The Matrix (1999)

Released in March 1999, The Matrix arrives at a peculiar crossroads: the tail end of a decade in which science fiction had grown increasingly preoccupied with questions of simulation, artificial intelligence and the reliability of perceived reality. The film imagines a 22nd-century world in which humanity is unknowingly imprisoned inside a computer-generated simulation, maintained by machines, while a small band of rebels work to expose the truth and resist their mechanical overlords. It is a premise that draws on a long tradition of philosophical scepticism (Descartes and Baudrillard are the names most commonly name-dropped in university seminars about this film) while translating those ideas into the language of late-1990s action cinema. The result was something that genuinely caught audiences off guard, turning a fairly modest-seeming genre picture into a cultural reference point that people are still arguing about in pub corners a quarter of a century on.

The film was written and directed by Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski, working together under their shared credit, and produced through a combination of Village Roadshow Pictures, Silver Pictures and Groucho II Film Partnership. At the time, the Wachowskis were not especially well-known names. Their previous feature had been a small-scale crime thriller, so handing them the reins of a large-scale science fiction action film was something of a gamble on the studio's part. That gamble, to put it mildly, paid off. The production is notable for its blending of Hong Kong-influenced wire-work action choreography with a colour palette and visual grammar that, at the time, felt genuinely fresh. The choreography and much of the action design drew on martial arts cinema traditions that were, for mainstream Western audiences in 1999, still fairly unfamiliar territory. If that kind of kinetic, choreographed action appeals, it is worth comparing the approach here to what you will find in my review of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, another action film from around the same period that pushed similar boundaries. The Wachowskis would return to this world twice more in 2003 (both The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions were directed by Lana Wachowski) before Lana returned to the franchise again with The Matrix Resurrections in 2021.

The principal cast is polished but, in places, remarkably restrained, which suits the film's slightly cold, clinical atmosphere. Keanu Reeves plays Thomas Anderson, a software programmer living a double life as a hacker who goes by the name Neo. Reeves brings a kind of bemused, low-key quality to the role that works rather well, giving the character room to react rather than grandstand. Laurence Fishburne anchors the film as Morpheus, the rebel leader who serves as Neo's guide, and he plays it with a controlled authority that stops the more portentous dialogue from tipping into self-parody (not always a given, with material like this). Carrie-Anne Moss is Trinity, capable and physically assured in the action sequences, and Hugo Weaving gives a performance as the antagonist Agent Smith that is precise and faintly theatrical in exactly the right way. Gloria Foster rounds out the notable supporting cast as the Oracle, a character whose scenes carry a warmth that contrasts nicely with the cooler register of the rest of the film.

Scientists believe we may actually be living in a simulation. No single film has probably had more impact on my conspiracy theory side than the Matrix. The fact that all of reality is literally holographic as it is (looking at you, string theory) and the recent leaps in quantum computing, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Matrix (or at least elements of it), is real. Anyway, onto the film. This was the 2nd major Keanu Reeves film I saw after Speed 2 and I think he did a great job as the lead here. For 1999, when we had PS1 level graphics in video games... the effects here were absolutely mindblowing. They have aged somewhat by today's standards but they still hold up well. If we judge the story of this first instalment by itself (and not on the various plotholes of the sequels), it's a fantastically written story. This is one of those films you could easily rewatch every few years and enjoy.

For me, that rewatchability point is the thing I keep coming back to. There are films that impress you once and then fade on a second viewing once the novelty has worn off, and there are films that hold their shape because the bones of the story are sound. This one falls into the second camp, and I think that is largely down to the Wachowskis keeping the first instalment clean and self-contained, whatever complications arrived later. The action still lands, the central idea still rattles around in your head afterwards, and Weaving's performance gets a little more enjoyable every time. Not a bad return for an evening in front of the telly.

Rating: ★★★★  | Year: 1999  | Watched: 1999-11-03

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Trailer

▶ Watch the official trailer for The Matrix (1999) on YouTube

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Related on Movies With Macca

More from Lana Wachowski: The Matrix Revolutions (2003) · The Matrix Reloaded (2003) · The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
More with Keanu Reeves: The Matrix Revolutions (2003) · The Matrix Reloaded (2003) · The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
More from the 1990s: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Shinjuku Boys (1995) · Blue (1993) · Cemetery Man (1994)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More science fiction: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Fantastic Planet (1973) · Nightmare City (1980) · The Long Walk (2025)