Plot: Computer programmer Thomas A. Anderson leads a secret life as a hacker under the alias "Neo". Cryptic messages appearing on his computer monitor and an encounter with several sinister agents, as well as the mysterious woman Trinity, lead him to a group led by the mysterious Morpheus, a man who offers him the chance to learn the truth about the Matrix. Neo accepts by swallowing an offered red pill, and abruptly wakes up naked in a liquid-filled pod, his body connected by wires to a vast mechanical tower covered with identical pods. The connections are severed and he is rescued by Morpheus and taken aboard his hovercraft, the Nebuchadnezzar. Neo's neglected physical body is restored, and Morpheus explains the situation.
Morpheus informs Neo that the year is not 1999, but estimated to be closer to 2199. Humanity is fighting a war against intelligent machines created in the early 21st century. The sky is covered in thick black clouds created by the humans in an attempt to cut off the machines' supply of solar power. The machines responded by using human beings as their energy source, growing countless people in pods and harvesting their bioelectrical energy and body heat. The world which Neo has inhabited since birth is the Matrix, an illusory simulated reality construct of the world as it was in 1999, developed by the machines to keep the human population docile in their captivity. Morpheus and his crew are a group of free humans who "unplug" others from the Matrix and recruit them to their resistance against the machines. Within the Matrix they are able to use their understanding of its nature to bend the laws of physics within the simulation, giving them superhuman abilities. Morpheus believes that Neo is "the One", a man prophesied to end the war through his limitless control over the Matrix.
Neo is trained to become a member of the group. A socket in the back of Neo's skull, formerly used to connect him to the Matrix, allows knowledge to be uploaded directly into his mind. He learns numerous martial arts disciplines, and demonstrates his kung fu skills by sparring with Morpheus in a virtual reality "construct" environment similar to the Matrix, impressing the crew with his speed. Further training introduces Neo to the key dangers in the Matrix itself. Injuries suffered there are reflected in the real world; if he is killed in the Matrix, his physical body will also die. He is warned of the presence of Agents, powerful and fast sentient programs with the ability to take over the virtual body of anyone still connected to the system, whose purpose is to seek out and eliminate any threats to the simulation. This makes it incredibly dangerous to fight Agents in populated areas, as anyone in the surroundings could become possessed by the Agent(s), if his previous human "shell" was destroyed. Yet Morpheus is confident that once Neo fully understands his own abilities as "the One", they will be no match for him.
The group enters the Matrix and takes Neo to meet the Oracle, the woman who has predicted the eventual emergence of the One. She tells Neo that he has "the gift", but that he is waiting for something, perhaps the next life. From her comments, Neo deduces that he is not the One. She adds that Morpheus believes in Neo so blindly that he will sacrifice his life to save him. Returning to the hacked telephone line which serves as a safe "exit" from the Matrix, the group is ambushed by Agents and SWAT teams. Morpheus is captured as Neo and the others escape, later learning that they were betrayed by the crew-member Cypher, who preferred his old life in ignorance of the real world's hardships. Cypher made a deal with the Agents to give them Morpheus in exchange for a permanent return to the Matrix. The betrayal leads to the deaths of all crew-members except Neo, Trinity, Tank, and Morpheus, who is imprisoned in a government building within the Matrix. The Agents attempt to gain information from him regarding access codes to the mainframe of Zion, the humans' last refuge deep underground in the real world. Neo and Trinity return to the Matrix and storm the building, rescuing their leader. Neo becomes more confident and familiar with manipulating the Matrix, ultimately dodging bullets fired at him by an Agent. Morpheus and Trinity use a subway station telephone to exit the Matrix, but before Neo can leave, he is ambushed by Agent Smith. He stands his ground and eventually defeats Smith, but flees when the Agent possesses another body.
As Neo runs through the city towards another telephone exit, he is pursued by the Agents while "Sentinel" machines converge on the Nebuchadnezzar's position in the real world. Neo reaches an exit, but he is ambushed by a waiting Agent Smith and shot dead. Back onboard the Nebuchadnezzar, in the real world, Trinity whispers to Neo that she was told by the Oracle that she would fall in love with "the One", implying that Neo is "the One". She refuses to accept his death and kisses him. Neo's heart beats again, and within the Matrix he stands up; the Agents shoot at him, but he raises his palm and stops their bullets in mid-air. Neo is able to see the Matrix as it really is: lines of streaming green code; he has finally become "the One". Agent Smith makes a final attempt to kill him, but his punches are effortlessly blocked, and Neo destroys him. The other two Agents flee, and Neo returns to the real world just in time for the ship's EMP weapon to destroy the Sentinels that had already breached the hull of the ship. A short epilogue shows Neo back in the Matrix, making a telephone call promising that he will demonstrate to the people imprisoned in the Matrix that "anything is possible." He hangs up the phone and flies into the sky.
Cast and characters: * Keanu Reeves as Thomas A. Anderson / Neo: A computer programmer who moonlights as the hacker Neo, later to realize he is the One when trying to rescue Morpheus from the Agents.
* Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus: A human freed from the Matrix, captain of the Nebuchadnezzar. He is the one who finds Neo.
* Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity: Freed by Morpheus, crewman of the Nebuchadnezzar and Neo's romantic interest.
* Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith: A sentient "Agent" program of the Matrix whose purpose is to destroy Zion and stop humans from getting out of the Matrix, but has ambitions to free himself from his duties.
* Joe Pantoliano as Cypher: Another freed by Morpheus, he betrays the Nebuchadnezzar's crew to the Agents to ensure his return to the Matrix because "Ignorance is bliss."
* Julian Arahanga as Apoc: A freed human and crew member on the Nebuchadnezzar.
* Anthony Ray Parker as Dozer: A "natural" human, with no plugs for the Matrix, and pilot of the Nebuchadnezzar.
* Marcus Chong as Tank: Dozer's brother, operates the training simulation, also a "natural" human and operator of the Nebuchadnezzar.
* Matt Doran as Mouse: A freed human and programmer on the Nebuchadnezzar.
* Gloria Foster as the Oracle: Exiled program who still resides in the Matrix, helping the freed humans with her foresight and wisdom.
* Belinda McClory as Switch: A human freed by Morpheus and crew member of the Nebuchadnezzar.
* Paul Goddard as Agent Brown: One of two sentient "Agent" programs in the Matrix who work with Agent Smith to destroy Zion and stop humans escaping the system.
* Robert Taylor as Agent Jones: Second sentient "Agent" program working with Agent Smith.
Visual effects The film is known for developing and popularizing the use of a visual effect known as "bullet time", which allows the viewer to explore a moment progressing in slow-motion as the camera appears to orbit around the scene at normal speed.
One proposed technique for creating these effects involved propelling a high speed camera along a fixed track with a rocket to capture the action as it occurred. However, this was discarded as unfeasible, because not only was the destruction of the camera in the attempt all but inevitable, but the camera would also be almost impossible to control at such speeds. Instead, the method used was a technically expanded version of an old art photography technique known as time-slice photography, in which a large number of cameras are placed around an object and triggered nearly simultaneously. Each camera is a still-picture camera, and not a motion picture camera, and it contributes just one frame to the video sequence. When the sequence of shots is viewed as in a movie, the viewer sees what are in effect two-dimensional "slices" of a three-dimensional moment. Watching such a "time slice" movie is akin to the real-life experience of walking around a statue to see how it looks from different angles. The positioning of the still cameras can be varied along any desired smooth curve to produce a smooth looking camera motion in the finished clip, and the timing of each camera's firing may be delayed slightly, so that a motion scene can be executed (albeit over a very short period of movie time).
Some scenes in The Matrix feature the "time-slice" effect with completely frozen characters and objects. Film interpolation techniques improved the fluidity of the apparent "camera motion". The effect was further expanded upon by the Wachowski brothers and the visual effects supervisor John Gaeta so as to create "bullet time", which incorporates temporal motion, so that rather than being totally frozen the scene progresses in slow and variable motion. Engineers at Manex Visual Effects pioneered 3-D visualization planning methods to move beyond mechanically fixed views towards more complicated camera paths and flexibly moving interest points. There is also an improved fluidity through the use of non-linear interpolation, digital compositing, and the introduction of computer generated "virtual" scenery.
The objective of the bullet time shots in The Matrix was to creatively illustrate "mind over matter" type events as captured by a "virtual camera". However, the original technical approach was physically bound to pre-determined perspectives, and the resulting effect only suggests the capabilities of a true virtual camera.
The evolution of photogrametric and image-based computer-generated background approaches in The Matrix's bullet time shots set the stage for later innovations unveiled in the sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. Virtual Cinematography (CGI-rendered characters, locations, and events) and the high-definition "Universal Capture" process completely replaced the use of still camera arrays, thus more closely realizing the "virtual camera".
This film overcame the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace by winning the Academy Award for Visual Effects.
How is Neo Different From Other Battery People? Now
lets get to Neo - in the Sci-fi interpretation, we find that Neo
actually had a special package implanted in his head at birth that was
different from the other battery people (re: the architect’s
conversation). This package includes both a sentient program learns
over time, and a method to communicate directly with the source. Neo
the “person” is actually not just a person or even a normal “battery”
person, but is a symbiotic combination of human and learning sentient
program. The sentient program in a very real sense is “part” of Neo.
It is not a virus living off a host – it is a fully integrated entity,
which transforms Neo into a true man-machine organism just as Motoko
was at the end of Ghost in the Shell. The sentient program’s
communications package is necessary for the “One’s” eventual planned
destiny – this is part of the architect’s control loop whereby the One
returns to the source and freely agrees to let the human portion of him
die, and then freely communicates the sentient AI part of him back to
the source to reboot the matrix. The sentient portion of the One isn’t
dead, and may eventually return to the Matrix, similar to how the
sentient portion of Seraph (a former “One”) has done.
