Friday, August 20, 2010

The Matrix

Yeah, yeah, I know, I should have really watched The Matrix a long time ago. And I feel like such a bad person for not watching it until now. But if I watched it ages ago like I should have, I probably wouldn't have 'got it'. Even now I haven't got it completely. I see why this is drawing comparisons to Inception: the first time you watch it is simply packed with 'wow', the second time, you will get everything about it.
Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is a man living two lives: a software writer by day and a computer hacker named Neo by night. When Neo is hunted by police, he is contacted by legendary hacker Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and a mysterious woman Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss). They awaken him to reality, and he finds that the world isn't as he once knew it; it has become a wasteland and humans have been captured by machines. They are trapped in an artificial reality known as 'the Matrix'. These three are rebels and choose not to live in the Matrix, and are determined to fight the machines and get rid of the Matrix for good, so things can go back to normal.
To put it simply: this movie blew my mind. Never before have I seen such jaw-dropping visual effects in my life. I mean, I have seen some pretty corny attempts at doing slow-mo gunfights, but this one pulls off many scenes like this with absolute precision and professionalism. And hey, I have always tried to avoid sci-fi movies like the Plague. If only every sci-fi movie was as good as this one. Because most of them have some pretty good ideas, but no idea on how to execute them. This movie succeeds in it's execution.
Performance wise, The Matrix is led by Keanu Reeves, who I know is talentless, but somehow knows how to churn out a good enough performance to carry a character. However, the person who most surprised me was Carrie-Anne Moss, who I will most remember as super-bitch Natalie in Memento. In this she looks almost to unbelievably beautiful to be human, which I guess parallels with her character. However, the performances really aren't the stars here, The Matrix will be remembered first and foremost for it's groundbreaking visuals. I mean, who after watching this doesn't want to dodge bullets or float in mid-air? Yeah, I thought so.
While I do look forward to seeing the second and third films, I do have to say that this film stands perfectly well on it's own. I guess it's just another case of trying to recreate success.

A masterpiece of Sci-Fi with the most amazing special effects I have ever seen.
9/10

1 comment:

You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.

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