« Entrapment Review | Home | Saving Private Ryan Review »
The Matrix Review
By admin | August 14, 2009
The Matrix Trailer
The Matrix Review
COMMENTS
As one who typically ignores all the hype surrounding new releases of films theatrically, I had no way to really anticipate the treat I was in for when THE MATRIX arrived yesterday.
I wasn’t too sure what to expect. We’ve all seen the scene, played over and over ad nauseum, of Keanu Reeves bending over backwards in slow motion as the camera pans around is body in a seemingly 360 degree arc as bullets ripple through the air, narrowly missing their mark. Quite an effect — but hey, we’ve seen stuff almost that cool in GAP commercials. In fact, it’s very similar to the multiple camera techniques that are used in some of those TV commercials where suspended animation comes into play, but here’s the difference: In short, the Gap commercials use several cameras encircling the actors that take one picture at the same time. A computer is used to smoothly transition between the still images to create the illusion of a camera panning around the stopped action. In THE MATRIX the set up is similar to the Gap commercials.
In THE MATRIX the surrounding cameras take pictures sequentially, so motion is combined with the panning effect. The computer treats these shots like animation cells, thereby capturing action (i.e. motion), which continues in super slo-mo.
The real cool thing about the effect is that one of the special supplements on this disc (click the red pill) reveals in even more detail how they do it. It’s really quite fascinating stuff and involves over 120 still cameras and two video cameras combined with green screens and so forth.
Getting back to the film, however, THE MATRIX, filmed entirely on location in Sydney, Australia is probably the most stylish sci-fi thriller I’ve seen since BLADE RUNNER. Certainly the most engaging of the decade. Sharing some of the brooding, unsettling moods of films like DARK CITY, THE MATRIX takes us to a world we think we know, but in reality, know nothing about at all. Just like ALICE IN WONDERLAND, where all is not what it seems.
In fact, the film itself pays direct homage to the Lewis Carroll classic early in the film. I suspect this is done to help us establish a familiar, emotional connection with our hero and to help us understand the confusion he faces given the various choices he must make in order to return to a stable sense of reality. The blue pill makes you wake up in your bed as if nothing has happened, the red pill takes you further into the depths of the rabbit hole to learn the truth of THE MATRIX. Delve a little deeper into THE MATRIX and clear religious undertones become readily apparent as well.
Written and directed by Chicago brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski — two decidedly un-Hollywood type directors — THE MATRIX breaks new ground with fresh effects never before seen on film, combining them with comic-book style heroes and action sequences inspired by Hong Kong martial arts films to create a new and exciting entry into the new millennium. What a ride.
I’m no big Keanu Reeves fan, but his performance in THE MATRIX won me over. Laurence Fishburne, always a pleasure to see act, renders a commanding and articulate presence with precise diction and timing. Even Joe Pantoliano gets a nice “meaty” role (pun intended) that he can sink his thespian chops into.
The real stand-out however, is Carrie-Anne Moss, who even from her opening scenes, is a delight to watch. Clad in tight black vinyl, she moves with grace and fluidity, and looks fabulous when she runs — especially when it’s up the side of a wall. Exhibiting the same strong athletic stride that Linda Hamilton demonstrated in TERMINATOR 2, Moss, like Hamilton, displays impressive strength without sacrificing her feminine appeal.
At first, the story is a bit difficult to grasp, but as long as you’re paying attention and not getting caught up in the way-cool CGI action, the story reveals itself very nicely as the film unfolds. My synopsis will provide the essence of the story and make it easier to understand if you’re a first time viewer. However, you may want to just skip down to the image and sound quality sections if you want to be able to figure everything out for yourself the first time you watch THE MATRIX. If you’ve never seen THE MATRIX, I’ll try to explain the premise without spoiling any of the real surprises for you.
As a minor aside, this disc marks one of the first, if not the first time that a Warner title defaults to the DVD menu instead of starting the feature after the opening logo. This will make the majority of DVD owners happy, as a BIG Picture poll has shown that this is the preference for most. But the rest of us that make up the second largest group of respondents might be a little disappointed that the feature doesn’t start automatically for us. Ah well, what’s another remote control macro sequence between friends?
THE MATRIX is easily the most original, exciting sci-fi/action film of the year, breaking new ground in special effects and combining all the elements that turn us on as a society: Violence, action, mystery, suspense, love, redemption, salvation—it’s all there. And all witnessed from the safety and comfort of our own living rooms. Better make some popcorn. Lots of it.
