The Matrix Review
by Joe Viglione (vra AT webtv DOT net)April 6th, 1999
Written & Directed by Larry & Andy Wachowski
The cinematography is stunning! At the beginning of the film at the discotech, Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are face to face...the camera closes in on Keanu with a blue light throbbing in the background...that sets the tone for the rest of the film. For two and a half hours we get breathtaking shots and bleak gloom and doom, it is quite a contrast.
A friend noted how there was much dialogue and less action for the first portion of the film (Kevin Maynard's review on Mr. Showbiz pointed out Keanu has limited dialogue...interesting... hey, how many words did Arnold Terminator speak in the first movie? 64???)...
Laurence Fishburne's Morpheus is quite good. At first he seems evil - would you trust him? Then he becomes the teacher - "morphing" Keanu's character to this next level of development.
Hermetic Philosophy, Star Wars, Bruce Lee, ahh...but the real twist is how this film is in reality a combination of Total Recall and Terminator 1 and 2. That is the key which makes this work on many levels.
Where so much science fiction is derivative in a bad way, watering down what came before (how many bad Star Wars clones will emerge in July and August after Chapter 1 gets unleashed?) ..The Matrix is a clever script, solid acting (Joe Pantoliano's best role...you won't recognize him for awhile)...this movie gets you thinking.
The Oracle is the other side of Yoda. Her "students" are thought provokers, and through it all, one wonders if The Matrix isn't really Morpheus (a combination of Morphing and Orpheus), and The Oracle playing mind games to help an individual get to their next level of existence.
In other words, Keanu Reeves isn't only "The One", anyone walking the path is a candidate. Anyone.
c1999 Visual Radio Reviews
joe viglione
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