FANTASTIC! .... FOR PHILOSOPHY *** WARNING!!! POSSIBLE SPOILERS****

Rating: 10/10 (19 October 1999)

Possibly others have written this before, but I was swamped in all those recent comments!
I think the Matrix is not only great for the action scenes, the mise en scene, SFX, stunts, art direction, cinematography, manga style direction, soundtrack, plot, sense of wonder, style, and yes, even Keanu's acting and the tongue in cheek humour about his proverbial airheadedness ("your other left!"), but also for the philosophical side behind it.
Even if we do not consider seriously in a literal way that we are ruled by machines, and kept happy with a computer image of the world, we should consider that maybe in fact... we ARE kind of batteries in our economy and social structure. Morpheus tells Neo: "you see the Matrix when you go to work, when you go to church, when you watch TV...". In all the examples he mentions, we are part of a system, with its own values and needs - and we are not free. At least, not as long as we do not see it is a system that uses us to perpetuate itself. Think on it.
So... enjoy the movie if you didn't, and enjoy it again if you did!

By the Way - watch agent Smith very closely... what is it that he really wants? I only saw it after a second viewing in the theatre, and then I was used to the whole concept of the film... Watch him. If I'm right it has a lot of implications for parts two and three.
And another one to think about, at that... why is the Oracle IN the Matrix, and not outside?