A nearly perfect thinking-man's action film

Rating: 9/10 (15 June 2005)

In my review of the third installment of this trilogy, I wrote:
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"For those of us that went to see THE MATRIX in the theater, what we saw was a thinking-man's action-adventure film. The special effects were there to propel the plot and to emphasize the film's underlying questions on the nature of reality, the nature of humanity and the power of the mind over the body. The film was a self-contained story -- beginning, middle and end -- and it told its tale very well, with style grace and power.
The potential in a trilogy based upon this stellar beginning was great. Sort of like those of us that watched STAR WARS about the 10th time and suddenly there was the words "Episode IV" at the beginning subtly telling us that there was a lot more of this great film to come."
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I stand by that conclusion: this is a nearly perfect thinking-man's action adventure film. Note: I say _nearly_ perfect. The film has its flaws (not the least of which is centered in the film's very premise -- man would make an absolutely terrible source of energy.
But in all, the film (when taken as a whole) is a great stand-alone science-fiction adventure, as well as an awesome start to what should have been the greatest sci-fi trilogy in film history... if only the last film could have been made with the same attention and care -- rather than feeling slapped on with duct tape.
In all, I highly recommend this movie -- and I highly recommend ignoring the fact that their are two more that follow it. This one stands alone quite well.