20 years on from release, some random thoughts on revisiting The Matrix. Spoiler: It's still brilliant.

Rating: 10/10 (22 February 2019)

20 years after its release, and several years since I last saw it, some reflections on the experience of rewatching The Matrix. In no particular order ...
1) It still look great. I mean, this is one amazing, stylish looking phone. Very little about the look of the film has dated - the mobile phones, obviously, Neo's computer, and very briefly a couple of visual effects creak. But otherwise, this looks as amazing at it did on release. It's sumptuous.
2) I think I was one of the many who misjudged Keanu Reeves all those yeas ago. I made easy jokes about his vacant stare and apparent intelligent. From this vantage point we can see he's been in a good number of successful, intelligent films. It's also become clear that within the industry he as a reputation as decent, hardworking man who is a pleasure to work with.
3) It's apparent again how literate and cine-literate the film is. I knew this 20 years ago, but since then I've seen a lot more films and read a lot more books, and this time around I especially loved the way the film nods its head to other film genres and influences. I noticed a lot of Peckinpah, and did I see a nod to Kurosawa there too? And I was reminded that for an English Literature graduate like me, this is a goldmine of quotes, allusions and references.
4) Seen 20 years on, its influence on cinema since is clear. There's a lot we could talk about here, but I was especially struck by how indebted a director like Christopher Nolan is (keeper of the flame of intelligent blockbusters), especially with Inception.
5) I'd forgotten that the narrative ostensibly maintains uncertainty about Neo's identity until just before the end. I'm not sure this really works - anyone who's read many books or ever done an anagram will not find that the most suspenseful part of the narrative.
6) Despite a run time of 2 and a quarter hours, it never flags and attention never wonders. The film fizzes with kinetic energy and the time flies by. It's a lean film, without a wasted moment.
7) The film is, of course, packed with religious allusions. When I wrote a chapter on this for my BA Theology dissertation, I said I thought the film was neo-Bhuddist (forgive the pun, please), and I stand by that on rewatching. Of course, there's lots of allusions to Christian and other theology, and The Matrix spawned some really bad reading of film by Christians which has never really stopped. When will some Christians learn to read a film/book etc with integrity and understanding of what the film is trying to do? It's a spiritually confused mish-mash of a film - but still a gloriously entertaining one.
8) All these years later, it turns out The Matrix was somewhat prophetic about the role technology would play in our lives. Humans permanently plugged in to networks? Different layers of reality that are somehow more real than what we think of as real? The Wachowskis saw all that and more coming 20 years ago. Artists are the weather vane of society; we really should learn to pay attention to them.
9) Bottom line. I still bloody love this film. I'm trying to work out if I have the requisite strength to revisit the sequels....