Good? Yes. Groundbreaking? Not really.

Rating: 6/10 (29 November 2014)

15 years ago, back in the 20th century, the first of so far three Matrix films was released. It runs for roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes and was directed by the Wachowski brothers Andy and Lana (still Larry back then). The film stars Keanu Reeves with supporting performances by Carrie Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving.
I cannot say I didn't enjoy this film as I really liked it to some extent, but I was not wowed either, maybe because science fiction is not exactly my favorite genre. My biggest problem was possibly Reeves in the lead role. I just fail to see him as a guy who brings the necessary toughness for his character here and in any other action movie. All this praise about him being the chosen one made me cringe occasionally. The dialogs about him being so grand were sometimes downright cheesy and same goes for the explosions coming with the final kiss between Reeves' and Moss' characters. Another criticism I had was the Oracle being wrong. She was presented as a know-it-all authority and in the end her prediction is simply disregarded with the explanation, Neo has to find his way and then he is the chosen one if he chooses to be. Oh and the song during the closing credits did not match my taste at all.
What I did like about the film were basically all the supporting players, especially Fishburne and Moss also. The helper-turned-villain was creepy in his big scene and Weaving was a revelation. His antagonist really makes the film and the film was at its best during the scenes he was in. The camera shot with Weaving before the subway train runs over him was certainly the best shot of the movie, maybe the whole trilogy. His parallel on humans being the real virus of the planet makes you wonder too if he is maybe right. Other than that, I liked the pill reference from "Alice in Wonderland" early on and the green code on black ground is certainly memorable and immediately associated with this film.
Finally, I would like to say that I recommend this movie, especially to sci-fi lovers although they probably have seen it already anyway. It is not a film I really want to rewatch anytime soon, but it starts okay and gets better during the second half. I don't think the second and third Matrix films are much worse, but that is maybe because I don't consider the first a masterpiece. All three are solid. "The Matrix" won four technical Academy Awards, all four categories where it was nominated. It's no "Return of the King", but still an admirable achievement.