What was 'The Matrix?'

Keanu Reeves stars in the surprise blockbuster hit, “The Matrix.” (Warner Bros/MovieStillsDB.com)

Ultimate Movie Year finds the best films from weekends past to build an all-star lineup of cinema.

"The Matrix"
Released March 31, 1999
Directed by the Wachowski Sisters
Where to Watch

"What is the Matrix?"

It's hard to imagine now, but there once was a time when nobody knew what "The Matrix" was. I know this because I worked at a multiplex in 1999. Literally, the entire marketing campaign surrounding the Spring release of the film was built upon the central question from above that Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) poses early in the movie.

The original trailer makes sense now, but without the benefit of context, the preview for "The Matrix" only offers a lot of fresh images but no information on what the story is actually about. On the surface, there is nothing about the trailer that made it distinct from the numerous cyberpunk films that were released in the 1990s, such as 1995's "Johnny Mnemonic," starring Keanu Reeves, and hey, that's a vaguely familiar look, isn't it?

Keanu Reeves rocking the Agent Smith look in 1995’s “Johnny Mnemonic.”

Before release, for all we civilians knew, "The Matrix" looked cool, but we would have been ok to wait for this to hit the shelves at Blockbuster for a Friday night rental. After all, we were only a few weeks away from the release of "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace," and that surely was the must-see in the theaters blockbuster we should save our enthusiasm for, yes? Still, the marketing kept posing the question, "What is the Matrix," and the trailer wisely concludes with a line from Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne), "Unfortunately, one cannot be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself." Very intriguing. 

Honestly, if I didn't work at a multiplex when "The Matrix" came out, I may not have gone, at least not immediately. However, one of the many perks about my employment is you could check out movies for five to 15 minutes at a time to see if it was worthwhile, and then request free screening tickets later. Like "The Big Lebowski" a year earlier, this allowed me to become an uber fan of "The Matrix" quickly because, as we've all discovered, it's one of those rewatchable movies that has a brilliant scene every 10 to 15 minutes of its run time.

If you have somehow never seen the movie, let me briefly summarize the plot: A young hacker nicknamed Neo (Reeves) is recruited by a mysterious group who has been branded as terrorists by the authorities. Once he accepts, an entirely new world unravels before him, as the reality of his old life is transformed in mind-bending ways. However, the truth behind the authorities, led by a menacing, black-suited Mr. Smith (played with precision by Hugo Weaving), becomes a new threat to Neo's very existence in both worlds.

As I watched "The Matrix" again for this column, one of my takeaways was how carefully Lana and Lily Wachowski structured the movie to slowly reveal every new piece of information, but kept every scene engaging enough to keep the audience on its side. Keep in mind, Neo doesn't discover the reality of the Matrix until 32 minutes into the movie (almost a quarter of the film), but an hour later, he's walking into a highly secured facility bearing guns, martial arts mastery, and oh yeah, bullet-dodging abilities. That's a pretty massive leap in story and character advancement, but the Wachowskis skillfully maintain the balance between complicated world-building mechanics, character development, and visual artistry with efficiency. Every single shot and line of dialogue was carefully designed to move you further into the story.

Much of the second act reveals the mysteries and dynamics of the world inside the Matrix, and how it can be manipulated like a computer code that could give you superhuman abilities. There's a lot more that's explained, from the beginnings of the war between man and machine, the current state of the planet, how new programs can upgrade who you are in the Matrix, who the Agents are, the dynamics of the human group aboard the Nebuchadnezzar ship, and the existence of philosophies and prophecies within the movie, mostly from a woman called the Oracle (Gloria Foster). In hindsight, it's a lot of information in a short amount of time, but the Wachowskis pepper the exposition with Fishburne's smooth, confident voice, dynamic cinematography, and the occasional kung-fu fight here and there. 

It's all worth it, because by the time Neo walks through the doors of the facility, all of the massive setup has been completed, and the rest of the story is driven by action and the characters making active choices, much of which pays off everything that has come before. The end result is the third act remains one of the best action climaxes in movie history. Also, by laying in many subtle hints from the beginning that are only clear once you've seen the whole thing, the eternity of the film becomes endlessly rewatchable, allowing viewers to pick up new things every time.

"The Matrix" has a unique look, even now, as it honed in on a green hue coloring everything in the Matrix scenes. The color scheme was introduced early on as the iconic Matrix green computer coding opened the movie. The green hue infects all of the scenes set in the Matrix, which not only distinguishes it from the more natural blue of the "real world" sequences onboard the Nebuchadnezzar, but from all other big-budget Hollywood movies in general as the trend has moved to blues and oranges. What's particularly impressive is how the Wachowskis use rain to reinforce the visuals of the Matrix codes, as seen when it hits the windshield of the car when Neo is recruited. 

