Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 20-April-03
Spoiler Rating: Medium

The Matrix (1999)

When "The Matrix" came out a few years back, I think I was the only person on Earth who didn't like it. (Had the rest of the world been programmed to like it? Hmmmm.) I walked out of the theater with one word in my mind --- "boring" --- and proceeded to forget all about it.

But a movie buff can never be rid of "The Matrix." In addition to spawning the inevitable cult devoted to the film's ever-growing mythology, the Wachowski brothers' visual style has influenced nearly every action film of the past four years, so that stop-motion photography and highly choreographed martial arts sequences are now the standard in Hollywood. Everything from "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has either borrowed from or profited by a kinship to "The Matrix," and a number of comedies have spoofed it, especially its famous Keanu-Reeves-dodging-bullets-by-bending-over-backwards scene. And now, in another groundbreaking move, the Wachowski brothers (and Warner Brothers) are giving us not one but two sequels in the same year: "The Matrix Reloaded" next month and "The Matrix Revolutions" in November. Because I'm not entirely impervious to hype, I decided to revisit the movie that started it all to see if there was something I missed. On second viewing, I understood what was going on a lot more. And I paid more attention to Hugo Weaving, what with his connection to "The Lord of the Rings" and all. But in the end, there was only one thought in my mind --- "that really is boring!"

The biggest problem is this: "The Matrix" is built upon a concept more than a story, and all the butt kicking and mind bending and pop culture hipness in the world can't weave a good yarn. The premise is so elaborate that Laurence Fishburne has to deliver a monologue for a good chunk of the first hour just to explain it. In short, the year is roughly 2199, but no one rightly knows, because for almost two centuries the human race has been subjugated by supercomputers gone mad. These beings, which evolved from man's experiments in artificial intelligence, have imprisoned almost every human on the planet and are using their bodies as a power source. Most people don't mind this situation, however, because they don't know it's happening. The machines have installed ports in the back of everyone's head which connect them to the Matrix, a virtual reality based on life in 1999. Everyone thinks they are still moving freely through life, getting jobs, committing crimes, falling in love, raising a family, becoming famous, etc., but in fact their entire "reality" is a computer program designed to pacify them. Only a few humans have managed to escape or elude the Matrix; these rebels live in an underground city called Zion and are diligently working to free everyone else.

It's an uphill battle, but things start to brighten for the rebels when one of their leaders, Morpheus (Fishburne), discovers a mind working within the Matrix which he believes belongs to The One, a prophesied savior who will bring about the final overthrow of the machines (which look like giant bugs and are thus far more unsavory than your average CPU). This mind belongs to a hacker nicknamed "Neo" (Reeves), who is soon contacted by the rebels and assisted in escaping his captors and discovering the truth. The second half of the movie details how Neo comes to believe in his destiny and begins to carry it out, eventually facing down one of his deadliest foes, a "sentient program" or "Agent" by the name of Smith (Weaving), whose goal is the complete destruction of Zion. Neo also finds love among his band of rebels in the vinyl-clad form of Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss).

Since I approached "The Matrix" this time with the thought of how influential it has been, I was surprised to find myself focusing instead on how derivative it is. Like all mythic tales, it builds upon tried-and-true themes and characters that speak to our fears and desires. Thus we have the bleak, futuristic, machine-driven world so often portrayed in books and movies since the last century; the notion of a predestined hero who will save mankind; and a plucky band of rebels led by a charismatic father figure. In addition, the Wachowskis (who both wrote and directed) also draw overtly from Hong Kong action films, comic book superheroes, "Star Wars," westerns, classic fantasies like "Alice in Wonderland," and horror movies. But while all of these things can be wonderful on their own, mixing them together doesn't guarantee a satisfying product. There's something missing at the heart of "The Matrix," something vital that seems to have been overlooked in the elaborate process of its construction. There are familiar characters and situations to grab onto and new, high-tech concepts to mull over when it's done, but what is it really about? Freedom? Destiny? Faith? The structure is at the forefront of the movie instead of its ideas (or even its action). And, putting the enslavement of mankind aside, why should we care about this particular group of people? Because they aren't what one might call "animated." I might be tempted to blame Keanu Reeves' rather limited range for failing to put a spark in Neo were it not for the fact the the entire cast seems to be inflicted with a severe case of constipated overcoolness. Unfortunately, their drabness is matched by the brothers' decision to make a film almost completely devoid of color, which dampens the energy of the picture instead of making the Matrix seem evil.

Perhaps what my reactions reveal is that there was more to the story the Wachowskis had in mind than could fit in a single movie, and that it will become deeper and more meaningful when the sequels have fleshed it out. I guess I'll wait in line with the rest of the world when "Reloaded" arrives on May 15, but if Jada Pinkett Smith and Monica Bellucci don't breathe life into this thing, I am going to unplug from "The Matrix."

Copyright © 2003 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.