The New Face Of The Blockbuster

Rating: 9/10 (1 December 1999)

The Matrix is not a perfect movie. I thought the religious symbolism was a little amateurish and I didn't really buy into the evil robots using humanity as a power source plot. And if Morpeus said "He is the One!" once more I would have walked out of the theatre.
However, despite these flaws The Matrix is easily one of the best action films of recent years. It accomplishes this mainly by style. The Brothers Wachowski live up to the promise of Bound and prove that they see things in an atypical way. Every frame of the Matrix is saturated with their own unique vision and style. This makes the Matrix a good cut above the manufactured and overly processed studio entries over the past few years (from Wild Wild West to the horrible End of Days). Audiences are tired with convention and the success of the Matrix is proof of that.
And, of course, the Matrix features the best kung-fu choreography outside of Hong Kong. The Brothers Wachowski really know how to make a fight scene look good with nice flowing camerawork and numerous long shots. I, for one, like to know what's happening in my action scenes--enough of that rapid editing and those idiotic extreme close-ups!