Philosophy, the Nintendo way.

Rating: 3/10 (25 July 2000)

This film is easily the most overrated flick of 1999. Okay, it looks stunning and the effects are unbelievably good but the plot and it's sensitivities are on a par with any indistinguishable installment of Star Trek(whatever series). This would not be so bad if this film was purported to be a good action movie (which it is) but it also seems to think it is a valuable and deep statement about the human condition (it is not) and even that would not be so bad if a lot of people didn't think it was. The movie exploits a few fears people share in today's society. Fear of technology (the machines have taken over) Fear of annihilation (the world is a wasteland, physical or emotional) and plain Fear of being Boring (just a cog in the machine, unimaginative,... et al). Just as any average Joe or Joe-ette can for a few hours imagine him or herself to be an invincible starship captain or a bigbreasted, ponytailed woman searching for hidden treasures so the Matrix gives us a picture of how we would like to be, not a simple man or woman trying to get by but someone who can rock even reality itself. Meanwhile all the fans of this film come out of the movie theatre seemingly feeling enlightened in some kind of way and then go home to play the videogame and then go to sleep to be on time for their job the next day. This is simply an escapist film with a waferthin veneer of depth and almost cynically so. In short I have nothing against the film itself but I do object to the fact that it claims to be more than an sci-fi action film. If you think this is a deep film throw away your gamepad and go read a book (preferably not one of the .... for dummies kind).