So well done in the first 2/3rds, that the last third is forgiveable

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2000)

Why do people see the concepts of the story as metaphoric? How are they any less than real? Sure, a few visual and plot devices were used to represent a society being operated by a totalitarian remote, and that may constitute symbolism, but the principles are at work in the world around us every minute of every day. I am slightly concerned that this movie leads people to believe it was more a sci-fi story with a social commentary, than it was a simple observation of society and how it actually works.
The whole post-apocalyptic messiah story is more than a bit tired, it's on life support, but that detracted little from the movie for me - Keanu needs to be the chosen one, aw, let him pretend.
Where the movie disappointed was in its degeneration from a thoughtful and interesting and visually spiffy romp through the concerns of the oppressed masses into a string of Starsky and Hutch chase scenes climaxing in a hail of gunfire.
Is a yank movie somehow incomplete without that seemingly requisite "only the NRA has the final solution to save the universe and that answer is limitless ammo" message? Chucky "God loves guns" Heston must have creamed his jeans when he saw all the big bang-bangs.
If you can forgive the individualist-supremacy hammer that the end of the movie hits you in the face with, it's great.
Fortunately, I can suspend that disbelief just because of the quality of the story, concepts, observations and execution of everything =up to= the denouement. Watch it for the story.