Credit where it's due

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2008)

You've got to hand it (well, some of it) to The Matrix.
The concept is great. That concept is translated into a decent screen adaptation. The film has a wholly original (and much copied) look to it. The action sequences are generally well choreographed, if a bit over-reliant on slow motion. The effects are simply brilliant and, in places, groundbreaking (there aren't many films which add something 100% new to the filmmaker's bag of tricks, but The Matrix is one of them). The principals mostly deliver excellent performances, and Keanu looks cool, as he is meant to.
But there is a distinct element of The Emperor's New Clothes at work here. It's very evident in some of the fanboy gushing, and I suspect that the Emperor's tailors also believed that they had sewed a suit of clothes which was a lot more visible than it actually was. Apologies, I'm disappearing up my own metaphor here.
I think The Matrix thinks it is very much cleverer than it actually is. There's no denying that it's a good yarn, told with a distinctive style and a great deal of panache, but that's all it is. Yet you'd think it was the 5th Gospel to listen to what some have to say.
I accept it, with thanks, as a good movie.
The sequels? Er...