Matrix (1999)
Watching the original Matrix for some reason. Wanted some cyberpunk/scifi inspiration I guess.
Writing analysis: Morpheus instructs Neo on how to escape the agents in scenes that take 5 minutes, offering it as alternative to get caught. In the end Neo gives up and gets caught. Thinking simply, the end result would have been the same if Morpheus never contacted Neo in the first place. Why did all this take place?
- We learn that Neo has some action hero in him but he is too scared to go all the way.
- We learn that Morpheus knows unlikely things.
- We learn that the film takes place in rather normal present day world with a skycraper hosting a large software company. Slight cyberpunk.
- It builds tension to have him caught after trying to escape. It makes it seem like the bad guys are more powerful.
There’s only 4 years gap between the matrix films. The two sequels came out in the same year?! But this is the American movie industry. Even the LotR films came with just 2 years in between. I used to think it was an annoying time to wait, but now I can barely believe how fast they worked.
The start of the film felt so much more crude than the middle I’m currently at. It almost felt like the actors of Neo and Trinity were plain bad, and that the fighting scenes were bad. I guess it’s just the scifi this film shines in, where they put all the money.
Oracle says Morpheus will find The One. When Neo walks into the Oracle’s kitchen, she tells him he’s not the man. But if she was right about Morpheus, then it makes sense that Morpheus is right about Neo, although the Oracle herself doubts it.
Cypher is a classic turncoat, but they do it pretty well, having him kill cold-bloodedly two minor characters (after seemingly taken out two other) of the already small resistance group. The resolution to the situation? Good guys don’t die that easily.
Humans are like dinosaurs, the aliens will inherit us.
“I’d like to share a revelation I had recently. It came when I tried to classify your species…” - Agent Smith while breaking Morpheus. This is cool.
Reflective sunglasses and suits. The leather jackets come later.
Now it comes. Marble pillars show the bullet holes marvelously (maybe first used in this film for the full effect?)
I remember the Smith clones so well, but actually for the most part there are other actors playing other agents with him. They seem to have different minds and even argue at times. This gives more depth to Smith, who we now think more of as an individual (“I can’t stand this place, the smell of it”, talking about the matrix).
“What if the real world is just a matrix of sorts?” is what the film seems to be asking on the philosophical level. Typically I brush aside such meaningless attempts to engage the thinking viewer, but today, this one strikes home. What if the life you live is just an illusion, has no value beyond the artificial construct it lives in? And instead of dismissing it as a silly fantasy, I grab at the central question of what’s the difference between real and unreal? I can say there’s a difference between the imaginary and the real, but I can’t really quantify it.
A wild west inspired scene in a subway, into which a plot device draws Neo? Nice.
I have to say I don’t really care about the physical blows traded in a filmed fight. There was a time I thought it was gripping, seeing all the effects and inspiration from martial arts I had yet to read about. However at the present, the fight I see is a thin slice of the story being played. No character development will occur, nor will the characters learn any information during the fight. So it should be obvious who is going to win. Therefore there is no need for the fight to take a lot of time. Rather it should just plainly spell out the results and set further events in motion. In a text-heavy medium where battle descriptions are difficult, briefness is prefered. If detail is desired, it should be directed to things outside the fight, like sources of mystical fighting powers, emotions of the characters, or aftermath of the destruction.
The ship is like a submarine. Valve-doors, ladders, flooring made of transparent metal grates.
Like every well-known story, this one gets away with so much unexplained stuff. Why is Neo the chosen one? How did they (Morpheus) know? If Morpheus believing Neo was the One made it happen, then what was the mechanism behind it? How does the Oracle know things? Why? Is it just a deep buried Deus Ex Machina?
There’s another set of scenes like before. Neo is about to get caught but escapes, running through buildings until he is eventually caught. Meanwhile in the real world, enemy robots are breaking into the ship. I think the point is to bring up the tension. Nothing really important in terms of plot is happening, but the viewer is grasping the chair handles for sure. The agents shoot Neo down, which has more impact because he seemed to be fleeing just fine for the last minutes.
And suddenly, the power of love? Thanks for reminding me this is the Hollywood we are talking about.
The fact that he just died and was brought back to life by something the Oracle seemed to know all along gives Neo the self-confidence he needs. Having been through all that and especially dying, he knows his destiny and can finally accept the powers sealed within.
There is really no resolution in the end, other than that Neo has ascended. It really begs for a sequel.