Myth Meets Might in the Action Film of the Year

Rating: 9/10 (5 April 1999)

I was impressed. My roommate and I, at the time performing air-Ju-Jit-Zu, came home from the Matrix trying to run perpendicular to the ground. I'm sure if we lived close to a gun range (not really that readily available in New York City), we would have insisted on target practice while wearing sunglasses and trenchcoats.
That being said, the Matrix may fete the testosterone of adolescent teens and immature yuppies, but one can actually find layers of irony and myth in this speciously skin deep sci-fi flick.
First, consider the whole premise of the film, evil supercomputers enslave humanity through an algorithmically generated world known as the Matrix. What appears real, is unreal with the very nature of existence challenged - kind of like Descartes' all-powerful monster theory to debunk the reliability of his senses and therefore existence itself. Then we have a rag tag band of rebels led by a mysterious but unquestionably faithful Morpheus (Fishburne), the god of dreams in Ovid's Metamorphoses, who awakens enslaved humans from their captivity of sleep. Our hero, Thomas (Reaves), like the Biblical Doubting Thomas, is leery of his fate as the chosen One. He is prophesized by the Oracle -- yes, like the one at Delphi -- to lead humans to freedom and see the rise of the last remaining human colony, Zion. Our plucky heroes are aided by the stunningly gorgeous Trinity (Moss) travel on a beat up space craft ironically named Nebuchadnezzar, a Babylonian king who destroyed Jerusalem and took kings and nobles captive in the Babylonian Captivity. Wow! Confused, yet?
But, have no fear. For those who like myth as much as income tax, there is also, Hong Kong-style Kung-Fu, slick fashion, lots of guns, and a pulsating soundtrack that features Marilyn Manson. Eclectic does not even begin to describe the Matrix.
The acting is competent, and with the bevy of special effects it becomes difficult to notice. Keanu Reaves is surprisingly competent, but then again he is supported by the always majestic Larry Fishburne, and beautiful newcomer Carry Ann Moss. With so many themes addressed by the Wachowski brothers, the Matrix could have easily over-committed itself. Luckily, with some incredible editing, this film has all the earmarks of a runaway box-office hit. I hope it makes a bundle.