15 years later The Matrix's still shows strong.

Rating: 10/10 (22 June 2014)

With another Wachowski brothers movie on the horizon, I thought it appropriate to go back and review their first ambitious offering. For a movie that was produced in early 1999, everything about the movie still feels new. Of course some of the tech has changed over the past 15 years but it's not a hard stretch to picture that this movie takes place in today's world. The movie challenges the viewer with questions we have all asked ourselves, What would I do to preserve or gain freedom? , Is reality real? and Do I control my future or is it already decided for me by fate? The theme the Wachowski brothers present in the movie is one of basic human needs, one all humans can relate to, freedom and freewill. This theme is presented early as we discover Thomas Anderson, played by Keanu Reeves, is leading a double life. One where in the day time he is working for a successful software company as a developer and at night he is known as the underground hacker Neo. For those that know, working a 9 to 5 job is necessary but sometimes feels like a prison. I believe this is why the alter ego of Neo personifies the act of expressing freedom. By actively defying the man, Neo shows that there is something missing in his existence that he is trying to fill. This is where Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburne, comes into the picture. He offers Neo a chance to find out what true freedom is by offering a way out of his normal routine with a simple choice, red pill or blue pill. Neo chooses to "go down the rabbit hole" and this is where he and the viewer discovers that the reality presented previous to this moments was all a simulation known as the Matrix that robots had created to simulate actual existence in order to keep the humans complacent as a power source. Once Neo is ejected from the Matrix he learns that the real reality is one that is bleak. The world has all but been destroyed in a human versus robot war that lead to the near extinction of the human race and the near destruction of earth. He is presented with a reality were humans are not the dominate species, but one that live a life of fear and seclusion. This motif paints a desolate picture and makes the viewer and Neo question wither it was the right decision to leave the Matrix. This plays well into the threat to the real reality, as among them, Cypher, played by Joe Pantoliano, does not think the "real" reality was the right choice at all and would do anything to "be ignorant" once again. Once we learn of the Matrix, the Wachowski brothers use some interesting techniques in their filming to highlight the hyper-reality of the matrix. They accomplish this in many of the action scenes of the movie by using the slow motion effect to emphasize the speed at which the humans that are jacked into the matrix can move. One scene in particular is where Neo successfully avoids being shot by moving out of the way of bullets as they are hurling towards him. The main conflict in the story is between the machines and the humans. The machine want to extinguish any remaining human resistance so they can continue to use the human as a power source unchallenged. They do this in the real world by deploying very aggressive, seek and destroy tactics executed by Sentinel robots. Likewise in the matrix there are regulator programs know as "Agents" that are actively policing any anomalies like foreign minds in the system. These oppressive concepts tie right back into the main them of freedom and freewill, the one thing the humans are seeking for themselves and all of the other humans trapped in the matrix. The key component in this conflict is Neo. He is recognized as "The One" that can over through the system, however it is not always clear if he is the actual One or not. There is a scene shortly after Neo exits the matrix where he is taken to see a prophet known as The Oracle, played by Gloria Foster. In his meeting with the Oracle she tells Neo that he is in fact not the one and challenges him with a life or death scenario. This is where the theme of freewill versus fate come into the balance as Neo struggles with what was revealed to him. As the movie plays out Neo is revealed to truly be "The One" as he chooses to not let Morpheus sacrifice himself based on what was revealed to him by the Oracle. In this act he reveals that he indeed can manipulate the matrix to his own will. However it is not fully revealed until Neo actually dies. In this scene the sound is focused on Trinity's voice, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, as she explains that Neo cannot be dead because the Oracle told her that she would fall in love with "The One". Just at the nick of time as the Sentinels were destroying the human ship, Neo reanimates and now has full control of the Matrix and destroys Agent Smith , played by Hugo Weaving, just before exiting the Matrix in time to destroy the Sentinels with an EMP. The Matrix does a very good job at emphasizing its theme of freedom and freewill. The use of a great story and ground breaking visual effects for its time, really make this movie withstand the test of time and makes it and instant classic. I do not anticipate any time in the foreseeable future that a viewer will not be able to relate to the theme presented in the movie. If history has taught us anything, it's that freedom and freewill will always be front and foremost on the minds of all human beings.