An excellent combination of style and psychology

Rating: 9/10 (18 April 2018)

The Matrix is the kind of movie that easily could have been absolutely terrible, as it has been compared to a lot of incoherent nonsense and some stating that it is a hard to understand or mindbreaking film. However, this is not the case. In contrast to a lot of these incoherent films that appear intelligent to make people like them so THEY can feel intelligent too, The Matrix is actually a well thought out psychological motion picture about living in denial and being aware.
What makes The Matrix stand out as such a great film is that while the story is obviously far-fetched, it manages to capture a very close relevance to the actual world. In the film the choice is given to live in denial or know the truth, which is very relevant to people in modern society. It understands human emotions and embraces it, instead of quite simply just ignoring it like a lot of todays movies seem to do.
I am not a very big fan of Keanu Reeves, who appears to be a wooden plank in most of his roles, and it is also the case in this movie, yet it does not detract the film from being any less despite him being the main character. Perhaps his constant confused look seems to somehow fit just right in this movie, i am not sure. But somehow Keanu Reeves just fits in Neo properly. Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus, Joe Pantoliano as Cypher ( who is by the way a brilliant addition of a typical character who WANTS to live in denial and escapism, and doesnt want to see the truth ) & Hugo Weaving as the deep layered computer program Agent Smith are the most notable and best of the supporting cast, as each gives off an excellent performance.
It is also a beautifully stylishly shot, choreographed & edited film. The movie has many great shots, filmed with a green tint in the scenes in The Matrix. Ofcourse the one where Neo steps in Trinity, Apoc & Switch's car comes to mind, with a fantastic distance shot when he finally steps in which shows the downpour of the rain combined with the green tint. There is also a lot of martial arts, and all this is filmed brilliantly. There is no shakycam, no quick edits, just raw athleticism and power, leaving you in awe every time a hand to hand fight comes on the screen. The Wachowski brothers also frequently used slow motion, particularly in an amazingly edited and choreographed lobby shootout. You do not miss a thing of what is happening on screen due to this excellent camera technique. The slow motion enhances the overview of the entire shootout. Not to mention the trademark visually breakthrough impressive bullet dodges Neo makes later on in the film.
This all means The Matrix is excellent entertainment, one of the greatest pure action movies, but also challenges us to understand the truth about the world we are living in.