THE MATRIX is highly engaging and very entertaining. The only thing missing (and its absence is a glaring omission) is the original theatrical trailer or trailers. The trailer is available only through the CD-ROM connection to Warner’s MATRIX website, which with all due respect (the site is impressive), can’t compare with watching a full-sized trailer on your projector or monitor via your standalone DVD player.
But would this gaffe alone be reason enough to avoid purchasing the disc? Are you crazy?
SYNOPSIS
Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) lives two lives. One as a respectable software programmer for a large company; the other as a rebellious computer hacker known as Neo.
Strange things begin to unfold around Neo as he awakens from a nap at his computer. A message arrives on his monitor that reads “The Matrix has you”. Another instructs him to “follow the white rabbit” to find out what THE MATRIX is. Neo, along with the rest of us, is quite confused at this point.
The eerie thing about all this is that whoever is sending the messages knows precisely what’s going on and around Neo’s apartment. The computer screen reads “knock knock” seconds before there’s a real knock at the door.
A group of Andersons’ friends are at the door, buying some sort of a illegal computer program that he has cooked up for them and they invite the frazzled hacker to come out and party with them. He declines, until he sees the tattoo of a white rabbit on the shoulder of one of the girls in the group.
At a nightclub, Neo is approached by Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), a fellow hacker that Neo had known of but never met in person. Trinity warns Neo that he’s “in danger” and demonstrates great insight into his personality.
Neo is looking for an answer to the question that brought him there: What is THE MATRIX? Neo has sensed that something “wasn’t right” in the world for some time — and has gotten as far has to know that THE MATRIX has something to do with these feelings — and that a man named Morpheus may have the answer. Trinity tells Neo that the answer is out there and he can find it if he wants to.
Soon, Neo is contacted by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) via a cell phone delivered by courier to his cubicle at work. Moments before Neo had been browbeaten by his corporate boss for being late to the office. Morpheus warns Neo that there are men arriving — just coming out of the elevator in fact — who are there to arrest him. The three men oddly resemble one another, dressed in identical suits and sunglasses and are accompanied by the police. Morpheus tries to help Neo escape his pursuers by plotting his every move out of the building, right under their noses. Lacking the nerve to take the final leg of the journey that can ensure his freedom (and we certainly can’t blame him), Neo is arrested by the police and the odd trio and taken downtown.
Interrogated by one of the men who speaks in a strange, clipped delivery, Neo’s captors offer to wipe his slate clean if he will help them bring in Morpheus, a known terrorist (and according to them, the most dangerous man alive) to justice. Neo refuses and soon comes to discover that — to borrow a phrase from another film, resistance is futile. Neo wakes up in his bed with a start. Was the interrogation merely a nightmare?
Neo’s phone rings seconds later, and Morpheus on the other end of the line proclaims that “you are the one” and that if Neo’s captors knew who he really was, Neo would already be dead. Anxious to meet Morpheus to find out the meaning of THE MATRIX, Neo is met under a bridge by Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss) and Switch (Belinda McClory) who drive the apprehensive young man to meet Morpheus after he has been “debugged”.
Morpheus explains the meaning of THE MATRIX as best he can to Neo, but it’s not something that Neo (or the rest of us) can fully comprehend until he actually sees it for himself.
To fully understand the meaning of THE MATRIX, Morpheus offers Neo the choice of two pills. The blue one is most likely a sedative. When he awakes, he’ll be in his own bed with no memory of Morpheus. The red pill will provide Neo the key he needs to unlock the mystery of THE MATRIX. Neo opts for the “red” pill in order to learn the truth, which alters his state of consciousness in a most startling and frightening way.
Neo gets his first slimy taste of the “real” world …and it doesn’t taste too good. Neo comes to understand that the entire human race is enslaved by machines with artificial intelligence that have taken over the planet, except for one small place where humans are still being born free and working to devise a way to destroy the machines.
It seems that during the great battle of man against machine just after the new millennium, man sought to conquer the machines by nuking the earth to block out the sunlight with clouds and debris, thereby killing the power to the machines that needed the solar power of the sun for energy.
For years, man had depended on machines for survival — and in a great irony, the machines found that man could now sustain their survival — as living batteries.
The machines figured out that the human body itself generates a great deal of power through bio electricity and body heat. Combined with fusion, the machines could continue to operate on human-generated power.
The machines began to “grow” human beings, who were harvested for a life of enslavement in life-sustaining, energy-harnessing pods. The pods contain a goopy liquid, which keep its human cargo in a state of suspended animation from birth to death. The humans are “wired-in” with no means of escape, living in a sleep-like state, monitored and manipulated by the machines.
