A roller coaster thrill ride...

Rating: 5/10 (26 September 1999)

What is the Matrix?
"The Matrix" is a movie that is not a movie. It is a special effect and an action showcase extravaganza of splintered, all-be-it cool, scenes of martial arts, chases and digital effects. In short, it's a roller coaster. All I truly needed to make this movie a ride was a hydraulic roller coaster simulator in my couch.
Unfortunately as a movie, "The Matrix" falls apart. The script is plagued by cheesy one-liners ("Kansas is going bye-bye"? Puh-leeze!), plot discontinuity (such as why didn't the bad guys use powers they use later in the film at the very beginning of the movie which easily could have caught Trinity? The plot has quite a few big holes, but no plot spoilers here...) and a severe lack of characterization (as in, non-existent). The actors are miscast, especially the villains, who while look the part, deliver lines as if they were constipated monkeys. The directing, besides having the actors refrain from doing any acting, is basically sound, although they over did it on the slow motion a bit. The plot is supposed to be centered on Neo, a hacker trying to find out what is dream and what is reality. However, the character doesn't even practically exist. We have no back-story on him and no reason for his exploits except for the shallow explanation that he "feels something that's not right with the world." Except in the movie, Neo doesn't appear to feel anything. He seems nothing like the insomniac hacker risking all to search for the meaning of life that he's supposed to be.
The sad part of it all is this thrill ride had so much potential as a movie. The ideas behind its premise are well thought out, and had the Wachowski bros. bothered taken the time, "The Matrix" could have pushed the bounds between fantasy and reality, man and machine, future and past. Instead, with its poorly written script, miscast actors who ruin any dialogue that actually had potential, and complete lack of characterization, this movie is good only for its special effects.