Why So "Groundbreaking"? It had STYLE!

Rating: Null/10 (21 January 2001)

Perhaps the Matrix was not the all-time greatest movie ever made. Perhaps the acting was not the best. Perhaps the philosophy was not the best. But darn, did that movie ever have *style*. Yes, it borrowed from anime; it borrowed from Hong Kong action; it borrowed from cyberpunk. But there *is* nothing new under the sun, and almost everything borrows from something else these days. What matters is how seamlessly the movie tied the whole thing together. It couldn't please everyone, of course--what movie can?--but almost every element in the film worked to build a cohesive mise-en-scene that grabbed willing viewers by the throat and *yanked* them into its world. It was completely internally consistent. Upon reviewings, even little things made sense. It had good music, good action--and it created a dinstinctive atmosphere unique to itself, in the way that only truly great films (such as Star Wars) have managed to.
The Matrix more or less revitalized and renewed the cyberpunk genre, which Keanu's prior cyberpunk attempt (Johnny Mnemonic) had apparently proven dead in the water--much the same as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is doing for the martial arts film genre after a tired string of Jackie Chan and Jet Li imports that have flopped more often than not. And *that* is why so many people hold it in such awe.