Pleasant Surprise

Rating: 8/10 (4 April 1999)

First allow me to explain that I had no intention of EVER watching this film. I try to avoid Keanu Reeves' movies if possible. He is not one of my favorite actors. In fact, he is one of my least favorite. The trailers for The Matrix were horrible. In a nutshell, they invited you to see the movie for the great special effects. Whoopeee!! I hate it when movies rely heavily on one thing to drive the story. Be it special effects, explosions, sap, whatever, that is not enough to make me enjoy the film. Sure, Star Wars had some of the best special effects of its time but it is the story everyone loves. The only reason I agreed to watch The Matrix is because a friend really wanted to see it and offered to pay my way.
This is a good movie. The fight scenes are very well done. The effects are as awesome as advertised. Keanu Reeves does an adequate job. And I am a big fan of Laurence Fishburne. What did it for me, though, was the background story to the film. It was an interesting concept and even moderately believable. Overall, this is a very solidly done movie, one I would recommend.