Rating: Summary: Easily the Star Wars of our time Review: People will be talking about The Matrix the exact same way for years to come that Star Wars used to be spoken of. The reasons for its success are too numerous to count, but one thing is easy to see already--the art of the movie will never be the same after The Matrix (just as it wasn't after Star Wars). Potential purchasers: wait for the special edition boxed set to come out with extended footage in all three movies.
Rating: Summary: One Of The Best Movies of the 1990's Review: People's opinions on this movie fall into one of two catagories - they either love it to pieces or hate it to bits. The love faction is the larger of the two by far, but that doesn't prevent the occasional snipe from the hate side. But then again, these days just about anyone with a computer and a modem can shoot off their opinion - and good for them. As a result, no movie ever is going to get a perfect rating, until they release a perfect movie. :) "The Matrix" isn't perfect - but boy, does it ever come close. Many have commented of its lack of originality, and yes, even the biggest Matrix buff will have to concede that there's a lot of previously-enjoyed ingredients here. But they mix together for some tasty stew - the movie mixes stylized action with spiritual allegories and the computer subculture, and the end result is the type of movie that gets everyone to take notice - love it or hate it, the one thing you can't do is ignore it. The movie's stylized look is called "manga style" by many, and "comic book style" by me. (Always hated different words for the same thing...) We move around inside of the world with some of the smoothest camera tricks, angles, pans, zooms and trasitions ever seen - it is like the Wachowski Brothers were born with a camera in their hands, so fluidly it all comes together. The characters they show us are, again, like comic book characters - strong, powerful, good-looking on the outside, but surprisingly human. Trinity's fear over expressing her feelings, Neo's uncertainty in himself, Cypher's second thoughts about his life - all these elvate them above normal action heroes. The other thing that sets the heroes of the Matrix apart is what they can do. In a world freed of the limits of flesh, they can pull off incredible stunts, maneuvers and attacks. Why take the bus when you can leap 50 feet between buildings? This, coupled with the fact that they all seem to be former computer hackers and nerds, pulls the intended audience into the picture. The main character, played by Keanu Reeves, starts out as a soft-spoken, distant, meek man - just like every kid who's ever read comic books. In the end, he becomes who every one of those kids wants to be - a man with power, and with a clear sense of purpose. The mataphorical allegories of this movie will be debated for years - from subtle touches like Neo's apartment number (101 - not only is he "the One," but 101 is binary code, the language of computers) to the more overt references to Buddism and Christianity. But as said before - they all mix into some tasty stew. It earns its title, not by what it incorporates, but by how well it's done - and it's all done so well, you can't help but be impressed.
Rating: Summary: Perfect Sci-Fi Movie (better than...you name it). Review: Perfect Sci-Fi Movie (better than...you name it)
Rating: Summary: The Best Film of 1999! Review: Perhaps I am biased. I have, after all, seen the film seven times to date, and plan to see it many more. But this is not your typical commandos-who-kill action flick. It mixes *unbelievable* special effects--so smooth that you don't even notice them at first--with a mind-tingling plot that keeps you musing for weeks. In addition, you are presented with marvelous acting from Moss, Weaving, Fishburne and the rest of the supporting cast. The violence (which is considerable; hence the R rating) remains mercifully non-gory, being composed cheifly of Kung Fu and guns ("lots of guns," to quote the main character). It is hard to give a synopsis of this movie without spoiling too much of the plot; however, as one reviewer has commented, viewers "get their intellects tickled." With brilliant, eye-catching cinematography throughout, beautifully stylized presentation, and more metaphors and symbolism than one can keep track of, I can't rate this film as anything but an emphatic 10.
Rating: Summary: The ultimate action movie! Review: Perhaps I was living in a box at the time, but it seems to me this movie didn't really generate a lot of pre-opening hype. I mean the trailer was okay, but I wasn't compelled to see it. That's one of the main reasons I was completely blown away once it came out. It's so good Keanu Reeves couldn't mess it up (that's saying a lot!) and it now replaces Terminator 2 and Top Gun as the #1 must-have DVD to show off your new home theater system. Will Terminator 3 knock the Matrix off the perch? We'll have to see... Aside from the great picture and sound, the main reason to get the DVD is for the behind the scenes info if you get into this stuff. I particularly enjoyed the featurette on "Bullet-Time" which shows how difficult and elaborate it was to create this super-slow-motion effect you now see on everything from X-games shows to cat food commercials. What you may not know is the creators of the Matrix are in collusion with Amazon. You see, by viewing this site you're already being programmed to... wait, what's that? (click) Oh no, ack.... urrghhhh.........
