A good but dated film

Rating: Null/10 (20 December 2001)

It's rare that films today have some underlying philosophical substance to it, and it's nice that the Matrix brought the question of "what is reality" to the table. I think a problem we have today is we never question our beliefs or our decisions. The Matrix brings that question of what is real and what isn't and how do you tell the difference to minds of the 15-30 age group that it appeals to. The acting is pretty good, the story is pretty good but the characters are a little too predictable. The FX are all over the place, with the bullet time FX being amazing and most of the CG of the "real world" looking like crap. The use of light and color is great, the Matrix always has a green tint flat look to everything, which hints at the fact that the world is artificial. A more recent film, Vanilla Sky, also tackles this "what is reality" issue and it does a fantastic job of this. However, it's message would probably be lost to most people in the 15-30 age group and the Matrix brings those same philosphical issues to the minds of people who are more simple minded. The Matrix is pretty close to being a great film, but it is only a mediocre film unforunately due to the fact that it is dated. It is great for it's time but 20 years from now it will seem like "a 90's movie" just like when we watch Teen Wolf or the A-Team. The characters are always wearing sun-glasses and black leather costumes with long black trench coats sporting the "hipper than thou" attitude. The techno and "rock" music found everywhere in the film is also something that traps this film in it's own time. Of course, most kids who have "reviewed" this movie fail to see this aspect because they are into all the trends that the Matrix embraces and they have no concept of recent history. I am somewhat of a fan of anime (Japanese Animation to the layperson) and I admired the Wachowski brothers for using certain styles of anime such as slow motion during action sequences, but in the end those are simply used for cheap visceral thrills. The film is all visceral and very little emotion is seen here other than "whoa" and the wisdom of Morpheus. I will definately see the sequel, The Matrix is better than most movies and I cant wait to see what philosphical subjects the Wachowski brothers will tackle next.