the best

Rating: Null/10 (10 March 2004)

"The Matrix" is a science fiction thriller full of tension, excitement and intelligence.The film centres around Thomas Anderson(Keanu Reeves),who is leading a double life.During the day he is a hard working computer programmer.But at night he is a computer hacker named Neo. One day he is contacted on his computer by Morpheus, who is fighting to liberate humans from the Matrix. Neo decides to join them.
There are two realities, one consists in everyday life and the another reality is behind this.One is like a dream and the second is the Matrix. Desperately, Neo is looking for the truth about the Matrix.It is something that he heard just among whispers, something mysterious and unknown, something which has an unbelievable and sinister power upon his life.What is the Matrix? Neo thinks that Morpheus-a person who Neo knows only trough legend-is a figure considered to be the most dangerous living man,and only Morpheus could give the answer.Neo hurtles after the truth.
One famous phrase:"we can´t say what is the Matrix, you have to see this".It is a good point to start the story with mystery, as if it was something which shouldn´t be told.It creates in us the necesity to understand "reality", but it remains open-ended and we need more; this first part of the Matrix is quite"easy",I mean that the danger and the action is less developed than in the other two parts.But it is just because we need a background;otherwise it would be impossible to understand the story without this first part.
Here Morpheus explains what the Matrix is:"Do you want to know what the Matrix is?The Matrix is everywhere, it is all around us, even now in this room.You can see it when you look out of your window, or when you turn on the television.You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes.It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth...you are a slave,Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell,or taste or touch".
Throughtout the film we learn more and more about the Matrix. It creates an artificial form of life-a computer generated dreamworld built by machines to control human minds;like a huge video game with the human characters in the game. The machines have also created agents to find any free thinking humans.These agents,called sentient agents, are trying to find Morpheus and Neo to kill them.A desperate race against time to save the world from ultimate destruction.
The subject of "the journey" to find the truth is quite present. This theme is old and the journey is considered a self-searchig of the main character, who returns wiser and stronger. We fin this theme in literature as in "Beowulf" and there are other films based on this idea like"The Lord of the rings".
The special effects in this film are some of the best to date,and it deservedly won the Oscar.Many people believed that in should have also won Best Picture.But a science-fiction film has never won this award, which perhaps shows that the Oscar Academy Board is still filled with people who are a little behind the times!
The film touches on many interesting philosophical questions:do we exist? How do we know we exist? Is what we perceive real? How can we know this? In one scene Neo receives a lesson on human perception and reality from a child. It takes place while Neo is waiting for an interview.The child is in deep concentration, using his own mind to bend spoons.He tells Neo:"Do not try and bend the spoon. That is impossible.Instead, only try to realise the truth. What truth?There is no spoon. Then, you will see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself".
In another provocative scene, Neo has a "deja vu": a black cat passes in front of him and arches its back,then another identical cat does exactly the same thing. Morpheus explains that deja vu is really a glitch in the Matrix. Then, what is real?. The end is open, a second part is necesary, and then a third part.
The film has all the physical energy of an action film: shoot-outs, hand-to-hand fighting, and acrobatic stunts.This is complemented by imaginative visual work that includes the use of shadows, slow motion and quick cuts.But the film does not rely on the special effects alone.As well as a lot of computer generated effects, the film also has a human side with a lot of romance and humour.In effect, this film has a wide appeal for all types of movie fans.
It could be treated just as a fairy tale or it could be considered a critique of this change in our world of machines,where we forgot to enjoy.Machines became more important and the idea of Matrix-a machine- controlling us is not a crazy idea, we are depending on them too.But, can a machine control us?