Action movie trying to be deep

Rating: 8/10 (5 July 1999)

What's there to say that hasn't been said? The effects are spectacular, the visuals are very stylish, and the premise might even be considered original (in Hollywood terms, at least).
I had a few problems with this, though. Keanu Reeves, as usual, was terribly unconvincing as the hacker Neo (see lines, "Whoa!" and "I know kung fu!"), and Hugo Weaving was laughably bad as Agent Smith. Parts such as the fight between Neo and Morpheus (Fishburne) are amusing, but don't need to be there, and they ruin the feel of the rest of the movie. I was also disappointed as it became a total action flick in the last few minutes. In these scenes, it seemed as though the concept of the Matrix was just a vehicle to allow Keanu Reeves to look slick and shoot things. Granted, it was fun, but it seemed as though they didn't know where they wanted the movie to go, and decided to throw in some random action sequences.
Despite these flaws, I think this was a strong movie with great visuals and a fascinating premise. I wasn't exactly blown away by the idea of false reality like some other people (probably because I've considered it before), and I don't think it was as deep as some people say, but it was still interesting, original, and (above all) stylish.