We've been so dumbed down....

Rating: 9/10 (23 August 2001)

I originally gave this flick 9 stars - I retract my vote and give it 4. The more you think about this movie the dumber it gets.
I'm convinced that our culture has been so dumbed down that it can be duped into thinking that movies like this are "the best ever made" ... much like the drecks of music (Brittany, NSync, et.al.) can sell multiple plantinums.
Our youth culture has been living under a stupid-rock for so long, they wouldn't know a masterpiece of a film if it jumped out and bit them on their collective ass.
Hey, I like a good action flick as much as the next guy, but come on, I read messages here that state that the people who don't like The Matrix "just don't get it." Sorry kiddies, there is nothing to get. Nothing spiritual, challenging, or anything that "makes you think." You want a good movie that challenges your concept of reality, then check out Brazil or The Usual Suspects. Even Fight Club can make you scratch the side of your head more than this pretentious essay in psychobabble.
As far as plot goes, there aren't many flicks with as many holes as this one. Human batteries!? Give me a break. Anybody who stayed awake for high school biology knows that this is preposterous. Sunlight, folks -- you gotta have it. And don't even get me started on the curious lack of muscle atrophy...!
But let me do you all a nice service and shatter the principle piece of your precious flick completely -- the matrix itself. Doesn't anybody question why the hell the bots would give a rat's ass what kind of reality their human-robots are experiencing? I mean (laf,laf) if I was a robot, would I be worrying about coma-state, muscle-atrophied human vegetables waking up from their pods? LAF!LAF! This is the dumbest concept for a flick since the good ol' B-movies of the fifties. Wake up people! And the bots need energy, so they harvest humans?! What the hell are they feeding them? Rocks? They need some organic material, where are they getting it without the sunlight? See where this leads you? Lazy story-telling, if you ask me. And I don't think the writers/directors buy their own crap either, but damn! Keanu looks so cool with the guns and suspend-action drop-kicks, who cares?!
You want a good action flick with a plot that holds together, then check out The Terminator or hell, even Die Hard. At least they don't waste brain cells in a futile attempt at taking themselves too seriously.
Will I watch The Matrix again? Sure. But for the same reason I'll ride the same roller coaster at Great Adventure again, or watch Road House, Independence Day and Red Dawn again - cheap, disposable thrills.