Cyber-action-film noir-satiric-thriller is hyper-cool, great fun

Rating: 8/10 (29 March 1999)

The Wachowski Brothers enjoy action movies, but like the rest of us, realized that most of those made by Hollywood in the last dozen years or so have been basically mindless, however entertaining they are in other ways.
So they wrote THE MATRIX -- actually, before they wrote BOUND -- and had a hard time selling it. No wonder. It's furiously intelligent, very serious but with an undertone of dark comedy that makes it different from all other action movies. While clearly influenced by movies like BLADE RUNNER and ALIEN/ALIENS, they've also clearly been jazzed by comic books, cyber-science fiction of the William Gibson school, Hong Kong action movies and Japanese anime, as well as classic Hollywood films noir.
But while they're clearly influenced by this heady stew, they've stirred into something fresh and original, and provided a back story so rich that dozens of other stories could be set in this same universe without ever getting around to actually doing a sequel to THIS story.
Keanu-bashers will be deeply disappointed, because Reeves is terrific here, as is the rest of the cast, including the ultra-cool Laurence Fishburne. But the standout performance comes from Hugo Weaving as the head bad guy; it's hard to believe he played the leading role in THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT.