The Matrix

This film changed everything, and it came out 13 years ago. It will be forever used as comparison for any film that may come out. Whether it's story, special effects, originality, or what have you. Neo lives in The Matrix. A computer program that you feel is the real world. It's a complicated story that must be watched several times to really get it. The first time you watch it, you may miss things because you will be awestruck. He has been plucked by Morpheus and his band of freedom fighters to help with the cause. The cause being to take their world back from the machines. Yes, you may be thinking Skynet right now, and that is not far off. What the Wachowski Brothers give us with The Matrix though is much, much more in depth than that. The world they created is amazing. Plus they revolutionized special effects using several hundred cameras in a single shot to slow down time in the most realistic fashion to date. 1999's date, not today's date. Every film owes a debt to The Matrix. It broke a new ground in film making that is kind of a catch 22, if you will. It gave us the realm of really good digital effects, which in turn gave movie makers an easy way to make movies 100% that way, which takes away from a lot of films. The number one turn off for me is bad CG. We live in a CG Era now, but with the first Matrix, it is the perfect blend of stunt work, wires, slow motion capture, and CG. The Wachowski's should not have done 2 things following this film. 1- They should have considered not making the sequels; and 2- With the sequels they should have recreated the magic combination from the first film. They too relies 100% on digital effects and at times it looked like a video game, because essentially that what they made. This film also has some of the greatest action scenes in the history of film. The Hotel Lobby is the quintessential scene to watch when Surround Sound shopping. Take the Lobby scene and watch through the Morpheus escape with all the rounds falling from the chopper and you will know which sound system to buy. I must have seen this film 50 times, and when propositioned to watch the other day, it was a no brainer. Still as good as it was the first time. I'm sure the majority of you have seen this, as it is somewhat aged, but if you have not, do yourself a favor and go buy a copy of it today.


NBM rates The Matrix - A Cinematic Work of Art