Deserves its attention, but it won't last

Rating: 8/10 (10 April 1999)

The visual style is terrific, and the story sucks you in well enough if you can get around the (under-exposed) primary premise. The mythic allusion and religious allegory is all-just-sort-of-OK. No one is going to emerge from this movie with a much deeper view of life or anything.
It's hard to root for Keanu Reeves, whose choppy pace can interrupt any good story for me, but it's undeniable that he pulls this one off. Everyone who usually holds their nose and steers clear of a project because he's in it, go ahead and go.
Personally, I wasn't too thrilled with the dialogue or the other performances, and the soundtrack did most definitely suck. But as eye-candy this ranks high. Find the biggest screen near you.