Made its mark with a Superman punch; outstanding movie

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2014)

I always try not to let bad sequels taint the otherwise remarkable original film, but this tends to happen with "The Matrix"; I forget just how good this movie really is. What's really surprising is just how well this still holds up, fifteen years after the fact. It was easily the greatest movie of 1999, and a high point of the decade. It's not just an action movie with sweet kung fu and leather-clad gunfights, but also one hell of a sci-fi trip; an honest-to-god journey through the rabbit hole, seductive in its intriguing mystery and still riveting after many viewings. The Wachowskis showed an incredible eye for framing, shot composition and camera moves; this thing reeks of style.
It's a classic any way you slice it, and a laundry list of memorable scenes (the opening rooftop chase, Neo's unplugging, the SWAT ambush in the apartment building, the lobby shootout, the helicopter crash, the subway fight and subsequent chase). The agents still make for striking imagery with their comically oversized Desert Eagles (I love Weaving's intonation and line delivery).
And while it's probably the most cartoonishly parodied movie of the last half-century, those bullet-time effects and killer fight scenes haven't lost their luster.
8/10