Reviews

Films

The Matrix

Directed by the Wachowski Brothers, starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss

Fans of Australian director Alex Proyas's 1998 sci-fi gem, Dark City, may watch The Matrix and think that they are seeing something somewhat familiar. Dark City beat The Matrix to the conceit of a human world being unwittingly controlled by alien forces by a good 12 months but that didn't stop audiences making this Keanu Reeves blockbuster a smash hit. Armed with a dubious faux-philosophical script, this will nonetheless be remembered as a special effects marvel loaded with gravity defying action sequences.

An online nerd named Neo (Reeves) is being pursued by suited goons. He doesn't know why but it seems to have something do with his knowledge of a leather jacket wearing-dude named Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne). After meeting with Morpheus, Neo is told that humans are really slaves of clever computers and machines who have created a dream world that we think is reality. Neo is also informed that he is mankind's only hope of escaping this life of serfdom. Once he is "woken", he joins a band of rebels who travel in a spaceship fighting against the evil robots.

Shrewd in its capacity to appeal to kids of all persuasions, (i.e.: geeks and jocks) The Matrix integrates a computer game aesthetic into a traditional action format. The dialogue is at times pure hooey, and the worst comes out of the mouth of Fishburne. His Morpheus is Obi-Wan Kenobi with runway threads. The difference is though, The Matrix demands to be taken seriously while Star Wars knew exactly how silly it was. Reeves, on the other hand, seems a bit more aware of the innate goofiness of the material and acts accordingly.

Ben Davey

The Matrix Reloaded

Directed by the Wachowski Brothers, starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss

Just as the Star Wars series improved with its sequel, so too does The Matrix trilogy. Everyone still talks like philosophy undergraduates and some scenes are particularly preposterous but this is a slicker film than its predecessor, even if we know that because a third chapter will follow, this is bound to wind up as a cliffhanger. Still, a few of the set pieces leading up to the finale, which mix computer game surrealism with Hong Kong action wizardry, are technically astounding and genuinely thrilling to watch.

When we catch up with Neo and the gang, they are headed for Zion, a city located near the earth's core and populated by a quarter of a million emancipated humans. The place looks like a giant gutted factory, a perfect place for a rave - and wouldn't you know - even as deadly sentinel robot thingies drill towards them, everyone finds time to have a boogie. It's the dumbest sequence of Reloaded and thankfully the action revs up again soon after. After all, Neo, who is suffering from bouts of self-doubt, has many machines to kill and bad guys to unleash hell upon.

The guy brought on board to choreograph the fight sequences, Yuen Wo Ping, was also the man behind the flying showdowns in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Whatever they paid him for his services was worth it; the biff is terrific and it's no wonder that so many actioners have ripped it off. The performances are stronger than in the previous installment but as with every Keanu Reeves vehicle, there are a few bum notes. And Lawrence Fishburne deserves a medal for having to continually deliver lines worthy of a cult leader-slash-self-help guru.

BD

(China Daily 09/20/2007 page20)