The Matrix. What American teenager of this generation has not referenced, seen a spoof or been exposed to it’s revolutionary effects as they pretended to dodge an object thrown their way? The film cannot be avoided but the beauty of it is that any attempt at a spoiler is made in vain. I have grown up doing all of these things, comparing mind blowing revelations to the deceptive nature I knew made The Matrix, the matrix; however, it was not until this post that I had actually seen the film itself. I expected to have my expectations come to fruition, I have always been around conversations directed to every aspect of this film and yet I still ended the movie, mind blown. How could that be? The effects are now behind the time, I have been told about the pill, understood what it meant to “enter” the matrix and yet I was still surprised, sitting at the edge of my seat. gripping my desk. as I watched Trinity’s last attempt to get to a phone. I say all this because I believe it speaks to the character of the film.
The Matrix was a radical pivoting moment for the action film genre. Before there were of course other sci-fi , action movies but nothing with such an advanced a plot or with the budget and resources that allowed The Matrix capable of engaging in that plot. The film distorts the audience, it made me question my own reality, although set in a future, the explanation of life’s peculiarities are exploited, causing one to second guess the tangible and the absolutism of life as if this ‘reality’ that we live in today is the matrix still.
Unfortunately though, the action scenes took away from the truly original and influential potential of the film as a whole. As this plot has opened up a new outlet for action films, its climax and conclusion removed itself from the incredible mind-contortion that it began with. Rather than building on this contortion, it settled on a typical end with victory for the hero and hope for the future while leaving room for conflict in the sequels. It went from a series of twists and unpredictable turns to a finale of excessive gun fire and a predictable outcome. The Matrix was an incredible flick but it was so well executed that I felt that it could have left for a more audacious conclusion.