omputer hacker Neo (Reeves) has long harbored fears that things on Earth are not quite as they appear. His suspicions are confirmed when, following a clandestine meeting with a woman named Trinity (Moss), he is unexpectedly arrested by a group of security officers led by the intimidating Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving).
During the ensuing interrogation, the defiant hacker is offered a chance to entrap the legendary computer outlaw Morpheus (Fishburne). He refuses, and quickly finds that his mouth has inexplicably disappeared and a pseudo-mechanical "bug" has been placed inside his chest. Neo later awakens in his bedroom, believing that the entire episode was simply a dream. However, when Trinity reappears and removes the tracking device, he's soon convinced that the preceding events were authentic.
She takes him to meet Morpheus, who reveals that the world which Neo perceives as real is actually generated by a gigantic computer called The Matrix. It runs on bio-electrical energy and breeds humans as a power source, keeping the entire population in suspended animation and providing a lifelike virtual environment where their minds interact.
Aboard a futuristic hovercraft floating outside this synthetic realm, Morpheus leads a small band of renegades trying to disable the megalithic machine. He recruits Neo and begins to train him, in part by downloading martial arts skills directly into his brain. When the instruction is nearly complete the rebels return to the artificial world, where they discover that their electronic enemy not only has its own formidable defenses, but has also apparently infiltrated their team.
A visual tour de force
Aside from the flashy idea of "jacking in" to virtual worlds, one important yet often overlooked cyberpunk tenet concerns the commingling of cultural, commercial and governmental elements into a single, computer-connected society. Although The Matrix doesn't stint on either violence or destruction, in many ways it serves as a perfect example--both narratively and visually--of the view that the world is truly becoming a global village.
Traditional Western influences are readily evident in the plot, ranging from subtle Judeo-Christian theological components and ancient Greek and Roman allusions to direct references to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland tales (which have often been cited as important literary precursors to the concept of virtual reality). Yet the picture also incorporates significant Asian imagery, mimicking numerous anime and live-action martial arts flicks, and it successfully integrates individuals of varying ethnicities into important roles.
The Matrix is a visual tour de force too, utilizing what the directors call "bullet-time photography" to generate action scenes where, though the camera continues to move, fighting characters freeze in mid-air and projectiles slow down and stop in mid-flight. This effect helps to impress upon audiences the artificiality of the movie's virtual world and, more practically, assist in pacing the copious combat sequences, many of which were choreographed by famed Hong Kong stunt specialist Yuen Wo Ping.
In fact, the only major problem with the production is Reeves, who is consistently emotionless in the face of both adversity and discovery. Nevertheless, even with this significant shortcoming, most science fiction fans should find The Matrix to be an absorbing and altogether enjoyable motion picture.
