenes are to the Matrix as the fishing was to "The Old Man and the Sea".
Agreed. But it's hard for me to write and try to describe this sort of thing in my review. It's basically saying that the film is a big gooy cake. The fight scenes are the mouth watering topping. That was a really bad metaphor, sorry.
Cousin_IT: would it be to my detriment if I admit that I liked Reloaded as well as the origional (the less said about Revolutions the better)?
Reloaded was good only for the few fight scenes. The highway, the burly brawl and the fight at the start to the tune of furious angels was all cool but it lost all the originality of the first one.
Easykill: I see you have adopted Purps. Don't mind if I start using it then do you, Purps?
It sounds a bit like a puppy name or something. Sure why not.
I agree with the agents comment: Matrix 1 - Humans = Piss weak, Agents = WILL KILL YOU WITH BUT A THOUGHT Matrix 2 - Humans = Don't exist, Agents = School bullies: tough but its not like you can't hurt them Matrix 3 - Humans = Really really don't exist, Agents = Not there
There was no more fear, if an agent popped up it was a mild inconvience in the sequels. It reminded me a lot of Frieza in DBZ in his saga it was "fuck better not piss off the small guy" after that whenever he popped up he was all talk and got his head handed to him.
I don't think the clones really did a good replacement for the emotionless Men in Black
I just don't know where people go wrong with sequels. I guess they scraped the cool factor and ju8st wanted 'bums in seats' action scenes. Sure they're get for selling tickets but history doesn't look back kindly on that kinda stuff.
The movie opens. 00101010001110010... or something that looks similar to that. The screen is flooded with little green symbols and letters that trickle down the screen that Joe Average is to assume is leet computer speak. Two voices are heard exchanging words on this 'one' character and then we are blasted into the Matrix!
The first Matrix movie to my eyes is flawless. A perfect example of story telling that the audience can really dive into. Although it's all in the eye of the beholder. What you could say is dumb fun, I could say is just dumb. You could say that it's boring and long and I could say is artistic and poetic. Different kinds of people love different kinds of things; I am to assume that this is the reason how Scary Movie and Epic Movie actually made any money. I can't say I hate the Executive Producers on those movies but I have as much respect for them as I do for a half naked hooker that's just vomited in the back seat of my car. Getting to my point; to me, The Matrix is the greatest telling of cyberpunk that I have seen and is 136 minutes of perfection.
To the uninformed (and people who are too cool to care) Cyberpunk is generally how the people of yesteryear viewed how the Internet would work. We would have Internet cops who'd jump on their Internet bikes and drive after the Internet baddie who wants to take of the Internet (long awesome Internet sentence)! Now the Matrix is basically the same, just change the word 'Internet' to the word 'Matrix' and change the phrase 'surfing the web' to 'the entire human population of Earth was wiped out and oppressed by robots and are now being used as an energy source for the machines.'
Back to the plot. The audience has just been given a mouth full to take in within the first seconds of the movie. Before they start scratching their heads and fidgeting out of boredom the screen bursts out with action that basically sets the pace for the rest of the movie. Trinity, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, starts pulling off some radical skillz as cops burst into the room. She leaps into the air ready to kick a cop in his dirty pig chest. Moments before the strike the camera spins around her in slow-mo 360 degrees which has been dubbed from now to the end of time as, 'Bullet Time!' So she's punching and kicking and breaking the cops in two, the audience sits in awe (drool and all). Suddenly a government man burst through a door and our awesome Trinity is now reduced to a blubbering little girl.
The thing I favor the first Matrix above the rest of the series was the fear you felt for these 'Agents'. Computer programs used to monitor and keep the Matrix safe. A form of firewall to the virus that is human free thinking if you will. They can dodge bullets and punch through concrete. They are real men and drink VB beer! Yet, while they're pure awesomeness reincarnate, the directors felt a change was needed for the second and have changed them into piss weak men in suits, even though they're apparently 'upgraded'. I guess our human minds will never understand the way machines think.
The rest of the movie is concentrated on Keanu Reeves. A small time hacker who's found the Matrix but doesn't know what it is. There's a small cat and mouse, spy vs spy ploy as both the Agents and the resistance, lead by the charismatic Laurence Fishburne, try to find Keanu Reeves. Apparently he is the 'one' that will bring freedom and rebellion to the Matrix as some Jesus/Gordon Freeman figure. It turns out that he's not, but then he is again and then in the second movie we find out that he's kinda but really not the one and in the third he flies and is beaten up by a bum on a train.
The major thing about this movie is the key fight scenes. Whether it's a gun battle to the tune of Spybreak or an Agent punch up, each fight brings its own unique justice to the film and to the use of bullet time, that from then on has been constantly raped and shat on by big hairy men with lots of money. What other movie can you watch Keanu Reeves dodge bullets in slow-mo as the camera rotates around him 360 degrees without the use of doves (for any screaming John Woo fans out there).
But what gets me is why use Keanu Reeves to play the part of Neo? He doesn't strike me at all of cyber hacker that couldn't get a girl in his life (cause he was dead when he did! Boom-tish). He has and always will remind me of that excellent air-guitar-playing duo in Bill and Ted. Strangely that was his best acting role because it was the only one where he has another character besides Neo. I guess the casting agents thought it was best since he's already had training with the cyberpunk genre in Johnny Mnemonic. Before you say, "That was a great book, I wonder what the films is like?" Don't! Stop. Your brain doesn't need to see that mess. Move along.
Overall, I recommend the movie. It's the pinnacle of cyberpunk and has a deep and rich story. I'm sure everyone's seen it at least five times each but I suggest you watch it just once more. Buy the movie if you haven't already and purchase all the merchandise like the action figures and doorstops. Free your mind to the Matrix... human slaves!
BWAHAHAHAHA... (fade to black)