REVIEW #119 The Matrix Trilogy (1999-2003)

The Matrix trilogy includes The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and finally The Matrix Revolutions. The films are directed by the Wachowski’s and follow Thomas Anderson, a computer programmer who soon discovers that his reality is in fact a computer programme called the Matrix. He finds himself battling against the very machines that once imprisoned him, fighting for the freedom of humankind. 

CAST & THE ACTING 

Keanu Reeves leads the cast as Neo (Thomas Anderson) and I would say it has to be one of his most iconic roles, alongside John Wick. The best thing about his performance across the three films is certainly his combat choreography, he has become known in Hollywood for how seriously he trains for his roles and I would imagine that is why he has such fantastic action sequences. I would say he is let down by poor dialogue at times because apart from a couple of iconic quotes, the rest does come across as pretty cringey. Carrie-Ann Moss and Lawrence Fishburne play Trinity and Morpheus respectively and both play significant roles in all three films and perform well. The chemistry between the three actors is very good, they create a great team the audience can route for. The relationship between Neo and Trinity is one of the more convincing relationships in the film. Of course I have to mention Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith, he portrayed the artificial intelligence so well, creating a fantastic antagonist. There are a lot more familiar faces who appear throughout the trilogy and as a whole the cast do well enough to convincingly sell the ambitious storyline. 

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

The storyline is definitely the best aspect of the film, something that was certainly ambitious when it was released in 1999 but fast forward to the current day and it’s something that seems perfectly plausible. The progression from film to film works well and as each film passes the higher the stakes are for Neo and the other humans. Unfortunately the quality does decline, with the first film definitely being the best instalment in the trilogy. It was kept pretty simple, introducing the audience to The Matrix and also the world that is now run by the machines but The Matrix Reloaded failed to establish anything new, it just attempted more of the same but just filled it with a lot more action and special effects. Although the second was in my opinion more entertaining the first had a lot more substance, establishing the characters nicely and developing those early relationships. There was a nice twist at the end of Reloaded, showing Neo wasn’t the first version to take on the role of ‘the one’. That strengthened the thought provoking nature of the plot. Unfortunately the third was much worse, I think this was because they moved away from the Matrix and set it more in the real world, which did make sense because it was the final battle between the machines and the humans but it was just far less interesting. The dialogue also declined with each film, getting more and more cringy which didn’t help. So overall the storyline was pretty revolutionary for its time and it did progress naturally but they just failed to maintain the quality with that progression.

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

Considering it was originally released in 1999 the cinematography and special effects were really good. The combat choreography is pretty iconic mixing that martial arts style with something that you would see in a video game. The movement was clearly orchestrated on wires and that’s pretty obvious, it’s pretty easy to look past once you get used to it but it’s certainly not discrete. The second film certainly took the cinematography and effects to a whole new level, that fight scene with the thousands of duplicated Agents Smiths was great and just sums up the quality of the action sequences in that second instalment. It was filled with explosions, car chases and everything in between. There are endless examples of fantastic visuals throughout the entire trilogy, Neo stopping the bullets mid air or performing the iconic bullet dodge that we all tried to do growing up! Although the machine attack in the third film was heavily reliant on CGI, it did actually look okay and holds up well today, 18 years later! So really strong in this category.

OVERALL (7/10)

7 out of 10 is the average score, I would give 8 for the first film, 7.5 for the second and 5.5 for the third. I don’t think any of the films showcase great acting, they cast creates fantastic action sequences and perform combat choreography exceptionally but the other aspects of the acting are pretty average. The storyline is thought provoking, especially in this day and age with the meta-verse being spoken about more and more! It creates two whole new worlds with the Matrix and the harsh reality controlled by the machines, establishing concepts that create some amazing visuals. The cinematography and special effects create some of the most iconic scenes that I loved growing up and they even hold up well today. The dialogue is pretty poor, cringy at times but you can look past it but one thing is clear they failed to maintain the quality with each film. Overall I think it’s a good trilogy, I loved it growing up and even had the game but I do think it’s overrated by a lot of people. 

Thanks for reading!

Callan