Great Idea, Poor Execution... equals entertaining movie

Rating: 8/10 (14 April 1999)

I had first seen the previews of The Matrix in the theatres and I have to admit they intrigued me because of the stunning effects. However I wasn't going to spend ticket money on a film with Keanu Reeves. Then some friends of mine who I respect told me that it was actually worth the money and was a really good movie.
With this in mind I went to see the movie and immediately noticed the directors and writers (their brothers) were smart to keep Keanu's dialogue to a minimum. I also was even more stunned by the special effects. The lighting was very reminiscent of "The Crow" (the first) and "Dark City", both movies noted for their effects. Laurence Fishburne gives an excellent performance and the casting was done well. However, Keanu Reeves as the protagonist actually was a pretty good choice because he plays a very good dark hero. Though I would have loved to see Brandon Lee play the main part.
The Matrix was described to me as reminiscent of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, and if anyone has read this cannon of philosophy it becomes clear that the movie is almost a direct modernization. However, it seems that the movie could have easily been 20-30 minutes longer. About half the movie takes place within the Matrix and the other half in the "real world". But,the movie fails to add any depth to either of these two worlds. Some more time spent on analyzing how Keanu Reeve's character interacted within the Matrix would have been very helpful and interesting. Instead the movie begins with him already "feeling" something is wrong with the world around him, but shows not a single reason why this would be true. I would like to think the writer's did this to minimize Keanu's dialogue and role in the movie. Added to the thin development was the corny fight scenes. The actual strikes and blows were very well choreographed but there were some very ridiculous posing which made most of them laughable. If that was the goal of the fight scenes (which I don't think it was) then I can't understand why they were done that way. The entire theatre couldn't help but snicker seeing Keanu do Martial Arts pose seemingly for no reason whatsoever.
To sum up, I think the movie bought up some very interesting questions about reality and our perception of it. However the two very interesting worlds that were created were not developed enough to satisfy my interest in either. I came to the site and was appalled to see it ranked #20 on the top 250 list because of these shortcomings. I gave it a 6 out of 10 and would recommend it to a friend as an entertaining action flick that would not blow them away.