The Matrix = the film of my dreams

Rating: 10/10 (8 April 1999)

Some of my favorite movies include Dark City (great original sci-fi plot), Rumble in the Bronx (incredible fight scenes), Hard Boiled (slick action direction), L.A. Confidential (superb direction and dialogue), and Dead Poets Society (forces to examine your own existence). What happened if you threw all of these movies into a melting pot? A big jumbled mess, right? WRONG.
Somehow, someway, the W. Bros. have figured out a way to combine all of these elements to create a film that sparks the imagination and dazzles the eyes simultaneously. Never before have I seen such a film that could cover this many genres at once. Throughout all of the masterpieces I've seen in my days, only The Matrix has brought me back to the same movie more then once. The quality of this film is so overwhelming, that I've now seen it 3 times in 6 days!
Star Wars is known as having one of the most intricate "universes" in sci-fi history. The trilogy spawns books, comics, tv shows, and video games. The universe created in The Matrix is SO detailed, it has the same potential. You learn an incredible amount about the world which exists in the film, but you don't notice it because you are being distracted with cinematography, acting, action scenes, and special effects that are undoubtedly Oscar worthy.
The characters, you ask? The Matrix creates genuine personalities that seem to have been made for each actor/actress. Believe it or not, Keanu Reeves as Neo plays a great sympathetic hero we can all relate to. His reactions to odd events are on the money, and Neo can sometimes have a certain playfulness about his abilities (look for it!). Lawrence Fishburne triumphs as the enigmatic Morpheus, delivering powerful dialogue exactly the way it was intended. Carrie Anne Moss's emotionally bottled up Trinity fills the gaping hole that Linda Hamilton left with her performance in Terminator 2. Finally, the return of the butt kickin' woman! The biggest surprise, however, goes to Hugo Weaving for his portrayal as Agent Smith. So many other actors could've made this another bland antagonist, but instead they fished out Hugo from the land down under to give movie goers one of the most memorable bad guys to date. I know I'm leaving some other interesting characters, but I'd be here forever.
One criticism I hear over and over about this masterpiece is that it borrows from this movie, that movie, blah blah blah... All I have to say is EVERY movie borrows from many different sources. In all honesty, there is no such thing as originality! You could easily say Star Wars stole from The Bible, Shakespeare, Cereno de Bergerac, midieveal philosophy, and pirate movies...so I could say, "Star Wars? hah! how unoriginal!" If you think it hasn't been done before, chances are you're just not looking hard enough.
Are you one of those people who skip to the last paragraph? If so, here's my review in a nutshell: Go see The Matrix. Then go see it again. If you still don't understand why we'll remember it for years to come, see it again. I apoligize for any other intricacies of The Matrix I forgot to mention; you usually don't come by a film with so many. For the first time, I can say this movie "has it all." Such an over used cliche doesn't deserve it half the time, but trust me, this does!
10 out of 10, without a doubt.
As far as sequels / prequels go, I want more Matrix, but I fear that poor installments would detract from the sheer beauty this film possesses. Only time will tell.