Good idea, some great execution, but fizzles

Rating: Null/10 (20 October 1999)

The Matrix took a great idea, set it up in a very involving manner, then collapsed at the end by seeming to forget everything it had set up and devolving into a plain old shoot out.
I'm not a K. Reeves fan, but he was fine here because he didn't need to act (I don't think he has really acted since "Bill & Ted"). His supporting cast was better, if underused (we never got to know Mouse or a handful of the other members of the resistance band).
It was the concept that shined and hooked the viewer immediately.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The idea that we live in an illusion set up by a "master race" artificial intelligence that uses human bodies in stasis as battery power was horrifying and well presented. The mythology of a prophesied "chosen one" was a bit shallow; no time was spent explaining how and when this prophesy came to be, or even how long this resistance had been around looking for The One.
That made the repeated references to whether Reeves' character was The One annoying, because it was hard to tell why anyone would think he was, and what exactly made him The One to begin with (that is finally explained in a couple of lines in the latter third of the movie).
Many people have written about the visual effects in The Matrix, so I won't other than to say they were outstanding. Even better was the fact that the effects had a point; they showed how a person in the simulated world could use his/her awareness of the simulation to alter the supposed "reality." And altering the simulated reality could mean life or death.
For the first hour to 75 minutes of The Matrix, I was drawn in and at times mesmerized. Then the bottom fell out.
For reasons I thought were unclear, when it came time to rescue the leader of the resistance, Reeves and a fellow rebel choose to storm the enemy citadel and basically "blow stuff up." Two people take on a small army of guards and somehow, inexplicably, and with vitually no strategy or stealth, manage to blast their way through to the imprisoned leader. For a movie that took great pains to show us the virtual simulation and how it could be manipulated by those with the ability, abandoning that tack for a plain old blow-em-up was patronizing and insulting. Sure, perhaps the twosome managed to dodge a few bullets through their VR tricks, but not the thousands of rounds sent their way by multiple guards. Why take the chance that you won't get through? Because you are The One and can't be stopped? Please. Then why not just saunter through unarmed?
It would have made a lot more sense, and would have been much more satisfying, if the duo had come up with some special maneuvers to use their awareness of the VR to their advantage.
The climactic battle between Reeves and the computer's agents was similar. It did make use of a special talent The One had, but otherwise, it was like a kung fu movie. Very disappointing. An analogy would be watching a terrific play on Broadway that, in the last act, suddenly became vaudeville.
It's too bad the movie went in that direction. Its impact would have been much greater had it continued on the path on which it started.