The Matrix

Yes, I've seen this classic sci-fi flick before, multiple times. But I decided it'd been too long since I had, recently, and went ahead and bought it from a $5 bargain bin. There's not a lot of poignant or useful reflecting I can do here since I'm pretty sure each and every one of you has seen this (including Marissa, who did so with me today). Instead, I'll just briefly touch upon the legacy of this movie as I view it. First off, wow, eleven years old already? That seems weird. The movie really holds up so, so well. Granted, special effects had kind of realized their potential at some point in the 1990s thanks to groundbreaking movies like T2 and Toy Story, but it's still impressive that this doesn't look campy or shitty in the least. For comparison, Alien 3, a 1992 sci-fi flick (just seven years older) looked like total garbage. Secondly, the philosophical themes presented here, though by no means original or groundbreaking (wait, you mean what I perceive as reality could be... not reality!?), were still enough to really shake 12-year-old me to the core back in the day. The fact that I could - could! - be nothing more than a battery in a vat of pink goo just blew my mind. Now let's turn to the acting. Unfortunately, it was tough to stomach. Every time I see this movie, the acting seems worse and worse. Like, I really try to convince myself that Keanu Reeves just gets a bad rap, but, well, he flat out sucks. Except in Bill & Ted movies. Also, Carry-Anne Moss just isn't that attractive in this movie and it kind of creeps me out that her character is (or at least used to be) considered a sex symbol for computer nerds. Know what else feels a bit lame in hindsight? The wardrobes. When Neo, Trinity, and the rest of the crew enter the Matrix, they're decked out to the nines in vinyl leather trench coats and sunglasses. I know the late '90s were a very different time, fashion-wise, but the whole ensemble just looks like a group of angry goth kids who you'd never want to fuck with. Throw in all 0f their firearms and the whole thing just bears a very unfortunate resemblance to the Columbine massacre, and not only because the film was released less than a month beforehand. Anyway, my only point is that these guys don't look like badasses as much as anti-establishment anarchists with damaged psyches and vinyl leather fetishes. Still, all things considered, the movie holds up very well and I think the past eleven years have proven that it is a true classic and not just a niche movie with a cult following. If memory serves me correctly, the next two movies in the franchise lacked that feel of timeless greatness, but they also lacked the gothic subculture outfits. And I'll take that tradeoff happily.