There may be hope for science fiction in Hollywood, after all.

Rating: Null/10 (8 April 1999)

Before I saw this movie, I was going to write a letter to Keanu Reeves asking, "Why are you out to singlehandedly destroy the cyberpunk genre in Hollywood before it's had a chance?" But after watching "The Matrix," I might actually write to thank him for giving it life!
Well, not really, since the ones who are really responsible for this movie's success are the Wachowski brothers.
You ever watch "sci-fi" movies and think to yourself that the special effects were kind of tacked on because they look cool, not necessarily because they have anything to do with the story? (Think "Godzilla," "Lost in Space," etc.) Well, "The Matrix" is one of the few movies I've seen where the special effects actually complement the story rather than detract from it. Before this, I've never seen the spin-around camera effect (The Gap used it in their khaki ads) used without it being distracting and out-of-place. But the effect really works here.
There are little touches to the movie that you notice the second time you see it (and I'm sure, the third and fourth, etc.), which indicates that the filmmakers want this to be something you watch again and again, that they made it with the diehard movie fan in mind. Notice, for example, the characters' ears in this movie, and the phone books on the fridge in the Oracle's kitchen.
Go see it.