Misunderstood

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 2001)

While this movie seems to be highly rated on this site, there also seem to be a lot of users slamming this movie. Obviously, the movie is not perfectly realistic. There are logistical problems with how the Matrix would work, the whole concept of Zion is ill-concieved, but I think what the Wachowski brothers were essentially trying to do is transfer a comic book to the screen. If you look at the book on the making of the Matrix, or of some of the storyboards shown on the DVD, you'll understand what I mean. Not to mention the planned anime prequels.
Morpheus is a 2-dimensional wisened mentor of a super-hero, nothing more, nothing less, and Fishburne plays him excellently. Neo was supposed to just be confused a lot, which Keanu can do pretty well. Joe Pantoliano was great as Cypher, and Hugo Weaving was excellent as usual as Agent Smith. All relatively simple, yet well-written and well-played characters.

Carrie-Ann Moss is a pretty bad actress, and she looks like a cadaver. That's really the only flaw in the movie.
The brothers Wachowski very successfully articulate their comic book vision on-screen, and it is a visually stunning film with great effects and well thought out action scenes. The opening of the hotel lobby scene is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
Stop criticizing this movie and take it for what it is, a slightly more serious, less mindless, action-packed sci-fi movie. It's already being imitated throughout Hollywood, but once that clears up in a few years, people will see how original this is.
If Star Wars deserves its spot on the Top 250, then the Matrix definitely does.