The Perfect Symbiosis of Action and Philosophy

Rating: 10/10 (29 September 2008)

What is real? How do you define real? This question has been explored for its significance in metaphysics in other movies as well. The Thirteenth Floor is one of them and the other is Dark City. I mention these because they were released more or less around the same time as this movie was released. But these two movies do not enjoy the position and the popularity of this movie - The Matrix, why? Look at the box office success of the Matrix. Look at the popularity of this movie. Advertisements have been created based on the themes of this movie. Most people seem to have heard of the movie if not seen it. The Matrix enjoys a prominent position in the top 50 on the IMDb. Even a list of 100 best movies of all times as compiled by a documentary on the Discovery Channel mentioned this movie as among the top 100.
The key to the enormous success of the Matrix is the symbiotic combination of two opposing elements. The first one being metaphysics or philosophy and the second element being intense amount of action. The Dark City is limited in its action and stresses more on the metaphysics aspect and so does the Thirteenth floor. When you see The Matrix, you see that there is far more metaphysics and philosophy in this movie when compared to the other two. And when you see the action sequences of the movie, the two movies fade into oblivion.
There is so much for the intellectual to busy himself with in this movie. There is a reference to so many mythological places and figures. The character Neo is an anagram of One signifying the One Absolute many cultures believe in and then there is Trinity, an obvious reference to the Holy Trinity. The names of the ships, the numbers on the door, the name of the book Neo takes his CD out from all have a significance, a clue, if that is what one wants to call it. This movie gives enough to the intellectual to study and talk about.
And yet the movie does not fail to capture the attention of the average movie goer. The average movie goer does not want to search for hidden symbols, he does not want to discuss the movie for hours and hours. He wants some action and some fun. The movie gives that as well. The movie has a lot of guns, a lot of chases and a lot of fighting. The average movie goer can appreciate the main aspect of this movie without bothering about all the hidden symbols which the intellectual chooses to see in the movie. Yet, he apparently does not deny himself the spirit of the movie and enjoys it. And I believe this is what has made the movie successful - the reconciliation between action and thrill and metaphysics and philosophy.
This movie deserves all the praise and success that it has got. My personal all-time favorite. I never get tired of talking about it till date and love to see it with my friends if I get the chance.