Grade:  B

Director:  Wachowski bros.		Released:  March 1999
Writer:  Wachowski bros.		MPAA Rating:  R
Players:  Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss		Running time:  136 minutes

Ratings System

The Matrix introduced some revolutionary camera techniques that have been duplicated in parody so often in just three years that it's already become cliche to include them in a fight scene.  That's saying something.  The fight scenes in The Matrix might possibly be the best in cinema history (American cinema anyway).

The major concept of the film isn't all that high-minded in my opinion, and it's been done before in different forms.  It's just an elaboration of when you were a kid talking to your friend about "Hey, wouldn't it be weird if we were really all just being controlled by someone like we're just ants to him or something?"  Except in The Matrix, the "real world" is controlled by computers.

Still, it's a fantastic sci-fi yarn, with groundbreaking effects, excellent pacing and action sequences, and depth of story with a logical, if not somewhat disappointing conclusion.  This is pure escapism, and lots of fun.

- crocoPuffs