Wow, too bad I have only 1,000 words to use...

Rating: 9/10 (17 June 2002)

I realize that I'm going to take a lot of heat for saying this, but it needs to be said; I really, really liked The Matrix, and I think it's quite possibly PERFECT. The story was original, the special effects were great, and for the first time I can remember, Keanu wasn't annoying.

Keanu Reeves is Neo, a software technician/hacker. He feels something is wrong with the world, but can't put a finger on it. When he meets the mythical Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) he realizes that the life he is leading isn't real. It's all just a game inside the Matrix. I don't want to give away too much, but it's safe to say, nothing is what it seems in the Matrix.
Let's start with Keanu. Personally I think he's one of the most annoying actors I've ever seen. As a person I like him, he seems nice enough in interviews and the rest, but as an actor I think he's horrible. But here, he doesn't have to speak much, and when he does, it's full of wonderment and amazement, which is what he does best. He's mainly there to be a pretty face and an action hero, and I think he pulls it off. Carrie Ann Moss is the female of the film. If memory serves, she was in the ill-fated tv show, Models Inc. She's come a long way since then. She handles herself well in the middle of all this testosterone. And Fishburne is cool as always. He wears these very cool shades and just has an aura about him. The rest of the cast, lead by bad guy Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith does very well also. The story line was actually well built. At first I was afraid this would be another one of those sci-fi films that looked good but didn't make any sense (on a side note, am I the only person who didn't like Blade Runner?). But here, the story starts off hard to follow, but it makes itself understandable without making it obvious. The special effects were very cool. You've seen a lot of them in previews and commercials, but they look even better in context. Some of the battle scenes were amazing. And the look of the film was done well. The world looked normal, but you could see that something just wasn't right. The audience figured things out the same time Neo did, which made it more interesting. The soundtrack was also good and loud. Any movie that puts Rob Zombie into their soundtrack is tops in my book.
So while I realize that the grade I gave may be out of whack for true sci-fi flicks, I really enjoyed The Matrix. I really didn't find much I didn't like about it. There are several, and I mean several, mistakes such as visible equipment and crew, and continuous errors, but upon first and even second viewing they really weren't noticeable. Anyway, this was a very good, cool movie, so watch it.