The Matrix

When I first saw a television preview for this film, I thought the Matrix was some kind of monster or super villain like the Terminator. “Unfortunately no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself”. Upon seeing the film, I was extremely impressed by the special effects and the action but now I know the biggest reason why it succeeds as a film. The themes & the story are the elements that were given the most attention and the special effects & action take supporting roles. It is true that a lot of effort was put into the fight sequences and the revolutionary bullet-time shots for example but those moments serve the tale being told. The film has a lot of references & influences and because of the long list of such allusions, “The Matrix” is a fascinating film.

The story uses many religious and philosophical themes. On a personal note, I wish to say that religious symbolism in an R-rated science fiction film makes me a little uncomfortable. At least they pronounced the word Zion as having two syllables where as in the religious context, it has just one. Just like “Star Wars” or “The Lord of the Rings”, the story archetype of “The Hero’s Journey” can be seen. Joseph Campbell first illustrated this narrative pattern that can trace its origin to almost every ancient culture or religion. Another obvious influence on the story of “The Matrix” is “Alice in Wonderland”. Morpheus mentions this connection but preceding that, we have the white rabbit moment. “The Matrix” is also an underdog story. The opening scene is great. We are shown some great cinematography and lighting. Also, the opening establishes the color scheme of the entire film (greens and blacks). I love movies like “Indiana Jones” or “James Bond” that start off in the middle of some adventure or event. The audience is lost as to what is going on in the opening scene and such is the case on “The Matrix”. How is Trinity able to fight like that? How is it that she and the agent can jump far and the police officers can’t? We can relate to Neo as a result in that we have no idea what is going on. We discover alongside him what the Matrix is. A relatable hero is very important to the success of a film. One good thing about the opening however is that not all the supernatural abilities of the agents and Trinity are portrayed. The audience must not be completely confused or overwhelmed. The opening of the film has a great deal of foreshadow. The lines spoken by Troy are a good example of this as he uses words like “unplug” and “savior”. Another example of foreshadow is Neo’s boss. He is similar to an agent is appearance and speech. His first line about how Neo thinks he is special and that the rules do not apply to him foreshadows his destiny. A final example is when Switch calls Neo “coppertop”, referencing what the machines use humans for.

Whenever I talk about “The Hero’s Journey” in relation to the story of a movie, I must mention certain plot points that tend to appear all the time in such a story pattern. The first is when our hero receives a call to adventure. In “The Matrix”, it is the White Rabbit scene. The hero then has a moment where he temporarily refuses the call of adventure. He is about to exit the car and Trinity stops him. Supernatural aid then occurs or a teacher appears to help our hero and Morpheus provides this in “The Matrix”. Our hero then crosses the threshold into unfamiliar surroundings and with every door that Neo uses, the world that he is used to is gradually left behind. The ultimate “crossing of the threshold” is when he is unplugged. In the quest he undertakes, a hero has friends and we see that in this movie. I like the scene where Neo and Morpheus meet because Morpheus acts like a maître d'. He tells us what is on the menu. We come to understand, because of the screenwriting of this scene, that Neo will not like the truth once he finds it out. Once Neo chooses the “main course” then Morpheus, over the subsequent expositions scenes, gives him the price of what he has chosen. The film is good because the Matrix turned out to be different from what we assumed. We think that the Matrix is some kind of metal block for the full potential of our mind or something like that but once Neo wakes up and is unplugged, the Matrix turns out to be quite different. We get a “What the freak” moment when Neo wakes up and it is quite powerful in the film. Just when we thought we understood what is going on, we realize that we have had no idea. The construct scene is well scripted to make everything clear. We now know what the Matrix is. The scene is a good use of montage. Exposition scenes tend to be hard because the audience can loose interest but “The Matrix” has Lawrence Fishburne and other actors that make those scenes very entertaining. When we understand that the Matrix resembles a computer system, we understand how the laws of that system can now be bent or broken. The sparing program scene visually shows us this and the movie gets fun. There are no stuntmen as the actors are actually fighting. I also love when Morpheus says the line “Free you mind” and as he says “free”, the wind blows through Neo’s hair as if there is physical power in that word. In order to create a character that is omniscient, they usually need to have a quirk or some relatable human quality. The Oracle feels like a grandmother. She is established as a guide rather than as a god. She plays with her power for fun.

