plot/character-challenged, visually wonderful

Rating: Null/10 (26 May 1999)

After it seemed like everyone else around me had seen The Matrix, seen it again, loved it and ranted endlessly about it, I finally went and saw it! And let's just say this: it is not a GOOD movie, but it is extremely entertaining and worth seeing in the theaters (it's not worth seeing at home, in my opinion). Obviously, The Matrix is beautiful and stunning (kung fu sequence, anyone?) but it is also quite confusing in spots and boring in others (little squid-like things keep attacking their ship in what turns out to be an almost totally unnecessary subplot). The acting is lacking but sufficient, and the writing was, in my view, disappointing. There were a number of scenes that would have been PERFECT had the characters (or writers, as the case may be) had the sense to say the right thing. There were a number of scenes I DID like :the scene comparing humans to a disease, the first meeting between Neo and Morpheus, the building jump (the requisite Keanu Reeves "whoa" moment) and the ending scenes. The visual effects are the real star of the show, and they're worth paying the theater price to see. So, basically, it's never going to be a classic (well, maybe at cult status) but The Matrix is a very entertaining, beautiful ride.