The Matrix

[Auron]

It's a superficial dressing up of a 2400-year old idea that fooled a bunch of people into thinking it had an original idea. "What if our world wasn't real?" Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha proposed all this long ago. But you know, tack on a crappy techno soundtrack and dress everyone in black leather and no one will notice.

EDIT: This is leaving aside the regular complaints about Reeve's terrible, emotionless acting, the terrible script, and the nonsense plotting that goes into the 2nd and 3rd movies.

After a relatively simple year-long study of Spec-Fi it's origins in ancient fantasy works and a published article I can tell you that nothing is original ever, so what's the problem with that? There's not a single modern work of fiction that cannot be traced back to some millenia old book and there's nothing wrong with that. The techno soundtrack's excellency is completely subjective by the way.



I like the Matrix, the sequels are more about solving the problems exposed in the first, I could have done without the Saviour stuff at the end but other than that I like the entire trilogy pretty much.

Originally, the machines weren't going to use humans as batteries, they needed the processing power of human brains for their computers or something. But it was decided that people wouldn't understand that, so they made the movie...shall we say less intellectually challenging? And it shows.

Didn't know that, a multi-core processor would have made much much more sense.

 

[Casual Shinji]

The movie is pure style over substance. Not a shred of mentally-stimulating content can be found in it if you have a passing familiarity with Buddhism. Where people say that it connects ideas in an original way, I would contend that rather it has actors in stupid costumes make meandering monologues that vaguely reference some philosophical position, and then cutting to a silly fight scene before most people in the audience are apparently able to notice that they haven't said anything of substance about that position or meaningfully connected it in any way to a larger overall point.

In a lot of ways, it's the perfect analogy for everything that's wrong with our post-modern world: It's a spastic, incoherent name-check of various "exotic" philosophies for kids who have too short attention spans to actually read up on those philosophies for themselves, decked out in visuals that are stylish but meaningless, in a world with lots of characters who use lots of words without saying anything, centered around an audience-surrogate who is "the chosen one" because most of us are so narcissistic that the idea that we might be the center of the Universe is appealing enough of a notion to get us to ignore everything that is wrong with a movie. See also: Avatar.

You're practically lambasting this movie in the same way others are attributing too much depth to it.

 

[Woodsey]

Fucking love it. I always seem to forget how good it is when I go to re-watch it.

As for the sequels, Reloaded is quite enjoyable, Revolutions is relentlessly annoying in how much time it insists on spending in the real world, although the final fight is a fucking doozy.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

I absolutely love it, from the action to its philosophical themes.

One of my childhood movies; as time went by, I gained a deeper understanding of the movie and appreciated it to new levels.

 

[Glasgow]

Overrated formulaic piece of grabage. The Matrix trilogy is bad. The Matrix (the first movie) is below average, but it brought a lot of neat ideas that made it stand out at the time.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

It's a fun popcorn flick with the depth of a thimble. It's a deep movie for shallow people, basically, but it's pretty and has some nice kung fu.

I'd say this is about 75% correct. There *was* some depth to it, but it was criminally mishandled. The Oracle's speech to Neo about the nature of choice in Reloaded is a clear enough example of that. The Wachowskis didn't know how to handle the themes they'd assembled from Philosophy 101 primers and Buddhist doctrine in a way that wouldn't involve horribly stilted talky bits.

"We gotta further our own lore!
- Yeah, but let's not forget Kung Fu!
- Okay, so Neo doesn't understand if he's made or hasn't made his choice, he doesn't know if he can even make a choice to begin with, so he goes to the Oracle where we get this big-ass spiel about pre-destination and tantalizing bits about viruses and programs pulling General Protection Faults in the Matrix and giving us supernatural whatsits and-
- 2 LNOG, KONG FEW TIEM! DOUZAND SMITTS GET THROWN AT DE SCREEN, LOLOLOLOLOLOL. KING FUUUUUUU!"

I always thought the sequels could have benefited from over a decade's worth of spending time as drafts - as well as longer breaks between shoots. Reloaded and Revolutions didn't need to be released back-to-back. They obviously suffered from it.

 

[Zanderinfal]

Watched for the first time just a few weeks ago and I cried at how well made it was. The cinematography, the characters, the metaphorical, overarching story, the action, the soundtrack... all of it was just so good! I watched it a second time the day after and got all the subtle hints in the earlier parts as well.