The Oracle scene introduces the mental conflict that the audience and characters must deal with: is Neo the One? When Neo is saved from Cypher’s hand, we start to again consider that maybe Neo is the One. There is hope and that makes for a better climax. Cypher is stupid in my opinion. I could never trust the machines if I were in his shoes. You can never deal with the devil because the devil is a liar. When Neo stops Morpheus from being unplugged, he accepts the idea that fate exists. Because of the Oracle’s prophecy, which he now has faith in, he knows that he can save Morpheus at the loss of his own life. If he is not the One, then Morpheus must be saved so that he can find the true One. When Neo and Trinity win the battle with the soldiers in the lobby of the military building, Neo becomes a new character for us. He seems unstoppable. There is more hope. Storyboarding, editing and the use of slow motion is the key to that scene’s success. By the time we get to Neo’s fight with Agent Smith you ask yourself: “Can there be any more cool moments in this movie”. Again, it is the subtext of the fight that makes it great and not what we see. There is a reference to spaghetti westerns and also I love how Neo shakes the dust off of himself before he challenges Smith to continue the fight. Neo’s death allows for hope to be lost and then his awakening makes for a great victory.

There are many miscellaneous aspects of the film that support the story and make the movie what it is. The acting, as mentioned, is very entertaining to watch. It is interesting for me to find out who else was asked to be in this film. Will Smith was approached to play Neo as was Nicholas Cage. As cool as it is to think of Will Smith as the lead actor, I feel that his persona would have taken away the underdog nature of the story. Sandra Bullock was asked to play Trinity and amazingly enough, Sean Connery was asked to play Morpheus. Keanu Reeves did very well. I love how he delivers the line in the elevator shaft: “There is no spoon”. “The Matrix” introduced me to Fishburne and because of this film, I think that Fishburne as become another James Earl Jones in Hollywood. I liked Hugo Weaving’s vocal performance in “Babe” but “The Matrix” is the film that cemented him in my mind. As I said, it is wonderful to see these actors performing Kung-Fu moves as opposed to using stuntmen. The musical score of the film is one of my favorites. I love the opening theme and how it establishes the mood of the film. The music indicates every important scene and plot point quite well. The cinematography is well done such as shots using the reflections in Morpheus’ glasses. The Wachowski brothers, who directed this film, are obviously passionate fans of anime cartoons & comic books and it shows. They replicated the feelings of those mediums quite well. The design of the film reminds me of a comic book thanks to the aforementioned color scheme. I also like how the agents have glasses with square frames while our heroes have round frames. The wardrobe is noteworthy because of how cool everyone looks while in the Matrix. The film came out the same year as “Star Wars: Episode I” and it was a competition of quality against quantity at the Oscars. Quality won as “The Matrix” won four Oscars for Visual Effects, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Film Editing (as a Star Wars fan, I will admit that I am a little disappointed). The editing of “The Matrix” was very well done during exposition and fight scenes. The special effects were also very cool but the “bullet time” shots take the cake. The shot with Neo dodging the bullets has become one of most important special effects of that decade. It took us from 20th to 21st century filmmaking in my opinion. It can be linked in terms of importance to the opening shot of “Star Wars: Episode IV”.

I never got to see any of the Matrix movies in theaters during the initial releases for a variety of reasons. Thanks to a film festival though, I got to see this show on the big screen and that was enjoyable. Even though I like “Inception” just a little bit better, “The Matrix” is still on my top twenty list of favorite science fiction films. It made its way onto the American Film Institute’s list of the most thrilling movies at #66. The focus of the film is not on the sci-fi or violence or special effects but on the story. Despite this focus, all the cinematic elements were given a lot of attention so that they could support the story. The film has many influences and references included and because of the balance, the film works. The movie is packed full of memorable, entertaining moments with barely any sexual references. There are moments in “The Matrix” that are now part of pop culture like moments from “Star Wars” and “Star Trek”. I just wish that the Wachowski brothers did not screw up the franchise. They lost their sense of focus and balance.

4.5 Stars

My buddies and I came up with this photo as a Matrix spoof. (I am the one in the middle)