Review: The Matrix - Page 2
© Elizabeth Burton
The basic premise of this movie - humanity enslaved by the very machines they created to simplify their lives - isn't all that original either. What causes The Matrix to rise above the commonplace is that it presents that premise with the deft subtlety of irony instead of using it as a philosophical bludgeon. For example, when the band of rebels is betrayed by one of their own, he does it because he prefers the comfort of an engineered enslavement to the hardships of fighting for freedom. In other words, he chooses the very path that placed humanity in this position in the first place.
There are plenty other familiar themes, but all are presented with a twist that makes them fresh. Indeed, the essence of why this movie works so well is that it continually teeters on the brink of cliche and never falls in.
As for the much-feared performance by Reeves, it is just right. As the seeker who learns the hard way to "be careful what you wish for," he travels by slow, painful steps from a kind of intellectual and emotional adolescence to the realization that knowledge means not only power, but responsibility. His growth from slacker to hero is in the very best fantasy tradition, and he handles it well. Fishburne is, as always, superb as the dedicated freedom fighter; and Carrie-Ann Moss manages the part of Trinity, the Warrior Princess, with a straightforward practicality that prevents the moment when she tells Neo she loves him from becoming maudlin.
The Brothers W reportedly planned The Matrix as the first part of a trilogy. If the other two parts are as well done as this one, they should arouse almost as much anticipation as did The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Meantime, The Matrix is currently the top-grossing film of 1999. Go find out why.
This one gets the Supernova Award.
The 13th Floor:The latest from the ever-optimistic Roland Emmerich, this is another "computer scientists accidently breech dimensional walls" movie. How good it will be depends on how originally the material is handled. Right now, I'm considering the source and not holding my breath.
Wild Wild West Discussions of this film tend to focus on how to get far enough into suspension of disbelief to accept that Will Smith could wander around the 19th Century West without someone noticing his complexion. Forget all that. Just think of it as an alternate reality, turn off your brain and have some fun.
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