Still the best

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 2009)

2009, and the best sci-fi movie ever made is still The Matrix (1999). Let's forget about the sequels, the less said the better, but the original had everything: mind blowing special effects, awesome concept, gripping plot, breath-taking action sequences (with knowing nods to the Hong-kong Kungfu genre - e.g. signature moves from Bruce Lee from Jet Li), gnarly sound-track, and engaging characters. Though many aspects of the movie have been copied, nothing has come close to it. Never has one movie raised the bar by so much.
When one considers the nature of speculative fiction one sees so few movies that come close to the complexity of thought and concept as the print medium. Only The Matrix and a handful of others (e.g. Bladerunner, Close Encounters, 2001 A Space Odyssey) really do justice to the genre - the books are more about humans adapting to unfamiliar situations rather than monsters and terror. So few sci-fi movies require the audience to think or evaluate what they are seeing. With The Matrix one cannot help but reflect on reality and what it means to be human. "There is no spoon!"