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The Matrix
The best movie of 1999 wasn't the acclaimed American Beauty. It wasn't one of the many finely crafted independent movies. It was the Matrix, produced by Joel Silver (Predator, Lethal Weapon) and written and directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski (Bound), features all the intriguing elements of good cinema: strong writing, acting, suspense, action, and amazing special effects.
The plot of The Matrix centers around Neo (Keanu Reeves of Much Ado About Nothing, Johnny Mnemonic, Speed, The Last Time I Committed Suicide), an above average hacker searching for the meaning of the mysterious "matrix." He encounters Morpheus, seemingly a legend in the world of hacking, and is warned sternly to leave his workplace, because he is in great danger. Neo narrowly escapes the building, evading a few mysterious characters who are obviously searching for him, and receives help from a woman who we later find is named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss of the television show Due South). She brings him to a place where he meets Morpheus (Laurence Fishbourne of Panther and Event Horizon) in person, with Apoc (Julian Arahanga), Cypher (Joe Pantoliano), Mouse (Matt Doran), Switch (Belinda McClorg), and Tank (played by the exuberant Marcus Chong).
Neo acknowledges he wants to learn about the Matrix and undergoes a transformation of physiological, mental, and emotional changes. After this, he learns that the Matrix is actually a computer-generated world that its human inhabitants are completely oblivious of. They think what they see around them is real, even though the truth is they are robots of an alien race.
Neo undergoes a massive training program in which he gains knowledge and massive physical strength. Neo also learns that most of the team believes he is the chosen one to lead the fight against the alien race and to restore humanity back to Earth, but some people do doubt this, including himself. On a mission, Morpheus, the leader of the team, is captured. Neo and Trinity make it their goal to save Morpheus.
In the end of the movie, Morpheus is saved by Neo and Neo realizes his newfound powers. He destroys the enemy soldiers (now known as "Smiths") and, in the final scene, he flies off into the sky to seemingly replenish humanity to the planet.
The actors in this film are typecast but still play the characters well. Reeves is drier than a grain of sand left in the sun for a year in his performance as Neo. However, this allows the viewer to concentrate more on the plot of the movie and less on the character's performance. For instance, if Jim Carrey were cast as Neo, his colorful acting style might be distracting for the viewer. However, Laurence Fishbourne gives a compelling performance as the leader of the human rebellion Morpheus, developing the character as strong-willed and devoted to his cause. The differences in Fishbourne's and Reeves' performances is a delight to watch.
The Wachowski brothers are extremely successful at utilizing special effects to create a suspenseful feeling. To make this movie, they hired John Gaeta, a special effects guru from Manex, a small production studio in Northern California. Gaeta uses slow motion shots effectively throughout the movie. During Neo's physical training, he must fight Morpheus in a dream-world type of atmosphere. Neo actually runs up the wall (in slow motion) and does a backward somersault off of it. Its an awesome and surprising display of Neo's growing power. The use of slow motion proves suspenseful here, because the audience eagerly awaits what will happen next.
Another scene that uses suspenseful slow motion is the infamous dodging-bullet scene. In this scene, a Smith fires a gunshot at Neo. Neo uses his super-abilities to see the bullet and dodge it by bending his back backwards. As he does this, the camera provides a circling camera-view. This is the first time that this tactic has ever been used in a movie and the process is a complicated one.
Basically, to do this, a special camera was set up that would travel around Reeves as he physical went through the motions. The camera could record footage at up to 12,000 frames per second. Different cameras took in several different angles of the action. Gaeta, then, scanned the film into a computer and digitally spliced together the scene. It would be impossible to get a continuous shot with one camera and even with all the cameras used, shifting from one to the next would still seem very rough and produce an non-uniform effect. To connect all of this footage into one shot, Gaeta animated it, much as cartoonists animate their cartoons. In fact, Gaeta actually got his main inspiration for this from the animated movie "Akira" (http://www.whatisthematrix.com/cmp/sfx_index.html).
The fighting sequences in this movie are also amazingly intense. John Woo (Face Off) was brought in to supervise these scenes and actually taught karate to Reeves and Fishbourne. Beside the general physical actions of the fight scenes, exaggeration is also used to accomplish an exciting feeling. For instance, at the end of the movie when Reeves is fighting the Smith, both of them fly backward when the other hits them. It adds intensity in a huge way and is fun to look at.
One of the most controversial things about The Matrix is the theme for it. Many people argue "it means this" or "it means that" and it is my belief that the producers intended for this discussion to occur over the movie. I think that they actually wanted people to draw their own conclusions about what each symbol means, what every name represents, and what the plot is representative of.
The most obvious theme in this movie is humanities ignorance. Humans take so much for granted around them. For instance, before Neo learned about what the Matrix really was, he had no idea that what seemed to be reality to him might actually just be a manipulative illusion or mirage. This is also shown in the popular scene with the woman in the red dress. Neo is walking down the street during his training program and sees an attractive woman in a red dress. His eyes stray to her, and, in that split second, an undercover Smith shoots him. After this exercise, he discusses the incident with Morpheus and is told not to ever let up his guard. In real life, people let up their guard all the time and don't consider things outside of the reality they focus on.
The other major theme I got from this movie was one of Biblical proportions. The names are very symbolic; for instance, Trinity is very often referred to along with the Holy Spirit in biblical scripture. "Morpheus" refers to the transformation of a person into a new entity. Neo turned into a much stronger person, perhaps even deity, when he believed in himself. Jesus gained much strength after he was baptized in the river by John the Baptist. Neo (Greek word meaning "New," perhaps referring to "new era") was considered the chosen one and brought justice to the world at the end of the movie. Jesus was the Messiah and savior, who ushered in a new era of holiness.
Perhaps the most obvious connection between Neo and Jesus Christ is the one of betrayal within their friends. Cypher was tempted by the Smiths into disclosing Neo's location so they could ambush him. Judas was tempted into disclosing Jesus' secret location to Rome, which ultimately led to his imprisonment and crucifixion. In both cases, however, the protagonist ultimately triumphs. Like its main character, Neo, The Matrix also triumphs in a very compelling and innovative way.
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