Rating: Summary: Great Special effects, zero plot. Review: Perhaps if they had put a little more of the budget towards decent actors and writers I would have been more impressed. I found the characters one dimensional, the basic plot ludicrous, and Keanu (though blessedly silent for much of the movie) in a leading a horrible mistake. If this machine intelligence is intelligent enough to construct this alternate reality, enslave all but a handful of humanity, and manufacture mechanical hunter/killers, doesn't it seem likely it would be able to breach the manmade perpetual night or at least find a more efficient power source than human batteries? But, if you want to show off your new DVD home entertainment center with all its frills, this would be the flick to use.
Rating: Summary: Ok, lets not get carried away.......... Review: Personally I think that this movie is not much what it was hyped up to be. Much like that other overrated movie in 1999 called Star Wars Episode 1. This movie supposedly brags a very "unique" story. I personally dont think so. To me it is nothing more than a normal plot that could have been used in an episode of "the Twilight Zone" with alot of special effects. The special effects are very good. And that is what keeps this movie from being a complete mess. I saw how they made the revolutionary effects and that was very cool. The sound effects are very good too. This is one of those DVD's like "Saving Private Ryan" that has sound soooo good it makes you proud to have a DVD player. The sound, picture quallity, and the extras are what made me get the DVD. The acting in this movie is horrible. Lt me repeat that, horrible! I hate Reeves's acting. To me I think that the acting is one of the most vital roles to a movie. The rest of the cast's acting is not Academy Award winning either. The direting is fairly good, escpecially for a sci-fi juggernaut of a film, but I do not advise turning the movie into a a trilogy like the Star Wars movies. That would be a utter mess. The directors of this movie had a box office hit and now they think they can keep the franchise going. Soon we will be seing everything from action figures to lunchboxes that have been spawned from this redicules movie. Not only are they turning it inot a trilogy, they are filming the movies back to back. The Star Wars movies took years to write and plan. They turned out marvelous except the latest installment. The Matrix is being made within a few years. That is what you call rushing the movies to cash in on the original and ruining the whole series. Remember the "Rocky" series. One big hit that was really good untill the endless terrible sequels it spawned ruined that reputation and respect for the original. I hope this review has been helpful to you, and thank you for your time.
Rating: Summary: orgasmic Review: Personally speaking I can not stand sci-fi movies, but it has to be said this one had me on the edge of my seat. The action was brilliant, although I wasn't to sure about the acting. I would definetly watch this one over again and again, no questions asked. This film is what I call ENTERTAINMENT!
Rating: Summary: Fantastic and a MUST for every homosapiens. Review: Personally, this is the best movie I have ever seen in years. The screenplay is above average, the effects, idea and everything are beyond words. Comparably with Star Wars, Phantom Menace, I would take on this movie anytime. Just some simple arithmetic, how many critical scenes does Star Wars have and how many does The Matrix has. Ratio? 1:3, 1:4? I would say 1:4. Although the effects on Star Wars are more complicated than Matrix, a lot of the efffects are kinda extra, doesn't serve it's purpose. Don't get me wrong here, Star Wars is good, compare to a whole lot of movies, it is just that the grossing on the Matrix kinda disappoint me. That's all. It could have done better. Go Wachowski brothers!!! p/s: MOVIE OF THE YEAR.
Rating: Summary: Yawn - trivializes the whole genre Review: Philip K. Dick wrote better "the-world-you-think-is-real-isn't-really-real" stories in his sleep. The Matrix is the most one-dimensional treatment of this motif you could imagine. But by now every geek on the planet has grown to "love" this movie and embrace it like an anthem for a new generation. You mean we're REALLY not living in THIS world, but we're all living in pods on a human farm somewhere in New Jersey where our life essence is harvested from us by machines who have no source of energy since the sun is blocked out? To quote uberactor Keanu, "Whoa!" This movie could have had a better storyline (machines have no source of energy so they imprison and feed us to get some?????) and gotten past the most trivial non-twist in a movie since Nicholas Cage decided to just go ahead and drink himself to death in Leaving Las Vegas. How about... maybe the pod-world also isn't real, maybe there's something really real beyond that? How about maybe the pod-world is the fake world and the supposedly dream-induced world is real after all? How about maybe SOME suspense worthy of a genuine story? The motifs of questioning what is real (courtesy of PKD and the Gnostics before him) have been turned into a trivial MTV gameshow kung fu techno-action movie, a Spongebob Squarepants cartoon about the pursuit to understand the nature of reality as "not what it seems". Never mind, who cares, the geeks are all already lined up outside theatres in full costume to catch the opening of the SECOND dumbed-down sequel. Whoa...
|