THE MATRIX (15)
D: Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
Warner Bros./Village Roadshow (Joel Silver)
US/Australia 1999
136 mins
Action/Science Fiction
W: Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
DP: Bill Pope
Ed: Zach Staenberg
Mus: Don Davis
PD: Owen Paterson
Cos: Kym Barrett
Keanu Reeves (Thomas Anderson / Neo), Laurence Fishburne
(Morpheus), Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity), Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith), Gloria Foster (The Oracle), Joe Pantoliano (Cypher)
The coolest film of 1999? The Matrix is certainly one of
the coolest films of the 1990's.
Keanu Reeves plays a computer hacker trying to find a man
called Morpheus. Once he finds him, his eyes are opened to the truth; his entire existence is actually a virtual reality world, all within the confines of a mainframe computer system. The
real world is now a barren wasteland, where a handful of human survivors are in a fierce war against machines with high artificial intelligence.
It's a plot which draws off the usual sci-fi staples, but
also adds much originality as well as a reference or three to Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland stories.
The film is also worth noting for its milestones in visual
effects achievements, using "bullet time photography" to fully make a fully convincing world within a world.
8/10