Pushing the visual and FX envelope!

Rating: 10/10 (20 April 1999)

I would LOVE to address some of the negative critiques, but I think some people look too hard for faults. This movie not only met, but exceeded my expectations for many reasons too numerous to list here. The visuals were stunning and the FX cutting edge. After seeing the Wachowski brother's "Bound" (another visually beautiful film), I see why they used the same cinematographer to lens this movie. Their use of "bullet-time" photography and virtual camera panning (freeze framing mixed with live action) was done superbly. Yes, I know we've seen this done recently for for numerous television commercials (e.g., the Gap commercial mentioned by another reviewer here also), but never with such technical precision and poetic imagery. "Poetic" you say? Just as Sam Peckinpah was the first to show us artistic violence with his slo-mo scenes in "The Wild Bunch", Larry and Andy Wachowski have utilized new technology to go the next step (the helicopter-machine-gun-rain-of-bullets scene was dazzling!). The opening sequence with Trinity running from the Agents, leaping from the rooftop, then diving through a window in the adjoining building, tumbling down the stairs and landing face up, guns drawn, made my jaw drop. And to top it off, she picked the smallest window! I didn't find the story line overly complex or convoluted, as I've read so many have. I mean, how do you present the concepts of virtual vs. real, dream vs. waking, or parallel universes in an easily explained manner. Did everyone totally understand the parallel time lines and co-existence of past, present and future from the "Back to the Future" trilogy. I don't think so! The Matrix had story line flaws, yes. For instance, why didn't Morpheus get hit by a stray bullet as Neo was spraying a deluge of machine gun fire in the Agents office? Why wasn't Neo running away from the agents in super-fast motion instead of normal speed? Hey, maybe he was tired! He did take quite a beating. The movie left me satiated but longing for more. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see a little more of Neo utilizing his "oneness" power once he realized it. Think of the possibilities!
I LOVED this movie and, no matter what anyone says, Trinity's "dodge this' line cracked me up!