Reload it - The Matrix Reviews

If you haven't seen this movie, you've doubtless seen its countless imitators (The special effect where the camera coils around its subject in fast forward, then slo-mo -- in mid air -- then real time; yeah, that was this movie). Keanu Reeves awakens from a computer-generated consciousness to discover that his 1990s-seeming reality is a product of THE MATRIX -- an artificial program that farms incubated human beings to sap their energy, feeding them manufactured realities and recycled nutrients to keep them alive. Reeves is contacted by a clandestine group of subversive escapees who believe that he is their savior. They remove him from his vegetative pod and inform him that it's really the 22nd Century, that humanity has been enslaved by artificial intelligence, and that it's time to kick some virtual butt. Almost non-stop action, dazzling special effects, and an intriguing premise blend seamlessly in THE MATRIX. The movie visits deep, philosophical questions, but moves on quickly -- before anyone can get bored -- dispensing plot cues at just the right pace to keep us focused on the story, and not distracted by the technological fireworks. Keanu Reeves carries the movie, balancing its dramatic momentum with its action quotient; knowing when to share the limelight and when to be an action hero. Laurence Fishburne is also effective as the leader of the rag-tag band of renegades, who dive headlong into THE MATRIX to contact potential recruits and sabotage the system. Morpheus (Fishburne) teaches Neo (Reeves) how to move in that virtual world with masterful adroitness; how to bend its rules, and how to break them. Neo absorbs martial arts and street-fighting techniques by loading programs onto the modules that negotiate his interactions with THE MATRIX. He is leaping over buildings and dodging bullets in no time, confirming Morpheus' suspicion that Neo is "The One." Others among the insurgents are not so sure. Carrie-Anne Moss is Morpheus' sidekick, Trinity -- at least, until Neo comes along. She is undecided about Neo's messianic status, but decidedly more secure about his manhood. Fantastic and entertaining as THE MATRIX is, there is still an undertow of plot dissatisfaction, for me. Perhaps, this is one of those movies you have to see a hundred times to understand. Just so you know: I wondered why the computers would generate the 1990s as the virtual reality (although beings from the future are *always* obsessed with the late 20th Century in sci-fi flicks). Why not the Stone Age -- especially, to prevent anyone from becoming computer-proficient enough to challenge the system? Plus, how could so much happen in two hundred years (birth of artificial intelligence to total supremacy of machines)? We also never understand what it means for Neo to be "The One" -- just as at the end of STAR WARS (1977) we do not fully understand "The Force," and it takes THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) to flesh it out. And, they mention a rebel city in THE MATRIX that they never show. (Carlos Colorado)