Great philosophy, not just a thrill ride.

Rating: 10/10 (9 November 2001)

The Matrix is a stunning, fast paced movie with lots of great special effects, high action, and a great soundtrack.
But...is that all it is?
No. It isn't.
When I listen to people talk about this movie, or read reviews by people who don't like it, the main problem they seem to have is the the plot, which they claim is mind-numbing, inaccessible, or just plain dumb. They claim that the reason the movie is so popular is because if the special effects.
Those who make these claims are just a little clueless, and the true art of storytelling is lost on them.
Here's why. Every story that we see on screen, read in a book or on the web has been told before in one fashion or another. "Jurassic Park" is nothing more than a retelling of "Frankenstein" when you get right down to it. What catches our attention is when the story is re-told in such a different light that we like the retelling without really being called back to an earlier version. The "Jurassic Park example can work again for this point. No one sees it as another retelling of "Frankenstein" at all, or at least, they don't dwell on the issue. Shakespeare didn't create any stories....he borrowed from other texts, used other sources, and used words to his advantage. The whole thing involves what is called "intertextuality", a term that I won't go into here, but is what I am trying to explain in the brief example of "Jurassic Park."
Okay, stop yawning.
Now, the Matrix has done the same thing, and what is funny is that very, very few people have recognized the major source of the story ( I wonder if the writers really know ). I have heard that it is supposed to be Christian themed, and while there is some imagery in that respect, like a character named Trinity, Neo's death and rebirth at the end of the movie, the ship's name, etc. etc. etc., the list can go on. But it has nothing to do with the story, which borrows very heavily from a philosophy written by Plato, of all people, back when the years were still labeled as BC.
Plato wrote a philosophy, the actual name escapes me, but I keep hearing it referred to as "The Cave." In this philosophy on the workings of a society, Plato stated that if you were to take four people from the day they were born, tie them to chairs so that their heads cannot move, and place them in the back of a cave where they cannot see the opening, nor have any daylight. They only have contact with each other. Now, on the wall that they are facing, they can see shadows moving, be it a shadow puppet play, or whatever you can imagine, but all they see are those shadows. You leave them in this cave for 20 years. The only life that they know is the chair, and the playing of shadows on the wall. They will not know the shadows are merely shadows, nor will they know the idea of freedom, and they will now know anything of the real world. Then, you release one man, let him wander the world for awhile. He sees that the world isn't just shadows on a wall, etc etc. If you put him back in the cave, he will not view the shadows the same way that he once did. He will also try to enlighten the other three that the images on the wall are only shadows, and that there is a beautiful and colorful world outside their cave. But they will not believe him, and will even begin to see him as a blasphemer, and an enemy.
WHEW!!
That's the basic story in the Matrix. Neo has been removed from the cave, and has seen the real world, and now knows he has been seeing shadows his entire life, and his mission is to make humanity realize that they are seeing shadows as well, but until that time, he will be regarded as an enemy by those still inside the cave. The agents are the keepers of the cave, and the Matrix itself is the shadows that we see. When you see this connection, the story can make more sense to those who can't quite understand it.
And so by blending old, old stories with modern filming techniques and great acting by all involved and fast paced action, there is something to be said about this movie being a work of art, because it truly is.