A very good movie...but a bit overrated.

Rating: 8/10 (7 March 2003)

I gave this movie a solid 8, but I definitely have seen plenty of movies that I have enjoyed more over the years. What gets me is all the people who act like this movie is so original. What is original about it? It is basically a combination of the Terminator movies and any number of virtual reality movies that were released prior to this one including Johnny Mnemonic also starring Reeves. Heck, it wasn't even the first movie to use bullet time as the movie Blade was the first time I had seen that done in a movie, granted on a much smaller scale. Also, I think it was seen in a Korn music video as well before this movie ever came into being. So this movie just borrows, for the most part, from a bunch of different movies and other entertainment. Still it is good, though the parts that are the best take place in the matrix. Some of the real world scenes are quite frankly boring. The second time I watched this one I was basically thinking, "Come on, capture Morpheus already so we can get to the good part of the flick". The action at the end of this movie, more than makes up for the many dry spells in the flick. Reeves and Fishburne are good as well, though I could have done without some of their talking scenes and their fight wasn't anything special either. Like I said, I loved the movie when they were in the matrix and not as much when they weren't. I hear the third installment will be entirely set in the real world too, so I don't have high hopes for it. Carrie Ann Moss wasn't anything special in this either...if it wasn't for this movie who would ever of heard of her? Let's face it, you could have put anyone in that role and they could have performed just as well are better. She isn't very good looking either. All in all it is worth checking out cause of the great action at the end, and because Hugo Weaving is great as the villain.