The first film in years I just *have* to see in the cinema again.

Rating: 10/10 (15 June 1999)

If I had to summarize _The Matrix_ in a single word, it would have to be "Cool". It's slicker than a greased spanner, smoother than ice. In their black leather and PVC gear Keanu Reeves et al. walk around like they own the copyright on cool.
Even if it didn't have a decent plot, it would be worth seeing just for the sheer visual fun of it, but the plot itself is pretty good, too. The whole "power source" theory is nuts and doesn't make much sense, but apart from that it builds from confusion through a series of setbacks into a near-perfect climax that leaves you gagging for more.
The Wachowski brothers lay on the allegory and "intelligence" perhaps a little too thickly (the Alice in Wonderland theme is pushed a tad too hard for my taste), but they have put enough effort into creating a believable and genuinely science-fictional (rather than "sci-fi") world, that the film works on the mind as well as on the viscera.
All in all, it's a cracker. I saw it in a cinema with just old-fashioned stereo sound, and with the bottom half of the picture somewhat blurred, but it still blew me away. It's the first film in years that I absolutely *have* to go back in and see again. And then buy the video....