The Matrix - overrated and not
even commutative.
Plot: There's something fishy about the world...
The truth is out there... Blah blah blah. BLAM!
BLAM! BLAM!
If you are a sci-fi/action fan then go and see
the very entertaining '
The Matrix',
but leave your loved one behind unless she has
a crush Keanu Reeves. If she
does have
a crush on Reeves then leave your loved one
behind: she should only have eyes for you! But
if you are a sci-fi fan then you probably don't
have a gf anyway, let alone one with eyes only
for you :)
"
The Matrix" is interesting but
implausible in a way that you don't want to
"suspend disbelief". The plot demands that the
good guys and bad guys must be insanely bright.
This point must have escaped the casting director
who cast actors who portrayed their characters
as being about as bright as a candle. As seen
through raybans. From a distance of Jupiter
from Earth.
This movie boasts smashing digital special effects,
there are many moments of sheer wonderment,
like "bullet time" slo-mo bullets
leaving shimmering trails of hot, refracting
air. And the film has an interesting premise.
But things started to go wrong...
The Matrix painted its self into
a logical corner. (You can't use computer generated
bullets to fight the computer generating the
bullets.) Then, instead of extricating itself
with a fascinating logical slight of hand, along
comes the Hollywood mentality: Why
think
your way out of trouble when semiautomatics,
shotguns and
wire fu
will get the job done for free? Oh and I forgot
to mention magic.
The Matrix is
unsatisfying because having raised one's expectations,
it kept invoking arbitrary magic to resolve
the initially promising plot.
Update May 2003
Recently I saw the Matrix for a second time:
on DVD at
Madpole's
place in Bournemouth. I was a bit unfair, I
guess, in the above review. As someone pointed
out, this is part of a trilogy, so it is hasty
to judge
The Matrix on its plot,
I suppose it is like judging "
a bit
of the old in and out" by the foreplay.
(Apologies to Kubrick for the "
in and
out" bit. While I was at Madpole's
place I also saw Kubrick's
Clockwork
Orange on DVD. Now that
IS
a brilliant and astonishing movie, a movie,
that, like the matrix, uses violence as a means
to portray some very neat philosophy. In fact,
in some ways,
The Matrix is
Clockwork
Orange for the sexless, bloodless,
impatient generation X).
***Spoilers Ahead***:
My original review (above) complains about arbitrary
magic. We all know a woman can break a living
man's heart and make him croak. This is psychology
/ physiology. But a woman cannot mend a dead
man's heart and make him live (at least not
without resorting to the wonders of medical
science: defibrillators or open heart massage
for example. Kissing? Nah!) That is magic/bullshit
and it happens in the Matrix. But, you might
protest, the Matrix is not real, so it can be
defied. But earlier on, Morpheus hints heavily
that if you die in the Matrix then you die in
"real life", so I felt at the time
that the movie was lying to us. Talk about cheating!
Maybe I am going soft, but upon repeat viewing,
I found myself much more forgiving of this fraud,
mainly because I thoroughly enjoyed myself watching
this again. And - hey - every religion before
and since Christianity has a resurrection myth,
so why not in a movie? Movies? Religions? They're
all the same to me.
The AI drones use body heat? You can get that
from people (or animals) in a coma. But where
does the energy come from to feed the humans,
we are inefficient heat generators in the first
place. Why not just burn the food and use that
to generate heat? Why have the Matrix at all?
Given that my crappy PC uses a shit-load of
power just to play
Counter Strike,
generating Matrices must be expensive, energetically.
But, yeah, in the far future, of course, we
may have some unforeseen tech, so it is pointless
speculating. Perhaps all will be explained.
I recall that Neo was yelling into a mobile
phone (!) asking for a telephone(!!). Besides,
it's really fast to upload a human being using
a modem isn't it :) Given that the phones are
just computer graphics in a simulated world,
I was baffled. But hey, it is an ingenious plot
device, the script writers can trap people in
the Matrix, or get then out of it any time they
like. Nice. None of the plot makes sense, but
the questions it raises are absolutely great.
At one point in the movie Agent Smith compares
humans to a virus, we consume all the natural
resources until there are none left. This still
makes my skin crawl - because it is true. We
are killing our planet, unless it is a computer
simulation. In this case, Agent Smith is the
good guy. He is preventing humans from wrecking
the Earth. (Oh, I forgot, they already did,
in the movie that is. Or did I mean real life?).
Another thing that occurred to me when discussing
this movie with Madpole, and a Dutchman named
Arnout, was that Neo must be "The One"
simply because if you move the O from the end
of Neo, you get oNe. Don't know why that trivial
thought popped into my head. It certainly wasn't
freewill.
Madpole pointed out something curious: that
the guards in the foyer gun fight scene uncannily
resembled German WWII troops. Subliminal American/Hollywood
anti-European propaganda is as strong as always,
it seems.
In my original review I gave
The Matrix
a 3.5/5. That is a respectable score for a movie.
I have since altered my mind in the movie's
favour. I now believe this movie is so original
and such a scorcher it deserves full credit,
even if it does contain Mr K. Reeves. (Why did
I upgrade the score? Simple! I sold my soul
to Agent Smith). Now it's time for
Matrix
Reloaded...
Any
ending except the one we got, which seemed to
say this: "Mindless violence is the answer to
the problem, even to an intellectual problem."
It is not even a case of shoot first, ask questions
later, it is just a case of shoot. Full stop.
If Hollywood ran the world chess championships
then the champion would be the guy quickest
on the draw with the six shooter. Picture the
scene: Kasparov pulls off a brilliant queen
sacrifice. Keanu pulls out his semiautomatic
in slow motion. Blam! blam! BLAM! Kasparov slumps
dead over the board, scattering the pieces.
Keanu blows the smoke from the nozzle of his
gun, looks moodily into the camera and drawls
"Checkmate!". Let's hope the
Trilogy ends in a wittier fashion, but if not,
hell, give me funky bullet time effects, Agent
Smith, and you can continue to harvest my body
heat in exchange for beer.
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Mel | Subject: | 2001-04-06 07:21:38 |
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Update:
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