That is the question that Andy and Larry Wachowski (“Bound,” 1996) pose in the “The Matrix.” Keanu Reeves plays Thomas Anderson, a late-20th-century easy-going computer jockey during the day, and feared and intelligent hacker by night, (alias Neo). He works in a cubicle, but he believes something is seriously wrong with the world when he encounters the cryptic phrase “The Matrix” repeatedly online. A man named Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) supposedly can tell him what it means, and determined, he sets out to find him. When he does, Morpheus tells him that none of what is happening around him is real, and he can tell him more, but Neo needs to make a choice: take …show more content…
It is essentially impossible to sit through movie and not wonder, “What the hell is going on?” and by the time you have finished working through the basics, you realize it is nowhere near as complicated as it is portrayed.
The visual spectacle serves as a distraction for the fact that the movie lacks the basic elements that make a movie an actual movie. The lack of character development and the nonexistent subplot leave the audience with the impression that something cool just happened without something cool actually happening. Essentially, “The Matrix” is a visually attractive …show more content…
This is a recycled and tired idea, which is a pity because the premise of “The Matrix” is intriguing; we are forced to question the nature of reality, but we are left hanging with no answers. In the end, the audience is expected to be satisfied with a final shoot-out and a martial arts battle. By the end of the movie, we are left with one thought: “Okay, well that was cool and all, but what next?”
However, that is not to say there aren’t any positives. Some who look for an escape from the problems of the real world will be able to overlook the lack of overall depth in the film simply because of the visual bravado. The Wachowski brothers have created the visual gold standard for every action or sci-fi flick that has followed. Regardless of what may or may not happen in the film, the special effects and computer-generated images have been groundbreaking, and it has opened up a Pandora’s box of technological possibilities for filmmakers