The Matrix (Widescreen)

The Matrix Trilogy, and especially the first installment, must be one of the most significant films of our time, and is likely to go down as an all time sci-fi classic along with the likes of Blade Runner. It is obviously laden with symbology fished from a variety of sources, but I wonder if the Watchowski brothers realised just exactly how powerful a metaphor for our reality they were creating.

The central premise that our lives are not 'real' but are steeped in illusion in order that our life force may be fed upon whilst we are enfenced unwittingly like cattle - this is a relevant and powerful message on many levels. It can easily be seen that this is true on a superficial level, with the rampant rise of ultra-aggressive capitalist consumerism, whereby everyone is 'sold a dream' in order to siphon off all income to profit the few, but it goes deeper than that, and can be used to catch a glimpse of some ideas on the true nature of reality. The overlap with material such as Castaneda is remarkable, with stories about the archetypal predator who is invisible, and feeds on us because he has 'given us his mind'. In all, it is a striking metaphor for the human condition.

Of course the great thing is that, even if you don't want to explore things to those levels, taken at surface value as a piece of entertainment, the Matrix is still a fantastic sci-fi/action film, with colourful characters, awesome visuals, and a solid original plotline. Taken as a trilogy, this is a fantastic piece of film-making artwork, but the first episode definitely has the lead for sheer impact and originality. Recommended to all!

I consider this movie to be one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time, right up there with the first two 'Alien' movies and various anime like 'Cyber City: Oedo', 'Ghost in the Shell' (which played a role in inspiring this movie), and 'Akira'. Being the hardcore anime fan that I am, I found 'The Matrix's' style very appealing and fun to watch. Everyone fit their roles perfectly in this movie; despite the fact that I'm not a fan of any of them (except Hugo Weaving), Keanu Reeves was much more likeable and believable than Will Smith would have ever been (he was originally considered to play the role of Neo, but he himself turned it down because 'he wasn't a serious enough actor'. I like Will Smith, but I totally agree with him). And let's not forget Hugo Weaving's brilliant performance as Agent Smith. Like this movie, I consider Hugo Weaving to be one of the greatest things to have ever come into existence. He has maintained his status of being the highlight in the entire Matrix franchise, alongside the action sequences that are nothing short of amazing.
Now, many people complain about the middle of this movie up until the point where Neo sees a deja-vu cat to be super-boring, but I disagree, and I tell them to open their damn ears and listen to what the characters were saying so that they are so frigging confused later on, because everything that's said in the movie is said with a purpose. Not to mention, everything that's said is actually very interesting.
"Whoa."
Anyway, I'll be closing this review by highly recommending it to any sci-fi lover who's been crazy enough to NOT view it yet. This movie is like the 'Pulp Fiction' of... well... science fiction.
***** out of *****

I remember being a kid and watching this movie in crappy 300mb MPG files - and I never had the whole thing. Add 13 years and watching this Bluray on a full high-quality 7.1, 1080p system is the difference between the blue and red pills. Pick this up and rewatch it. If you're like me then you'll love seeing this movie in all it's original glory (and the CGI hasn't aged too bad!)