The Matrix (1999)

Directed by the Wachowskis. Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano, Marcus Chong, Julian Arahanga, Belinda McClory, Matt Doran, Anthony Ray Parker, Gloria Foster, Paul Goddard, Robert Taylor. [R]

Computer programmer/hacker Thomas Anderson (Reeves) has the nagging suspicion that something’s not right with this world. Turns out he and everyone else on the planet are living in a computer simulation known as the Matrix, and the “real world” is a gloomy hellscape that arose from a cataclysmic war between mankind and machines many years earlier—time to free the mind and fight back. The virtual-reality-is-reality concept was not a new one, and the eye-popping CGI effects and physics-bending aesthetics had their antecedents, but the combination and packaging felt fresh, resulting in one of the most influential films of its era (for better or worse). The black-trenchcoats-and-sunglasses fashion statements and clunky tech-heavy apparatus each guaranteed pop culture carbon dating, yet its themes of existential mistrust and rebellion will always be timeless, and its “chosen one” hero myth will be around until the end of time. Has a tendency to think it’s being headier and more profound than it actually is—a misguided belief that is exacerbated exponentially in the sequels—and when it comes to mature emotions and character relationships, it’s as authentic as that steak Joey Pants eats in a key scene (how did no one notice him sneak off on the sly for that?); the love connection between Mister Anderson and jump-kicking babe Trinity (Moss), for example, is only supported by the trope that the attractive leading male and female characters must be romantically involved. Yet the film is no doubt slick, imaginative, and authentically cinematic, where the formality and motion of the visuals supersede logic to deliver more than just a few adrenaline kicks (don’t be surprised if you echo Reeves a few times by muttering, “Whoa”). Weaving looks to be having some oddball-deadpan fun as the “computer-generated” antagonist, and more of that sense of irony would have helped make the heroes’ through-the-looking-glass lectures easier to take, so Yuen Woo-ping’s fight choreography will have to do instead. Oscar winner for Visual Effects, Editing, Sound, and Sound Effects Editing. Followed by an anthology of animated short films (The Animatrix) and three live-action sequels, starting with The Matrix Reloaded.

68/100