Better than I expected

Rating: 10/10 (18 May 2003)

I gave the matrix a 10/10 rating, because it accomplished excactly what it needed and set out to do, and did so better than most people thought it would. The movie's trailor gives away next to nothing, which is very rare these days. The main fight scenes are very lengthy, yet so incredible that any action fan will never let their eyes leave the screen.
**MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD - IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE, READ NO FURTHER!**
The movie is not just a special effects vessel, although the special effects are very nicely done. I wasn't born when the original star wars trilogy was released, but the special effects in those movies must've been like the matrix special effects now. The movie had definately set a new standard for visual effects.
The plot goes very much deeper than the original. It gives a lot of believability to the matrix itself, detailing all the quirks and problems of the matrix program, like the code tumbler that blinds certain places from view by the humans outside, or the vampires, ghosts, aliens, etc. that are programs run awry, and the matrix attempting to integrate their antics into itself.
This is also a very dark movie that leaves little hope for the humans. The conversation with the architecht almost completely obliterated everything that I thought about the matrix up to that point. The line that really nailed me was, "We have destroyed Zion six times now, and we're very efficient at it." I may have got a word or two wrong, so forgive me for having seen the movie only once.
Also, I was very happy that everything I had heard about the movie wasn't true (cipher coming back, trinity dying). It made it much more enjoyable.
So, on a final note, I loved the movie for what it was, and I am very much looking forward to Revolutions.