Amusement Park Ride

Rating: 4/10 (1 March 2000)

Like a roller coaster, "The Matrix" is a visceral thrill ride. Also like a roller coaster, once the ride is over, you don't take anything home with you and there isn't much of substance that needs to be said.
I really enjoyed this ride. I think it is among the best of its genre. But calling it "one of the greatest...etc, etc"--that's a leap I'm not willing to make. The acting styles and dialogue are campy, and I the plot certainly can not be supported by any rational argument; rather it is something that, like religion, requires a leap of faith to buy into. Examples:
1. Everyone, including the "agents" evidently, can be killed by a single bullet. If this is not true, then why (other than the visceral thrill of it) all the gymnastics to avoid them? If it is true, then it is absurd to think that their bodies could withstand even a fraction of the pummeling they receive at each other's hands. Everyone gets punched, kicked, hurled, and driven into (occasionally through) plaster walls, only to emerge unscathed but ready to dodge that next damn bullet. 2. <> The energy delivered by the captive human embryos to support The Matrix must, of course, be less than the energy required to support them, making their use illogical. (Reference: The Law of the Conservation of Energy.) 3. The function of The Kiss at the end is really getting into the shaky ground of Dramatic License. I know that the film is chock full of Jesus symbolism, so it is required that <> Neo dies and then comes back to life. But, as in the case of Jesus, it does require a major leap of faith to embrace the idea--and drama is not religion. Personally, I get the impression that the writers just wrote themselves into a dramatic wall, and required an unmotivated miracle--literally--to get out of it.
In the context of the action/thriller film genre, I think the examples I've quoted above are really trivial. But when an attempt is made to glorify The Matrix as a film masterpiece, that changes the yardstick entirely.
Really, I liked The Matrix quite a lot. As an action/thriller film, I think it is about as good as they get. But it is an amusement park ride and little more. When the ride is over, you either get off, or get back on for another go; but you certainly don't claim to have had a spiritual experience in the process.