Rating: 
Summary: Wide Screen Blues
Review: Sure makes me we wish that I had a Wide Screen TV So I could actually see the awsome VIDEO impact. I Buy a big screen TV and what does the movie industry do . They shrink the movies into a bandage strip across my screen. I'll just have to buy it on VHS I guess.
Rating:
Summary: Well, what can you really say?
Review: Sure, I'd heard of it when it came out; with all the hype surrounding that movie, you'd have to have been somewhere near the South Pole not to have heard of it. And there were many comments at the time about how fresh and new and inspirational the movie was - but having then seen a few sequences which consisted of nothing more than some seemingly pointless kung-fu stuff mixed with cool special effects, I decided this movie was not for me. Shame... Then I realized that it was playing on television last night, so I decided to sit down and watch it, on the fervent recommendation of a friend of mine. Wow. That's all I could think of when the end credits were playing. Quite apart from the fact that most of the fight sequences were totally cheesy (not helped by the "Men In Black" style outfits they were all wearing) and were so obviously computer generated, the basic premise for the story was something totally new to me. The old 'save mankind from disaster' idea was given a totally new spin here, and some very interesting and thought provocative questions came to my mind as I watched the movie - like for example, given the miserable truth of the 'real' world, why would any person want to be 'freed' ? Personally, I think I would rather have remained enslaved and stayed in the Matrix... as one of the characters says, "ignorance is bliss". On another note, the acting surprised me a lot. I wasn't sure what to expect from a cast led by Keanu Reeves, but the actors were all very fine. Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving and Carrie-Ann Moss in particular should be highly commended for their performances, and Reeves himself did a good job of portraying the rather enigmatic Neo. And when all that's considered, one can easily forgive the nearly constant use of special effects - after all, they do add a remarkable atmosphere to the movie, and a little candy for the eyes and ears never hurt anybody. Overall, an extremely pleasant surprise, infinitely superior to the usual blow 'em up action movies around today.
Rating: 
Summary: For the doubters...
Review: Sure, the Matrix borrows heavily from John Woo, TRON, Blade Runner, Total Recall, etc. Is that such a bad thing? Total Recall borrows from a million movies before it, and Hong-Kong-style martial arts flicks existed way before John Woo. Stylistically, there is very little that does not borrow from something before it. The Matrix is a biblical allegory--Mankind is enslaved in sins of its own creation (robots) Morpheus (John the Baptist) has "saved" a very few people, and those before him (Abraham, Moses) saved him. His newest "awakenee," Neo (an anagram with "One") is the bewildered, Christ-like figure who is killed to purge man's sin, then arises again. Trinity (a holy reference in itself) is part Virgin Mary, part Mary Magdalene (the one who led Neo to be "born"; the one with whom Neo falls in love), with Cipher playing the all important Judas. Sure, you may say the plot has been done before. But rarely has it been done as such an expressive allegory. Only spots of hackneyed dialogue and some terrible acting by Carrie-Anne Moss (Reeves's perennial-Ted character was perfect here) keep it from a 5.
Rating:
Summary: Best intelligent kick-ass movie yet
Review: Sure, the Matrix has incredibly well-done spfx, cool editing, astounding stunts, and guys wearing shades, but what makes this so great is that the makers of this movie actually put in a few ideas to go along with images. The best sci-fi (in literature and film) always makes you think, makes you wonder. The Matrix is hands down the best sci-fi movie since Terminator.
Rating:
Summary: Plot and story? Not with kick butt SFX like these!
Review: Sure, the plot has holes. Yeah, some of the dialouge is forced. But really, who cares? This movie is all about style, and when they do it this well, who can resist having a little fun? The only things you have to know about the Matrix is that the effects rock, the music kicks, the action is second to none, and the whole cast looks really, really good decked out in leather. If there was a little less talkey talkey and a little more gravity-defying action, it would've gotten a five. SEE IT NOW!
Rating:
Summary: Plot holes, but who cares?!
Review: Sure, there are plot holes. But the martial arts scenes were great
Rating: 
Summary: It was just okay.
Review: Sure, there were some good things about The Matrix. The special effects were very well done, the acting was good. And it has some good martial arts scenes. But the plot has some major flaws - things that just don't make any sense at all. (I won't spell them out here, not to ruin the plot.) I felt my intelligence a little insulted at two points in the movie, like I wasn't supposed to notice major plot elements that were just nonsensical. Besides that, the story was not very original; the basic (paranoid brain-in-a-vat) idea has been done before. Not a bad rental, but I sure wouldn't buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, Thought-Provoking, Compelling
Review: Synopsis: A premiere sci-fi film with a lot of action and a thought-provoking premise Overall Entertainment Value: Excellent Violence: Abundant, but not gory Plot: Thought provoking, but not high brow or preachy Special Effects: Well Done and Visually Compelling Suitable For Age: Mature 16 Few movies compel me to watch them more than once. Fewer still can completely hold my interest a second time. This is one of the rare movies that I can enjoy every few months. Like Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and even Star Trek/Star Trek NG, The Matrix invites you to examine your notions of what being "alive" means. Ironically, the special effects that draw you into accepting the reality of The Matrix ultimately support a plot that forces you to challenge any notion you may have about objective reality. How do you *know* your reality is *the* reality? No, it's not some high brow intellectual art film; and yes, its violence, while not gory, is abundant. This is not a movie for early teens! Nonetheless, if you come away from it without wondering about the relationship between perception and reality (or whether objective reality can be proven at all!), then you'll have missed the point. If so, just go back to watching reruns of Seinfeld - and other shows that are proudly about nothing at all. For the rest of you, buy this on DVD because I suspect a VHS tape will wear out before your interest in this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Essential
Review: Take a combination of exciting innovations in special effects, an original, intriguing hero story, a lot of guns, and a lot of black clothing, and you have the single most essential part of anyone's DVD collection. I've only seens some of the special features on a friend's DVD (sorry, folks, the thing's still shipping, I don't actually own it yet); they offer a fascinating description (for all the nerds out there like me) of how many of the special effects are produced (particularly bullet time).
Rating: 
Summary: This movie sucks! Wachowski Brothers suck!
Review: Talk about copycats! This movie has no ORIGINALITY! Its like stealing and combining Terminator 2, Japanamation, and John Woo movies all into one! The "Bullet Time" sequence is the only scene worth mentioning. Just because it has a ton of cool FX doesn't make it a good movie at all! The Wachowski Brothers need to think of something creative instead of BITING nips and pieces of other people's ideas!
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