Plot
A computer hacker, Neo, is approached by a mysterious individual named Morpheus. Morpheus offers Neo an escape from his boring 'real' life, but the escape is actually the real physical life. The one Neo is living is actually a computer simulation, made to keep people docile so evil machines hundreds of years in the future can use them as a power source. Neo accepts, and soon learns that he is the One, a prophesized messiah who will save the Human race.
Along with Morpheus are Trinity and Cypher. They begin training Neo to manipulate the Matrix, or the program. After them, in the real world, are robotic sentinels, and in the Matrix, Agents. First and foremost is Agent Smith. After Neo learns that the Matrix can be manipulated, they begin to go against the Agents. That's when Cypher betrays Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity to the Agents. This leads to the climactic battle with Neo and Smith, and Neo overcomes death to defeat the Agent. For the time being.
My Thoughts
1999 was the year of 'what if?', in my mind. There were three movies that asked "What if reality wasn't real?". These were The Thirteenth Floor, Existenz, and of course, the Matrix. The Thirteenth Floor was shit, Existenz was a typical David Cronenberg mind-fuck, and this was the best, purely original and entertaining movie.
The Wachowski brothers created an incredibly intricate universe here. It so flawlessly weaved our current perceptions of life with the question of whether or not it was real. The special effects are ground-breaking, and often copyied. They created 'bullet-time' and developed new camera techniques that are standard practices now.
I saw this movie after the original hype had started to die down. I enjoyed it immensly, and was jazzed for the sequel. Much to my chagrin, it would take four years to get one.
The Matrix Reloaded
Cast
Neo: Keanu Reeves
Morpheus: Laurence Fishbourne
Trinity: Carrie-Anne Moss
Agent Smith: Hugo Weaving
Niobi: Jada Pinkett-Smith
Released: May 2003. Written & Directed by: The Wachowski brothers. My Rating: ***
Plot
An Army of Sentinels is closing in on Zion, the last Human stronghold on Earth. Many forces in Zion believe that the only way to defend themselves is to physically fight them. It is Morpheus and Neo's belief that this battle must be fought in the Matrix. disobeying orders, Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo visit the Oracle. She sends them on a mission to find the Keymaker, which will lead them to the Source. It all gets even more foggy as the movie progresses. They find out that Neo isn't the first 'One'. There have been five, and five sets of events that mirror these. He is told that these events cannot be changed. The Sentinels will destroy Zion, and the cycle will begin again.
Of course, Neo tries to stop it anyway.
My Thoughts
Well, this one most of the questions posed by the first Matrix movie, but it asked more than it answered. It was part of one of the most successful multi-media blitzes ever, incorporating the storylines of a DVD anime release The Ani-Matrix, and a video game, Enter The Matrix. Both were add-ons to the stroylines of the movies. Instead of just getting three stories of a trilogy, the Matrix offers nearly unlimited storylines. They all intertwine and add to the already rich Matrix universe.
As for this movie, my original Nerdlinger review stands.
The first was filled with action, while this one seemed to do more talking and philosophising about existance than anything. The overhyped car chase was uninteresting and fairly expensive looking, but not really that exciting. There were some cool parts, however. Any scene with Hugo Weaving's Mr. Smith was worthwhile, and the relationship between Trinity and Neo was great to watch grow. It had its moments, but failed to make the impact that the first one did. However, I might just have my standards too high.
In addition, there were several scenes where you could tell that it was computer generated. It was good, but still obvious. Nothing too major. I did enjoy it, and it was worth seeing, but the first was so much better. Here's hoping that the last one, Revolutions, out in less than a month, blows us away. And answer all the mind-numbing questions the first two have asked.
The Matrix Revolutions
Cast
Neo: Keanu Reeves
Morpheus: Laurence Fishburne
Trinity: Carrie-Anne Moss
Agent Smith: Hugo Weaving
Niobi: Jada Pinkett-Smith
Released: November 2003. Written and Directed by: The Wachowski Brothers. My Rating: **.
Plot
The final installment of this failing trilogy picks up right where the last one left off. Neo is in a coma, but his mind is in the Matrix. Morpheus and Trinity go after him, and we see the last time they fight together. Neo is in between the machine world and the Matrix, held hostage by the strange Trian Man. Only after some fancy footwork by Morpheus and Trinity does he let Neo go. They see the Oracle one last time, and she says a bunch of cryptic hooey. After returning to the real world, Neo decides he needs to go to the machine city. Niobi gives up her ship, and Neo and Trinity leave.
After that, it becomes a two-front story. Neo and Trinity find that Bane, the guy who Agent Smith is inhabiting, got onboard their ship. he consequently burns out Neo's eyes, but he gains a kind of second sight. They continue on and actually make it to the city. However, Trinity dies a horrible death.
The other side is Zion, where the invasion has begun. In possibly the best part of the movie, the humans get slaughtered by invading sentinals. At the end of the battle, the ship containing Morpheus and Niobi crash the gate and fire an EMP. This staves off the first wave, but the second starts to come.
Neo has a chat with the collective conciousness of the machines, and offers to destroy Agent Smith. He has grown out of the control of the machines. In return, all Neo wants is peace.
Neo jacks in, faces Smith, and wins. The machines leave Zion, and the Matrix is....not destroyed. They agree to disagree, and let life go on.
My Thoughts
This one dragged on and on. Yes, the Zion battle was stunning. Yes, the overall effects were the best in Hollywood. However, the final Neo/Smith battle was over-blown and over-drawn. Every other scene with Smith was a joy to behold, even when he was in Bane's body. The whole demeanor gave me the creeps the entire trilogy. But, this movie took itself way too seriously, much like the rest of the trilogy. It talked too much, and tried to answer all of life's questions. In the end, it fell flat, and I'm almost wishing that they didn't continue with the trilogy after the original. I would say they explained too much, but even after the final chapter, you didn't learn much more than after the first movie. But, with a redundant tag line like "Everything that has a beginning has an end", what do you expect?