THE MATRIX is an artificial world of consciousness created to keep the humans thriving and “under control” — by leading them to believe that they are leading “normal” lives. THE MATRIX was patterned after human civilization in 1999 — a time when the human race was at its’ peak, just prior to the discovery of the artificial intelligence that would prove to be mankind’s downfall.
When someone “dies” in the make-believe world of THE MATRIX, their bodies can no longer survive in their pods. When the mind dies, the body dies. The bodies are then liquefied in the real world and fed intravenously to other humans in their pods. Shades of SOYLENT GREEN.
Neo, in shock and disbelief, refuses to believe it until Morpheus further explains that years prior, there was one man who was able to alter THE MATRIX with his own will. He could actually change THE MATRIX and it was he who freed Morpheus and a handful of other humans from their preordained bondage. When this man died, the “Oracle” (another human still living in THE MATRIX who has the gift of clairvoyance) predicted that this man would one day be reborn and bring about the destruction of THE MATRIX, freeing the human race.
Neo is thought to be this “second coming” and undergoes training for his destiny, while the strange men in THE MATRIX with suits and sunglasses — the “agents” (actually part of the artificial intelligence that keeps order in THE MATRIX), continue their pursuit of Morpheus and his disciples to retain control.
Just as Jesus Christ had Judas, one of the free humans under the leadership of Morpheus becomes disillusioned with his promises and belief in “the one” and cuts a deal with the agents in order to lead a more comfortable life in THE MATRIX. It seems that this fellow enjoys the finer things in life — even if they aren’t real — and he’s sick and tired of eating the only gruel that’s available for consumption in the real world. He’d rather live in THE MATRIX and eat artificial steak, cooked to perfection every time…
Punctuated with awesome action sequences and searing sound, Morpheus, Neo, Trinity and others in their group travel back and forth into THE MATRIX in an attempt to bring about its destruction, while trying to protect themselves from certain death at the hands of the seemingly invincible “agents” who are now aided by the human traitor.
When Neo finally meets the “Oracle” in THE MATRIX, he learns that he may not be “the one” after all, which complicates matters when Morpheus is apprehended by the agents who will kill him once they obtain information needed to destroy the rebellion.
IMAGE
The Wachowski brothers remind us that we’re in an altered state of reality at all times. The world of THE MATRIX takes on a sallow, yellowish tone that is pervasive througout most of the movie. At other times, a bluish cast is used to reflect hopelessness or isolation. The overall tone of the film is quite dark and as this was the intention of the filmmakers, we won’t deduct any points for the DVD transfer. Be advised, though — this film will put your display device to the test. Image clarity is very good throughout in this fine anamorphic transfer. Black is deep and solid with good shadow detail. Colors are somwhat muted, but again, this is consistent with the way the film was created. While the image quality of THE MATRIX is not the most crisp we have ever seen on DVD, and the lower key lighting is at times a bit fatiguing, it’s still good enough to score our top marks.
SOUND
The soundtrack for THE MATRIX is in a word, awesome. And VERY loud. The score by Don Davis is total contemporary and riveting, with deep, resonant riffs puctuated by screaming guitars and drum cracks that were pushing our speakers to their limits and rattling pictures on the wall. The split surrounds are used aggressively throughout the film to great effect, especially during the many gun battles. I recall that the soundtrack of THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS really added a lot to that film and THE MATRIX is greatly enhanced by this one. The only minor complaint was that on occasion, like during the scene with Trinity and Neo early in the film at the nightclub, dialogue is sometimes buried in the music. That’s not a fair complaint, really, because if you’ve ever been in a club, you know how loud it can be, even if the person you’re speaking to is a foot from your face. Cranking up the center channel a tad might be in order when you watch THE MATRIX. I’d also like to point out that the sound editor really did his homework in terms of creating ambient effects, even to spoken voices that perfectly matched the scenes. The sound should be nominated for an Adademy Award. It’s that good.
FEATURES
Scene access to 38 chapters
HBO’s 25-minute documentary MAKING THE MATRIX
Feature-length commentary with Carrie-Anne Moss, Editor Zach Staenberg and Special Effects Supervisor John Gaeta
Isolated music score with commentary by Don Davis
Follow the White Rabbit - Alternate, behind-the-scenes angles
“Take the Red Pill” for a 5 minute Special Effects Documentary
DVD-ROM Enhancements include the original theatrical website (as of June, ‘99) permantently stored on the disc, including stills and web links; a theatrical trailer sample featuring other “futureworlds” like DEMOLITION MAN, MAD MAX BEYOND THE THUNDERDOME, OUTLAND, THE ROAD WARRIOR and SOLDIER.
“The One” trivia game. Are you really “the one”?
Screenplay, story boards
Direct jumps to favorite Kung Fu action sequences.