The key to "The Matrix's" enduring legacy is how the story and visuals tell its high-concept premise in the most entertainingly and effective way possible. Everything builds upon itself and reinforces each other. There is a tendency in some film criticism circles to downplay the success of a movie like "The Matrix" in favor of smaller projects driven by more artistic themes, as if the Wachowski Sisters, who experienced personal evolutions since 1999, didn't have their own story to tell here. I cannot subscribe to that philosophy. 

To me, films are best when it combines both art and entertainment organically to engage an audience into a world they've never experienced before. That is the purest form of this drug we call cinema, particularly in the theater, as we collectively embrace the wavelength of a film to go to a completely unexpected place together, and we cannot wait to find out what happens next. A movie like "The Matrix" leaves an impression. While the first two sequels never reach the heights of the original, the audience's first trip down the rabbit hole was so memorably entertaining that they'll continue to go back in, again and again, because they want to relive the experience of watching a great movie.

That is "The Matrix."

The Weekend: As much as I love "The Matrix" because it represents everything my heart fell for when discovering film, this particular selection marks the most painful choice I've made for the Ultimate Movie Year. It knocks out "2001: A Space Odyssey," the remarkable (and genius) movie directed by Stanley Kubrick in 1968. "2001" is a movie that took me a few watches to appreciate because it moves at a very deliberate pace. Now I can't deny the artistic craft displayed on-screen exceeds nearly any other movie I've seen in my life. If you ever have the opportunity to see "2001" on the big screen, take it, because watching it on an IMAX screen in 2018 was one of my favorite cinematic experiences ever. 

In regards to sci-fi movies, both "2001" and "The Matrix" would likely make any film buff's top 10 list. Even if I would rate "2001" higher than "The Matrix," the latter is simply a more accessible movie for general audiences, and the presence of the Wachowski Sisters brings a different voice to a list filled with mostly straight white male directors. So as heartbreaking as it is to leave Kubrick's masterpiece off the list, if you were to ever make a double feature out of the weekend lists, make it these two.

Another brilliant sci-fi film is Jonathan Glazer's "Under the Skin," released in the United States on April 4, 2014. Featuring Scarlett Johansson as an alien disguised as a human, Glazer's vision gives the entire film an unearthly quality, and remains one of the better if underseen films of the 2010s.

While "The Matrix" and "2001" are two first-ballot Hall of Fame movies (if one were to exist), they are by no means not the only great movies that were released in this time frame. Tim Burton was coming off the surprise success of his debut feature film, 1985's "Pee Wee's Big Adventure," when he was given the go-ahead to unleash his distinctive imagination in 1988's "Beetlejuice." Starring Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, and Michael Keaton at the height of his comedic powers, the ghost comedy was another hit for Burton, setting the stage for the following year's mega-blockbuster that reteamed him with Keaton, "Batman."

Spring is an unusual time for the release of a superhero movie. Still, by releasing them during a time of lowered expectations, it's allowed two of them to succeed far beyond what studios imagined. Despite Captain America's first Marvel Cinematic Universe film in 2011 and his primary role in 2012's "The Avengers," the jury wasn't all the way on board with Chris Evans as the old school star-spangled hero, or at least as much of a draw as the modern, cynical Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. But the hero and the actor put all remaining doubts to rest with the premiere of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," a 2014 action-filled political thriller that earned some of the best reviews of a Marvel movie to date. Both Evans and the film's directors, the Russo Brothers, would go on to play significant roles in the future of the biggest franchise in cinema today. Marvel's rival DC heroes had mixed results playing the same game as them, but movies like 2019's "Shazam" are helping to turn the perception around. And while this comic book character is closer to pulp hero than superhero, the original "Hellboy" movie made its debut this weekend in 2004.

Musician and sitcom star Will Smith was beginning to raising his profile with some film roles in the early 90s, but it was his lead role alongside Martin Lawrence that made him an action superstar in the 1995 buddy cop movie, "Bad Boys." The film's director Michael Bay made his feature-length debut here by leaning into all of the popular action movie techniques of the day and somehow redefined those same tropes in his own image with his follow up films, "The Rock" and "Armageddon."

Speaking of high-octane action films, two entries from the Fast and the Furious franchise made their debuts here, as the fourth film, "Fast & Furious," bowed in 2009, and "Furious 7" launched in 2015. The Vin Diesel action series has found surprising endurance over the past 20 years, which we'll recognize in a few weeks with what I believe is the best film in the franchise.

Other notable releases include "Major League" and "Dead Calm" in 1989, "A Goofy Movie" in 1995, "Primal Fear" in 1996, "Chasing Amy" in 1997, "Kung Fu Hustle" in 2006, "Grindhouse" in 2007, the remake "Evil Dead" in 2013, and "A Quiet Place" in 2018.

Next Week: "All The President's Men"

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