Probably not going to watch the sequels, because I don't want to chance ruining this brilliant movie. :')

It hasn't aged a single bit. It seems so modern and if you hadn't told me I would have thought it had came out only a few months ago.

 

[Da Orky Man]

It's a fun popcorn flick with the depth of a thimble. It's a deep movie for shallow people, basically, but it's pretty and has some nice kung fu.

And in the end, isn't that the greatest truth of all?

Indeed there was, and here it is:

Spoiler

Anyway, I rewatched it last night for the first time in years, and I'm not sure about it any more. The cinematography is very well done, and the excellent fight scenes are good, but there are a lot more plotholes than I remember.
Why use humans for power when it contravenes physics, especially when they say they have fusion? How the hell do they get people out of the [physical] Matrix when the thing is ought to be guarded more the Fort Knox? Why don't the machines use some sort of port-blocker, as available on any router now, to stop the humans from simply jumping into the Matrix hen needed?
Also, have they ever heard of Faraday cages? They could make their lives a lot easier.

And I don't consider the movie deep. Somewhat interesting premise for the story, but badly executed.

 

[Tom_green_day]

The first Matrix is genius, its a sci-fi classic regardless of personal opinions.
The second Matrix, in my opinion, is absolute drivel. The action is just over the top and the story isn't engaging.
The third Matrix, in my opinion, is alright. The visuals are good but again there is too much action which means we can't engage in the story as much. Also Neo is no longer the everyman who works in some office, and we can't relate to him any more.

 

[Snownine]

I love the hell out of that movie and damn near everything about it. I think it is hard for the younger set to truly appreciate the movie as it was when it was new as many of its visual themes and shticks have been run into the ground through homage and imitation over the past 14 years, greatly reducing the wow factor it had back in the day.

 

[Brainwreck]

Eh. Never bothered watching it all the way through.
And it's certainly not nearly as profound and thought-provoking as some might have you believe.

...really, it's just the worst.
Fuck that movie.
Stupid piece of crap.

 

[Twilight_guy]

It's a fun movie to watch. It is basically an angry rebellious teenager's philosophy in movie form though. It's still fun so long as ignore the stupidity its trying to tell you.

 

[Tayh]

I liked them.
I never understood what exactly I'm supposed to hate in the sequels, though.
I see people bashing them all the time, but never seen anyone actually explain what they dislike about them.

 

[NightmareExpress]

I liked it a lot more back in the day. Very revolutionary for the time.
When I look at it now, it feels like one of those movies that begs for the inclusion of more advanced technology in the production side of things. But still, great movie that holds up for the most part. Doesn't exactly feel like the typical brain dead action flick we get pelted with every summer while simultaneously not feeling like the sharpest tool in the shed.

It's a piece full of great cinematography and choreography featuring interesting settings and themes.
Same with the sequel, and I've largely forgotten (fortunately) that atrocity that was the third film.

 

[Arqus_Zed]

The lobby scene.
In my opinion, still one of the best action sequences in any film ever.

As for the movie as a whole, well, it's just great fun. It's stylish, has a good soundtrack, provides some great action sequences, takes a classic concept and revamps it for the post-modern age in a way everyone can grasp it.

(Also, I get annoyed by people claiming it is "far from original" and "only deep to people who are stupid". That's the great thing about The Matrix, it took a ton of established concepts and techniques and wove it together in one single, easy accessible, sleek looking movie. The cyberpunk style, the Ghost in the Shell influences, Plato's allegory of the Cave, the wire work used in Asian cinema, the slow motion/rotation technique,... Some of those things have nothing to do with one another, but the Wachowskis managed to pump a single, solid film out of it.)

 

[Esotera]

I think it's an awesome universe and the technology just looks awesome in the first film.

The Animatrix is also really, really, really good, and is way better than any of the films.

 

[maninahat]

It's good. In hindsight it wasn't anywhere near as clever or original as people assumed, with every element borrowed from other sci-fi stories, but it did something that movies tend not to do in this day and age: it trusted the audience to follow it.

Most action movies are built so that their premise is easy to understand at a glance, and it is always nice when a film is willing to be a little more complex. It's the same thing with Inception; it isn't that complicated or sophisticated, but it does require a smidgen of attention more than most producers typically expect from an audience. It just feels nice to not be talked down to, or treated as though we are too dumb to handle a bit of abstraction.

 

[Beat14]

I do really like the Matrix. I don't really see the faults others are mentioning as a problem. The film makes for very easy watching, with it's style, fight scenes and "depth".

