Don't Trust What You See

Rating: Null/10 (20 September 1999)

"The Matrix" is the kind of movie that really shouldn't be taken too seriously, I think. Either that, or it's not being taken seriously enough. If you wanted to get all supernatural and philosophical about "The Matrix," you could. I just wouldn't recommend it too much.
The movie itself is one of the finest sci-fi/action films I've ever seen, if only because of how much it wracks your mind. The special effects are simply out of this (and probably any other) world. Half of the time, you're not quite sure what you're really seeing, and you're not sure if you even want to be, for that matter. The special effects are so good, in fact, that I can't at the moment think of any other film with any quite as good. I really don't have a clue as to how any of them were done. All I am sure of is that the Wachowski Brothers must have had a lot of fun playing tricks on the audience, and they do one heck of a job on it as well.
The story itself is great too, and very well acted, particularly by Keanu Reeves (Neo) and Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus). Their characters are three-dimensional in that they are sci-fi "heros" with feelings, emotions, and believable personalities. I say "feelings" and "emotions" with caution, because this is surely not a mushy film whatsoever. This is the type of storyline where everything (eventually) makes sense, where things fall into place without being contrived, and the end result is actually quite believable and convincing.
After I stepped out of the theater in which I saw "The Matrix," I looked around myself. The result was similar to "The Truman Show" in that I suddenly started to wonder what was real. The feeling passed, of course, and I began to see "The Matrix" as simply a great sci-fi/action film. Still, that's bad at all, is it?
***1/2 out of ****.