So Neo has the ability to communicate with the Source and, because
of his unique purpose (to understand and update the Matrix, he has
“sysadmin-like” machine city powers in a computer sense required to
reboot the matrix (after all, this is his intended purpose). These two
aspects – his sys-admin ability and wireless communications ability -
provide that rationale for Neo’s ability to communicate/attack/destroy
other machines and programs from the source both internally in the
matrix and externally (wirelessly) in the real world. It’s also clear
that Neo has the ability to see energy similar to the sentinels - this
is different from a broadcast signal. Basically, Neo was given the same
capabilities for sensory perception as the machines, and is the ONLY
human that has the capability to send and receive wireless
communications. Incidentally, for those matrix fans watching at home,
this is why the 13th floor scenario (matrix within a matrix) makes no
sense.
With this basis, the much talked about and often misunderstood scene
near the end of Revolutions, where the “ghost” sentinel goes through
Neo also makes sense. Neo has been attacking the sentinels and other
machines wirelessly for some time. The ghost sentinel going through him
is merely a return wireless attack by a foe who is changing their
tactics to meet the enemy’s assault. The sentinel essentially did a
ghost-hack type attack, where energy from the sentinel is sent back at
Neo. And in fact, the attack was successful – so successful that it
momentarily knocks out the sentient program portion of Neo, so only the
human part is conscious. At this point, Neo cannot see the machines and
cannot fight back, so he tells Trinity to go up above the nano-clouds
that destroy all electricity and block out the sun.
Reviews: The Matrix received generally favorable reviews from film critics, with a general consensus forming that it presented an "ingenious" blend of Hong Kong action cinema, innovative visual effects and an imaginative vision.Rotten Tomatoes reported that 86% of critics gave the film positive reviews, with an average score of 7.4/10, based upon a sample of 122 reviews. The site reported that 68% of selected notable critics gave the film a positive review, based upon a sample of 28. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 73 upon its DVD release, based on 35 reviews.
Philip Strick commented in Sight & Sound, "if the Wachowskis claim no originality of message, they are startling innovators of method", praising the film's details and its "broadside of astonishing images". Roger Ebert praised the film's visuals and premise, but disliked the third act's focus on action. Similarly, Time Out praised the "entertainingly ingenious" switches between different realities, Hugo Weaving's "engagingly odd" performance, and the film's cinematography and production design, but concluded, "the promising premise is steadily wasted as the film turns into a fairly routine action pic yet another slice of overlong, high concept hokum". Other reviewers criticised the comparative humorlessness and self-indulgence of the movie.
In 2001, The Matrix was placed 66th in the American Film Institute's "100 Years... 100 Thrills" list. In 2007, Entertainment Weekly called The Matrix the best science-fiction piece of media for the past 25 years.
Several science fiction creators commented on the film. Author William Gibson, a key figure in cyberpunk fiction, called the film "an innocent delight I hadn't felt in a long time", and stated, "Neo is my favourite-ever science fiction hero, absolutely". Joss Whedon called the film "my number one" and praised its storytelling, structure and depth, concluding, "It works on whatever level you want to bring to it." Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky commented, "I walked out of The Matrix [...] and I was thinking, 'What kind of science fiction movie can people make now?' The Wachowskis basically took all the great sci-fi ideas of the 20th century and rolled them into a delicious pop culture sandwich that everyone on the planet devoured."
Trilogy:
The film's mainstream success led to the greenlighting of two previously unplanned sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. These were filmed simultaneously during one shoot and released in two parts in 2003. The first film's introductory tale is replaced by a story centered on the impending attack of the human enclave of Zion by a vast machine army. Neo also learns more about the history of the Matrix, his role as the One and the prophecy that he will end the war. The sequels also incorporate longer and more ambitious action scenes, as well as improvements in bullet time and other visual effects.
Also released was The Animatrix, a collection of nine animated short films, many of which were created in the same Japanese animation style that was a strong influence on the live trilogy. The Animatrix was overseen and approved by the Wachowski brothers but they only wrote four of the segments themselves and did not direct any of them, while some of them (such as Osiris and Kid's Story) are directly linked to the movies; much of the project was created by notable figures from the world of anime. Four of the films were originally released on the series' official website; one was shown in cinemas with the Warner Bros. movie Dreamcatcher; the others first appeared with the DVD release of all nine shorts. Several of the films were shown first on UK television prior to their DVD release.
The franchise also contains three video games: Enter the Matrix (2003), which contains footage shot specifically for the game and chronicles events taking place before and during The Matrix Reloaded; The Matrix Online (2004), a MMORPG which continues the story beyond The Matrix Revolutions; and The Matrix: Path of Neo, which was released on November 8, 2005 and focuses on situations based on Neo's journey through the trilogy of films.
Available on the official website are a number of free comics set in the world of The Matrix, written and illustrated by figures from the comics industry. Some of these comics are also available in two printed volumes, the The Matrix Comics.
