The Matrix

Movie Name: The Matrix

Year of Release: 1999

Director: The Wachowskis

Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Gloria Foster, Joe Pantoliano, Marcus Chong, Julian Arahanga, Matt Doran, Belinda McClory, Anthony Ray Parker, Paul Goddard, Robert Taylor, David Aston, Marc Aden Gray

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 9
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Synopsis & Review:

After the auspicious debut in 1996 with "Bound" and also their work as screenwriters in such films as Richard Donner's "Assassins", The Wachowski siblings premiered their most ambitious film in 1999, "The Matrix", which revealed itself to be a watershed moment for pop culture. The film follows the story of Thomas Anderson, a programmer at a software company, who has the alter ego Neo in the hacking world. Neo finds himself communicating with someone who goes by the name of Morpheus, a legend in the hacking world. This cyber friendship makes Neo the target of some secret agents who want to capture Morpheus at all costs. When Neo finally meets Morpheus, he gets offered the opportunity to understand what reality is about. What he finds out changes his world forever.
The Wachowskis are incredibly imaginative and inventive writer/directors, with influences that range from Japanese manga, existential philosophy and martial arts films. "The Matrix" is a perfect distill of all of these influences, in a work that is unique, technologically savvy and one that became profoundly influential. They managed to create a universe that is distinctly theirs (also with the less successful sequels), filled with exciting ideas and shots that pushed the realms of how action films get produced. They successfully leveraged Keanu Reeves' screen presence (and somewhat limited dramatic range), and brought Laurence Fishburne and Carrie Anne Moss to new levels of attention. The film is an almost perfect articulation of what an action and entertaining film should be: rich in concept, boundary pushing and with a sense of humor. The film was also very successful at the Oscars, winning all the awards for which it was nominated (4), demonstrating the level of omnipresence the film had in the cultural discussion of that year. An iconic film from an irregular duo of directors, always worth watching.