*There will be some spoilers in this review, so you’re free to skip this post if you want to. If you’re okay with reading the spoilers, then enjoy.*
“What did I just watch?”
This was my reaction upon finishing this movie. Even though this was my second time viewing this film, there were many parts that I did not remember when watching it the first time around. The reason for this is that I fell asleep through certain parts of the movie because I watched it late at night while hanging out with my husband. However, when I watched this movie the second time around, it was earlier in the evening, and I prepared myself so I could have something to talk about in this review. And boy do I have a lot.
The matrix (the very first one) is similar to Inception in that it gives you ideas to think about. However, unlike Inception where it challenges you to think about the concept of dreaming to the point where you begin to question your reality, the Matrix makes it clear that a lot of the events that are happening are all a computer simulation. Right from the beginning where we have Trinity (played by Carrie-Anne Moss) fighting off some police officers and trying to escape from the agents, we get some over-the-top effects that make it hard for us to believe that what is happening is real. I remember talking about this movie back when I was a film student, and to this day, I have a hard time believing that some of the effects were revolutionary for the time this film was released. Except, I don’t think it was the effects alone that made this film revolutionary. I would say it’s a combination of effects and filmmaking techniques that were executed that made this film memorable. For example, going back to the beginning where we have Trinity fighting one of the police officers, we have a still shot of Trinity jumping into the air and the camera rotates nearly 360 degrees around her; giving us a full view of the area around the two of them.
Now, for me watching this in 2023, I was laughing so hard because the effect was so cheesy and over the top, it just looked silly. But I could understand back in 1999 when this film was released how people saw this effect as something that was really cool. The same thing could be said for the effect of Trinity running along the wall to dodge some bullets that the officers start firing at her. There’s also another effect that would go on to be referenced in so many other films and television shows. This is the scene where Neo (played by Keanu Reeves) is dodging bullets that are being fired by agents. It’s done in slow motion and Neo is doing some kind of twisting move to dodge each bullet that is heading towards him. There’s also a ripple effect that has been added to the bullets to show the bullets heading toward him (I guess?). Now, this shot in particular, I didn’t laugh at like I did with the floating Trinity shot. And to be honest, it is a cool effect for the time being.
But the one effect that I found to be so dumb it was hard NOT to laugh, was when Trinity is jumping off a building. Towards the beginning of the film, as Trinity is escaping from agents that are chasing her, she makes it to the roof of the building she is currently in and begins to run across various buildings; even jumping a large gap between two buildings. She eventually finds herself coming towards a dead end where a wall of another building is right in front of her. But, instead of stopping, she picks up speed and jumps; flying through the air like some sort of superman barbie doll, then crashes through the window and tumbles down the stairs before pulling her gun out and pointing it at the window. This moment, in particular, is so fake and corny, I practically rolled off the couch laughing.
Effects aside, the story of this film is probably the only thing I will say is not the best. I like the Alice in Wonderland references that are happening towards the beginning of the film where we have messages to Neo telling him to follow the white rabbit. It’s even sprinkled in a bit more up until the pill scene, but then kind of drops off as we suddenly find ourselves in some kind of Alien knockoff film where Neo is waking up in some kind of… Egg? I think… This was the point where I was checking my television to make sure that I had the right movie playing. It’s so jarring, it clashes with the idea that the film is trying to portray. Honestly, I thought this was supposed to be more like a computer simulation. Not alien technology. Plus the whole idea of a simulation within a simulation is not really executed well because we have no idea of its origin. Inception went to go in a similar direction, with the whole dream within a dream idea, but it had cohesion because all of the events were happening in one person’s mind. In the Matrix, it’s giving us this idea of people jumping into a computer simulation or their minds going into a simulation even though they are already in a simulation and the rabbit hole continues with no clear origin.
I don’t know, maybe I just didn’t see it correctly, or maybe it’s just another case of The Wachowskis trying to give us something complex and science fiction related even though its tone and certain elements are similar to other popular science fiction films of the time. But this is another film that you would have to watch more than once, probably more than twice to even understand what in the Matrix is going on.
Overall, I won’t say this film is bad. In fact, I find it to be quite entertaining if you choose not to think too much about it. Like I said with the effects, they add an entertainment factor to the film that makes it really easy for people to enjoy. On top of that, some of the characters are memorable, minus about eight people that didn’t serve that much of a purpose in the film. I know my husband will explain even more to me after this review goes up. But for now, I will say give this film a watch. You will definitely not be bored with this one.
Nicole Rousseau 