The Matrix 10.0

The folks at xkcd reminded me that it has, in fact, been ten years since “The Matrix” opened in theaters. Suddenly I feel old.

Since then, we’ve had two sequels, an MMO game that’s still chugging along, several other games, a DVD chock full of anime, a massive ten-disc compilation set, and plenty of other stuff. It’s such an important movie, we reviewed it twice. What do you think of it today, though? Do the effects still hold up? What about the story?

6 replies on “The Matrix 10.0”

  1. When I first watched M1 I thought it was crap. The amateur philosophy was childish at best. This sensation of “I thought of this crap when I was 10 years old, will the next film deal with the reality of Santa Claus?” stayed with me for the entire film.
    I left the theatre bored.

    Then something happened. I watched it at home and realized it was a darn good action movie. As long as I kept the action foremost in my mind, the more i enjoyed the film.

    M2: Bar none, this movie has the best ‘chase-scene’ that I have ever seen on film. I have watched M2 dozens of times _just_ to watch the chase scene. I thought that the addition of having an Agent jumping around like the Hulk was dumb, but I loved anyway. The story is good overall. Less philosophy more story and action. I thought it was darn good.

    M3: meh.

    Animatrix: was an excellent addition to the film, and was a great way of introducing a medium and genre to the public.

    • Then something happened. I watched it at home and realized it was a darn good action movie. As long as I kept the action foremost in my mind, the more i enjoyed the film.

      The rescue of Morpheus/helicopter scene is without a doubt one of my Top 10 Movie Sequences Of All Time, and was really the moment in the movie when seeing it the first time that the movie really “got me” and I just sat there staring at the screen, mouth literally agape.

      To me the biggest disappointment of the Matrix trilogy is that they didn’t fully explore what it really would have meant for Neo to be “The One”. M2 we start out with just another kung-fu fighting scene, which was interesting in a way, but Neo is supposedly able to do whatever he wants in the Matrix. He should be doing crazy stuff like throwing agents 10 miles away with a wave of his finger, conjuring brick walls out of nowhere, dropping cars on agents, etc. He should have been a combination of Superman/Manchester Black, unlimited physical and telekinetic powers. Omnipotent heroes are boring of course, but in this case it’s OK, since ultimately whatever Neo does in the Matrix is useless, as he’s still just a man in the real world, still fighting a seemingly hopeless cause against the powerful machines.

  2. I avoided watching it at first because the title put me off. Then I saw it and was blown away. I must have seen it 5 times that summer, successively taking my friends one by one.

    I was (and still am) put off by the idea that machines would use humans for power “combined with some form of nuclear fusion”. Humans are an inefficient waste of space. Just directly use the nuclear power, humans don’t add anything. This is in my mind the series’ biggest failing. But it’s not hard to imagine better explanations. (Zoo?)

    However I loved it because it provided a plausible, scientifically accurate mechanism for a superhero to exist. I’m a physicist and sometimes have a hard time suspending disbelief when the laws of physics are violated. But they created a universe in which a person really could fly, and AI’s really could exist and do wild things we wouldn’t dream of (where in the real world, walking and trying to be human is a problem). The best sci-fi is that which creates an interesting, self-consistent universe, and in this regard the Matrix succeeded wildly. It made me want to be in the Matrix.

    By also tying into the classic messiah story, the themes of Dante’s Inferno (dreams within dreams and worlds within worlds), and some mad mad Kung Fu action, the fusion works well. There are some cringe-worthy moments in the latter two films, but all in all they were not bad. The animatrix was great, and I hope to see more side-stories in the universe in the coming years. And the cartoon format provides a lot of freedom that I hope aspiring storytellers use on low budgets.

    Great universes persist. See Star Trek, Star Wars, and the Lord of the Rings for examples. I think the Matrix will follow in the footsteps of these, and in 100 years there will still be remakes, adaptations, and side-stories. It was more than 10 years between the Star Trek TV series and the first movie, and I think it will be a bit longer before interest in The Matrix sees a resurgance. But it will.

  3. Meh.

    I too Watched The Martix when it came out, and I too was blown away by the effects/action… kinda. Having actually read/seen a lot of the source material it ripped off, it wasn’t as original for me, but hey, good action so who cares.

    The second time I watched it it was kinda bring but still, you know, good action.

    The third time, jesus, stop talking and get to the action already.

    The forth time I could barely take it. I know this might sound weird but there is not enough action in this movie. It is actually pretty darn boring.

    Now, this thing got a preview or what?

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