Great concept - movie fell short on the execution

Rating: 4/10 (16 December 2001)

The special effects in "The Matrix" were spellbinding. Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne weren't exactly suburb actors in the film, but they weren't exactly bad either. But I feel this movie lacks one principle that makes a great movie: great writing. Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus walks Neo (portrayed by Keanu Reeves) through a lot of discussion of what the matrix is, in the middle of the film. This fits into the category of 'exposition', a definite problem with script writing. It would have been better if the character Neo would have been involved with more drama while actually figuring out what the matrix is. In a movie like "Star Wars", the characters are placed in a setting unlike our world..."In a galaxy far, far away." The action in "Star Wars" moves from one scene to another without the characters stopping whatever they're doing, then sitting around and explaining how the Millennium Falcon jumps to light speed or how the Death Star destroys planets...the viewer actually sees the stars race across the screen as the Millennium Falcon gets away from the Empire fighters, and see how Princess Lea painfully watches her own planet get destroyed. In "The Matrix", besides the long scene that gets bogged down by exposition, there isn't much to character development. If you take away all the amazing special effects, there wasn't that much in the script to hold the characters together. I am bothered how this movie is considered a "thinking man's sci-fi thriller". After all I just said, I really didn't feel this movie lived up to that promise.