5/10 back in 1999; possibly the most overrated popular movie

Rating: Null/10 (14 February 2005)

First I have to say that I enjoy computer games (Max Payne - a game featuring bullet time - is my favorite single player shooter although there are others technically better like Far Cry and Half-Life 2; this is for people saying that this movie is intended for gamers) and I also read books (sci-fi literature included). The Matrix isn't an acceptable movie overall (for me acceptable is at least 7) and let me tell you where it fails and succeeds: The acting is bad, the only good actor is Hugo Weaving (his monologue with captured Morpheus is nice, the interrogation room, ...), Laurence Fishburne and Joe Pantalione are bearable and the rest of the cast is pretty weak. The lack of originality; less than 5% of the ideas in this movie were not done before. The idea that human beings can be good power sources if a catalyst (even the most efficient) is used is ridiculous; one adult can't light a 60 W bulb under any circumstances; there are a lot of other efficient power sources, but that doesn't sell, does it ? Although the idea is interesting (the idea of machine domination and what might have been done with it), the script is bad, the lines suck (Kansas is going bye-bye, this hasn't been done before, Neo I believe, oh my God he is the One, ...), it gives me the impression that this is targeted at little children (like many other excessive commercial movies), but considering that most consumers have an undeveloped brain, that is exactly what it is. In the beginning, we have Mr. Smith who tells the old police officer that his men are already dead and they shouldn't have got involved, but my problem is I can see later that Smith can enter other people's virtual bodies and I wonder why the hell doesn't he enter that police officer Trinity is fighting. This makes the whole escape scene pointless, but if it's cool, we can't take it out no matter how stupid it may seem. The agents which are after all computer programs not weak humans seem to fail to hit the target, maybe because that is meant to happen to give the rebels a sense of power, to keep them on the edge, to give them the feeling that they can get away with it, the "story" advances because it has to. The fight between Neo and Smith in the subway station is pointless since he could shoot and Neo couldn't dodge or stop the bullets and there are many other flaws which have already been mentioned here by others, the list can go on and on ... The atmosphere is a disco-techno-cyber-kewl garbage appealing to many immature teenagers; it doesn't have depth, sensation, substance, it's pure superficial stuff despite all attempts to be philosophical. The Morpheus call at Anderson's office is another unintelligent scene; the only good thing is the feeling when Neo drops the phone (don't wonder if it hurt anybody because they are just batteries, one dies, another takes its place). The anarchist message is present: we won't subject to the laws, we are free people, law enforcement agents suck, ... I think Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in The Wall" is much better at that. The rebels' excitement when Neo and Morpheus fight reminds me of excited immature children; they should act professionally, measure his brain activity, but no, we get how incredibly fast they virtually move. The special effects are good, good enough to buy the cheap DVD to test your surround audio system; there are other good movies with great surround sound but The Matrix is one of the best at that; this is one of the few reasons to see this movie. The sequels are both under 5 out of 10 and they make this movie worse because they add new flaws and plot holes. For the same reason people rated this 9/10 or 10/10 it also won the MTV Movie Award for the best movie. If you wonder why the rating in my title is so high, that is because The Matrix has some interesting ideas from Smith's perspective, good special effects for 1999, its stupidity is funny sometimes, Smith is a good character and other minor things. If you think all the Oscars this movie won are rightfully deserved look at the rooftop scene where Neo dodges the bullets, before he drops two guns, when the bullets hit him in slow motion there are no guns and when time comes back to normal flow the guns magically appear and there goes the Oscar for Editing.