And doesn't this say something about the Wachowski's lack of regard for their audience? Vague, meandering, expository monologues that don't actually reveal what's going on in the story but make us painfully aware how clever they think they are? Keep that in. A basic element of the setting that would make the background actually make sense? No, leave that out.

I thought that it does a great job of balancing the philosophy and action. It has a good pace. If I wanted something heavier books or non-fiction film/media seem the way to go imo. I am by no means saying that the Matrix represents the highest level of philosophy that can or should be done in fiction film.

Having said that I am not in the know about the philosophies the film takes from, does being more glossed up on such things detract from the experience that much?

 

[IronMit]

I initially though The matrix was a really fun film when I was 13 but after I got into conspiracy theories for a bit and I watched Zeitgeist;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guXirzknYYE

...I saw how epic The matrix and matrix reloaded were on so many levels.

Watching the first chapter of Zeitgeist about Jesus, the Ages, cycles etc some of the dialogue is genius.

I'm sure there is an analysis somewhere of the matrix as a metaphor of juda-christian beliefs so I won't go into it.

I have a book given to me as a gift that delves very deep into the way The Matrix Trilogy is all about Hinduism. I think it's called Decoding The Matrix. It's an interesting read. I don't personally think that the Wachowskis were thinking on that level; what they were doing was fusing concepts from all over the dang place, from Hinduism to Christianity to Western postmodern philosophy to cyberpunk to anime to Hong Kong action flicks.

And that's the really impressive thing about The Matrix. It's so ambitious in its design, its very fabric, and it weaves itself together so well. The plot is relatively straightforward "hero's journey" stuff, still fun to watch, but not exactly revolutionary (c wut i did ther?). But it's the core concepts and the themes and the motifs and the philosophy that is so perfectly put together into a cohesive film, threaded through the plot in just the right amounts in just the right places, without unbalancing the pacing or the action, and doing so in a way to make the film seem entirely seamless, with a consistent tone and an aesthetic all its own. It's a true triumph of filmmaking, is what it is.

It's one of my favorite movies ever, has been since I first saw it when I was 13, and always will be.

Even the sequels don't get the credit they deserve. People complain about the new characters being boring; I get that. People complain about the plot going kinda sideways; I guess it has its issues. But when people complain about them being a mere cash grab, that's where you lose me. Watch the second film again with real attention on the themes and their various permutations throughout the movie. It's all about choice, control, free will, and the man-machine interface. If you are attentive, these ideas show up all over the place, in so many different actions and conversations, it's amazing. Revolutions, I will admit, is very inferior to the other two, but it still was no cynical cash grab; its themes are still used effectively and interestingly, even if it does get oddly preachy, and somehow boring in the middle. And Reloaded is a great movie in itself. It doesn't stand next to the original, but it's great nonetheless.

As we're on the topic I thought I would throw in another theory/analysis...or rather an extension on what you have already said...
Most religions seem to originate from astrology or share similar stories that can be traced to astrology (the sun, alignment of stars, earths axis, winter summer spring {if astrology covers all that..i'm not sure how broad it is}) .

Hence Jesus, greek gods, Hindu deities are born of a virgin. Die, resurrect etc. Poseidon flooding the world - Noahs arc
The Age of the Ram ending in 1 AD and the Age of Pisces starting...feeds into the 'in every cyce there is the ONE ...
The Merovingian apparently used to be the ONE. The merovingian's were apparently the bloodline of jesus in conspiracy theories.

Every religion follows a certain pattern so it's not overly difficult to have inclusive themes about them all simultaneously. I think you might be right (i really need to read that book) On the surface level it's Christianity, but more subtly Hinduism and other religions are included.

The reason I point to the zeitgeist video above is that video comes to the conclusion that based on evidence the person Jesus didn't exist.
I watched the Matrix a few months ago and noticed some dialogue for the first time- at the start of the film when those guys knock on Neo's door to buy stuff, he calls Neo 'jesus christ'..and Neo is like No No NO....'I don't exist'.

Anyway...I agree with you on Matrix Reloaded...it really went full circle for me. The ending of Reloaded is interesting because they find out the whole prophecy (what they believe ie. religion) is a lie...another form of control.

Revolutions...I think that most of the main theme's were wrapped up nicely in matrix reloaded and revolutions was just drawing a conclusion to the surface story on the most part. What agent smith replicating the entire planet and going to the robot city means in terms of those religious metaphors I have no idea