Time: 136 Minutes
Age Rating: Violence
Cast:
Keanu Reeves as Neo
Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus
Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity
Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith
Joe Pantoliano as Cypher
Director: Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski

In the year of 1999, Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is living two lives; by day a computer programmer and by night a computer hacker under the alias of Neo. He is contacted by Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne), a legendary computer hacker who gives Neo the truth of the real world. The real world is a wasteland where most of humanity is imprisoned within an artificial reality known as the Matrix. Neo joins Morpheus in the struggle to overthrow the Matrix.

The Matrix is a film that was absolutely revolutionary when it came out. The world created by the Wachowskis is nothing like anyone has seen before and of course the action scenes are some of the best ever created. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, I won’t spoil too much of it but you really need to check it out as soon as possible. The Matrix is a classic that hasn’t grown old in 15 years, and it looks like it never will.

First of all the world and philosophy of the Matrix is well crafted. Learning about the Matrix can get a bit complicated and may take more than one viewing to get it all because of how complex it is and how many concepts it has. The idea of the world not being quite what it seems has been made many times before but not in this way. The first time I watched it, I didn’t pick up on the metaphors the movie had because I didn’t think it would have any, I just thought it was an action science fiction movie. I watched an video analysis of Fight Club and it had comparisons to the Matrix, particularly the society aspect. With a new perspective I re-watched The Matrix it and I noticed the hidden metaphors that I didn’t see before. This film has many different types of moments, those explaining the world and its philosophy and those being action scenes and both are done really well. One problem I have with this movie is the ending; it was a bit abrupt and could’ve been a bit longer. It wasn’t bad, but I felt that after all the events prior to the ending, the film could’ve afforded to slow down a bit its in concluding.

The roles were played well by Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne Moss, Lawrence Fishburne and the rest of the cast. Hugo Weaving is a stand out performance as Agent Smith, a programme who guards the Matrix. Weaving really plays him as a force to be reckoned with and he is a joy to watch. One of the only flaws I have with this movie is that despite the fact that I can remember them in many scenes, by the end I still don’t feel like I really got to know them that well, however that can be forgiven as the universe of this movie isn’t like most other sci-fi movies.

One thing that is in all of the Matrix movies is the green tint look. There are a lot of times where the movie has quite a green filter in it, mostly when characters are in the Matrix. The film also uses slow-mo very well and it really adds to the action scenes. It wouldn’t be right to talk about the Matrix without talking about the special effects. It is really cool seeing people doing things that they wouldn’t do normally like jump long distances and perhaps most famously – bullet dodging. The camera tricks used for shooting the bullet dodging scenes is also one of the revolutionary things about this movie. The soundtrack composed by Don Davis really adds something to the scenes.

One of the most original and well executed science fiction films of all time, The Matrix deserves to be seen at least once in your lifetime. A complex and interesting world, combined with well filmed action scenes makes it an all time classic that will be remembered for all the years to come.