The Matrix Review
by "David N. Butterworth" (dnb AT dca DOT net)July 1st, 1999
THE MATRIX
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 1999 David N. Butterworth
***1/2 (out of ****)
"What is The Matrix? Unfortunately, no one can tell you what it is. You have to see it for yourself."
So preaches a very cool-looking Laurence Fishburne to a befuddled and bewildered computer hacker played by the equally cool-looking Keanu Reeves. That observation serves as an apt commentary on the film itself: it's better to see "The Matrix" than to have someone describe it to you. Since it's my job, however, I'm obligated to try.
Reeves' character (Neo to his online chums) is being "recruited" by this guy Morpheus (Fishburne) who believes Neo to be The One. The One who can save Morpheus' rebel brigade from falling further down the existential rabbit hole, so to speak.
The One? Rabbit holes? The film is packed to the rafters with these kinds of allegorical and literary allusions yet, surprisingly, the end result is a totally original motion picture that grabs you by the throat and doesn't put you down until the end credits. It's all very weird and confusing but it's great looking and moves at such a pace that you won't notice the anomalies in the pre-programmed realities it stirs up.
Morpheus and his "ragtag" band of space pirates (think Ridley Scott's "Alien") are being pursued by Rayban-loving agents who sure look like Feds but speak so slowly and deliberately (e.g., pronouncing the "n" in environment) that you suspect they're not what they appear on the surface. Fortunately the good guys have this neat ability to travel down telephone lines the minute danger threatens, as Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) ably demonstrates in the film's striking opening sequence. Fortunately she knows something about ju-jitsu--and defying gravity--too.
Trinity finally hooks up with Neo and brings him to Morpheus, where the psychobabble gets really heavy.
After choosing a red pill (to learn what The Matrix is) over a blue one ("you wake up in your apartment not knowing whether or not any of this really happened"), Neo is reborn in a creepy futuristic world, immersed cocoon-like in some serious glop, his head shaved and umbilical appendages attached to almost every part of his quivering, naked body.
Next time, Keanu, take the blue pill.
First the Coens, then the Hughes, next the Farrellys, and now the Wachowskis--the latest in a successful line of brother-directors keep this visually stunning sci-fi thriller on the boil for well over two hours, saturating their palette with dark and dingy hues, only rarely allowing anything resembling color to engage the senses. The writing is very smart, if at times overly arch and occasionally bordering on the portentous, but Andy and Larry have dreamed up an exhilarating vision in which reality, it seems, is not what it seems.
What is The Matrix? It's a surreal, icky, post-apocalyptic cyberpunk hacker mind-trip of a movie. And a very good one at that.
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David N. Butterworth
[email protected]
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
