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…you have to see it for yourself.
Warner Brothers
- Cert: 15
- Running time: 136 minutes
- Year: 1999
- Released: 11th June 1999
- Widescreen Ratio : 2.35:1 (Super 35)
- Rating: 5/10
Director:
- Andy Wachowski and The Wachowski Brothers
(Bound)
Producer:
- Joel Silver
Screenplay:
- Andy Wachowski and The Wachowski Brothers (Assassins, Bound)
Original Score :
- Don Davis
Cast :
- Thomas Anderson/Neo: Keanu Reeves (Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey, Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Chain Reaction, Devil’s Advocate, Johnny Mnemonic, Speed)
Morpheus: Laurence Fishburne (Boyz N The Hood, Deep Cover, Event Horizon, Fled, Higher Learning, Just Cause, What’s Love Got To Do With It)
Trinity: Carrie-Anne Moss (TV: The Matrix)
Agent Smith: Hugo Weaving (The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Frauds, Proof)
Oracle: Gloria Foster
Cypher: Joe Pantoliano (Bad Boys, Bound, The Fugitive, Midnight Run, U.S. Marshalls, Zandalee)
The Matrix is the film which has revived the flagging career of its main star. Keanu Reeves plays computer programmer Thomas Anderson who is about to get fired for being late for work yet again. At home he’s less a programmer and more of a hacker and this is about to get him into trouble in a big way. You see, the world we’re living in doesn’t really exist – it’s just a virtual reality computer simulation and only the chosen few are privy to the full S.P. on what’s really happening, especially Keanu because thanks to his hacker alterego, Neo, he is told he is the chosen one who will go on to save mankind.
Leader of those in the know is Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus who does fine in the role although his grim-faced grumpiness isn’t a far cry from his role in Event Horizon and his team includes Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, who can flex her muscles for me any time. The bad guys are led by Priscilla Queen of the Desert‘s Hugo Weaving with the cryptic name of Agent Smith who assumes the same form wherever he goes but is able to take over any body.
On the good side, it has some decent special FX such as a relatively-new camera technique, the name of which I’ve forgotten but is currently showing up in many television programmes and adverts, in which the action onscreen appears to freeze followed by the camera panning around the static moment as if time itself is frozen still. It’s done by having several still-shot cameras positioned around the subject which simultaneously click into action and the resultant pictures are played one after another in order giving the impression of time standing still.
Couple this with many interesting kung-fu action scenes also given the slo-mo action treatment with assistance from wires to hold the actors up in the air for longer than humanly possible, a few other special FX such as a large replacement for a woman’s reproduction system and also the gorgeous Carrie-Anne Moss, who starred in the 1993 unrelated TV series Matrix, which lasted 13 episodes and co-starred Nick Mancuso.
On the minus side of things, the plot borrows from other films too much:
Plus, the film is about 30 minutes too long. Apart from some length talking points in the film, there’s a pointless sub-plot in which one of Morpheus’ team suddenly decides he wants to be king-of-the-hill and kills a couple of them in the first stage of his take-over bid, but before he can continue he’s stopped in his tracks and the film carries on as if it never happened.
The film has also been cut for 10-15 seconds of content by the BBFC for a 15-certificate, but I do not know the exact details.
So after you’ve heard the hype, seen the trailers on television and watched “The Making Of The Matrix” which was on late-night TV recently, does the film live up to the hype? Not really since anyone who has watched all this will have seen the special FX already and the rest isn’t really worth bothering with – which rather reminds me of my feelings after watching the big-screen version of The Fugitive, which also starred Joe Pantoliano.
Ask if you can pay half-price to see this film as it’s only worth 5/10 and if you do see it stay until the very end of the closing credits as you’ll find the address of the official website and the password to access the secret area…
…oh to hell with it, the password is “steak” and the address is www.whatisthematrix.com, but I’m not going to tell you where to click on the website as I had to find that one out for myself.
Now how long will it be before we get the sequel, Matricies, in which Keanu has to defeat the bad guys, not by beating them up and shooting them, but by getting his pencil out to have a go at some complex mathematics?
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.