Stunning, daring, enigmatic, flawless…The list goes on and on for the 1999 sci-fi action thriller The Matrix. Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Keanu Reeves feature in the film, which is directed and written by the Wachowski brothers. The film won Academy Award for Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects.
We are introduced to the protagonist Neo (Keanu Reeves), who according to most people, is a dedicated computer programmer working for a software company. He is also shown to the audience as a hacker. He has always felt that there was something wrong with the world. And one day, he is approached by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), an underworld leader, through a mysterious computer presence.
“Wake up Neo. The Matrix has you. Follow the white rabbit,” a printout appears on the computer screen and the journey begins.
Neo decodes a sequence of hidden clues and the messenger Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) to find the mysteries of the Matrix, an idea of possible virtual realities that has irked and evaded him for years.
As a result, Neo now has an option. Morpheus hands him two pills and tells him to take them. One will return him to his previous life, while the other will allow him to travel to an alternative reality where he will learn about the Matrix. He opts for the latter, and unfortunately the truth is almost too much for him to handle. He realises that the world he believes to be real is actually generated and governed by advanced machines that get their energy from a colony of hibernating womb pods carrying sleeping flesh-and-blood humans. The machines’ mission is to destroy all free humans, and their most powerful weapons.
Soon after, he discovers how to control the Matrix, a computer-generated dream world created by machines to control human minds. Morpheus and his small group of supporters, however, face the ultimate danger from the antagonist.
There’s a much more to The Matrix than this, but explaining it further would disclose plot twists that are better discovered by watching it.
The acting cast has done an outstanding job in bringing the characters to a level where spectators are glued to their seats while they watch the film. “The Matrix” has some spectacular action sequences and stunts throughout. Costume designs, set decorations, sound effects, the overall aesthetic, and the consistently edited sequences, all add to a film’s overall experience. It is a masterpiece as well as one of the best films of the 1990s. The film, indeed deserves repeated viewing.
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