THE MATRIX (1999) ★ ★ ★

In 2022, people take the advancement of digital technology for granted. Some suggest that in the next thirty years we'll see artificial intelligence (AI) assert control over humanity. This is understandable, given how far it has come already. But I'm haunted by the suspicion that the cosmos, with its propensity for hurling planet-altering space rocks at Earth every few million years, has its own plans.

"The Matrix" is a movie that tells the story of what could happen to us in a universe without those planet-altering rocks. The film, written and directed by the Wachoswkis, raises one niggling question for me: how did they go from "Bound" (1996), to this? "Bound" is a slow-burn neo-noir thriller starring Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly as lesbians who conspire to steal mob money. It's well written, well directed, and left me wanting more. "The Matrix" could not be more different, and while I consider it a commendable change of pace for the directing duo, I think "Bound" is relatively timeless, while "The Matrix" hasn't aged as well. 

Keanu Reeves plays Neo, a software tech for a dull nine-to-five who ruthlessly hacks by night. He's rescued by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) from a mysterious group of police led by Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), who had captured Neo and implanted a robotic "bug" in his stomach to help them track down his new friends. Morpheus reveals to him that life as he knows it is a simulation, and that the entire world is enslaved to the digital Matrix behind it. In a vaguely biblical moment, Morpheus tells Neo that he's the  "One" who can lead them in a rebellion and free humanity. They face the Matrix's defenses, a group of Men In Black, and engage in Virtual Reality combat to which only the characters' minds are connected, but which can still kill them, because "The body cannot live without the mind."

While it's a terrific premise, it isn't quite as original as people have come to believe; "Dark City" played with the same themes in much the same way, one year before "The Matrix" was released. Extraterrestrials are behind that film's version of a matrix, and they have a motive: to plunder human bodies and minds in their quest for clues to their own survival. But there are far fewer explanations for how and why the Wachowskis' Matrix has commandeered humanity. How did a computer program manage to capture billions of people and put them in life-draining liquid-filled pods? How did a series of ones and zeros break through the inert realm of digital data to the outside world? Obviously a computer program's only goal is to continue running, but the simulation ought to have its own reasons. "The Matrix" doesn't offer any, other than signaling that it knows who is "asleep," and who is "awake." And on that point, where did the red and blue pills that Morpheus offers Neo come from? Does Big Pharma still do business in a post-Matrix world?

The Wachoswkis' story falls short of providing answers, and after teasing at these interesting possibilities in the first act, it resorts to the usual action-movie tropes of hi-octane gun battles and martial arts combat in the second. It feels while watching it that one part of the film is intended for adults with high IQs, and the other is for people who would rather not have to think. With that said, I should point out that these action sequences are portrayed in ways that were "firsts" at the time. It's a dazzling spectacle of wonderful special effects, with character morphing and CGI robot monsters scrambling everywhere (they resemble octopi). These visuals also include John Gaeta's groundbreaking "bullet time" effect. I won't go into "bullet time" here, but it's a fascinating and markedly inventive visual concept, and was put to great use.

By no means is "The Matrix" a bad film. It is, in fact, a good one, but that's the problem I have with it - it could've been great. While the writing is sound enough to produce a world-building narrative, it's also weak in critical places, namely the points where I need more information, so I can get emotionally involved. If the rebels are successful in their mission to free humanity, then what? Does the world go back to the way it was? Because the stakes for Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity are never revealed, I'm not riveted in suspense when they're faced with mortal combat. Instead of devolving into a series of visually-arresting battles, "The Matrix" would have been more compelling if it had come to rest on its own reason for being.  

                                                                                                                                 --- Bill Fontaine