A must-see among genre fans, especially guys in their teens and 20s, for whom the script's pretentious mumbo-jumbo of undergraduate mythology, religious mysticism and technobabble could even be a plus rather than a dramatic liability.
The Matrix (1999)
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Reviews Counted:28
Fresh:19
Rotten:9
Average Rating:6.1/10
Consensus: An ingenious combination of Hong Kong action, ground-breaking Hollywood FX, and an imaginative vision.
Runtime: 6 hrs 43 mins
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Synopsis:
There are two realities: one that consists of the life we live every day - and one that lies behind it.
One is a dream. The other is The Matrix.
"Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you...
There are two realities: one that consists of the life we live every day - and one that lies behind it.
One is a dream. The other is The Matrix.
"Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream, Neo? How would you know the difterence between the dream world and the real world?"
Neo (KEANU REEVES) is desperately seeking the truth about The Matrix - something he's heard of only in whispers - something mysterious and unknown - something, Neo is certain, that has unimaginable and sinister control over his life.
What is The Matnx?
Neo believes that Morpheus (LAURENCE FISHBURNE), a person he knows only through legend, an elusive figure considered to be the most dangerous man alive, can give him the answer.
All I am offering is the Truth.
One night, Neo is contacted by Trinity (CARRIE-ANNE MOSS), a beautiful stranger who leads him into another world, an underworld where at last he meets Morpheus and learns for himself the truth about The Matrix.
No one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.
There, Neo faces another question, as startling as the first:
Is he The One?
Before he even understands what that means, Neo is certain the answer is "no." Some, like Morpheus' colleague Cypher (JOE PANTOLIANO), agree. Others are not so sure.
There are also those who protect The Matrix. Led by the relentless and literally indomitable Agent Smith (HUGO WEAVING), they have methods of gathering information that astound and terrify.
What good is a phone call if you are unable to speak?
Neo, Morpheus and Trinity must battle brutally for their lives against this viciously powerful cadre to find the answers they seek, to understand their own roles in the epic drama unfolding around them, to learn their true power and to recognize their destinies.
Guns. Lots of guns.
Every move, every second, every thought is crucial if they are to free themselves from The Matrix and the existence it represents.
Free your mind.
Every move, every second, every thought is crucial once Neo learns the truth about The Matrix.
It is a truth that could cost Neo something more precious than his life.
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano, Gloria Foster, Marcus Chong, Anthony Ray Parker, Belinda McClory, Julian Arahanga, Matt Doran
Director: Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski
Director: Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski
Screenwriter: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
Producer: Joel Silver
Composer: Don Davis
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Reviews for The Matrix
There's not much humor to keep it all life-size, and by the final stretch it's become bloated, mechanical, and tiresome.
For those who have been waiting for movies to catch up with the graphic possibilities of comic books, wait no longer: The Matrix is among us.
The Matrix soars with its feet in the air -- the rest crash-lands.
It may bore you to death or blow your mind -- and it's long and convoluted enough to do both -- but it holds nothing back!
The Matrix flings around enough imaginative ideas and digitized bodies to make it a definite check-out-this-one for all science-fiction fans.
It's astonishing that so much money, talent, technical expertise and visual imagination can be put in the service of something so stupid.
The Matrix is mainly also an exercise in outrageous style over substance featuring flowing trenchcoats, sunglasses at night, and LOTS of guns.
The movie is kinetic, atmospheric, visually stunning, and mind-bending.
The most salient things any prospective viewer need know is that Keanu Reeves makes a strikingly chic Prada model of an action hero.
A blast of Holly-Kong glitz that never approaches the stylistic cohesiveness of, say, John Woo's Face/Off or the charisma of that film's propulsive star John Travolta.
Special kudos to the mysterious Wachowski tag team, who have created a lurid, splashy nightmare for the end of the millennium.
The only things energetic about The Matrix are its special effects.
Given a budget that encourages their kinesthetic skills, the filmmakers tend to go on a bit, but it's mostly a kind of quick, glancing hipness that's being indulged here.
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