The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction film written and directed by The
Wachowskis, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss,
Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano. It depicts a dystopian future in
which reality as perceived by most humans is actually a simulated
reality called "the Matrix", created by sentient machines to subdue the
human population, while their bodies' heat and electrical activity are
used as an energy source. Computer programmer "Neo" learns this truth
and is drawn into a rebellion against the machines, which involves other
people who have been freed from the "dream world".
The Matrix is known for popularizing a visual effect known as "bullet
time", in which the heightened perception of certain characters is
represented by allowing the action within a shot to progress in
slow-motion while the camera's viewpoint appears to move through the
scene at normal speed. The film is an example of the cyberpunk science
fiction genre. It contains numerous references to philosophical and
religious ideas, and prominently pays homage to works such as Plato's
Allegory of the Cave, Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation and
Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The Wachowskis'
approach to action scenes drew upon their admiration for Japanese
animation and martial arts films, and the film's use of fight
choreographers and wire fu techniques from Hong Kong action cinema
influenced subsequent Hollywood action film productions.
The Matrix was first released in the United States on March 31, 1999,
and grossed over $460 million worldwide. It was generally well-received
by critics, and won four Academy Awards as well as other accolades
including BAFTA Awards and Saturn Awards. Reviewers praised The Matrix
for its innovative visual effects, cinematography and its entertainment.
The film's premise was both criticized for being derivative of earlier
science fiction works, and praised for being intriguing. The action also
polarized critics, some describing it as impressive, but others
dismissing it as a trite distraction from an interesting premise.
The film has since appeared in lists of the greatest science fiction
films, and in 2012, was added to the National Film Registry for
preservation. The success of the film led to the release of two feature
film sequels, both written and directed by the Wachowskis: The Matrix
Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. The Matrix franchise was further
expanded through the production of comic books, video games and animated
short films in which the Wachowskis were heavily involved.
Plot
Trinity, an infamous hacker, is cornered by
police in an abandoned hotel. She overpowers them with superhuman
abilities and escapes, but a group of sinister and superhuman
black-suited Agents lead the police in a rooftop pursuit. She answers a
ringing public telephone and vanishes.
Thomas Anderson is a computer programmer living a double life under the
hacker alias "Neo". He believes something is wrong with the world and is
puzzled by repeated online encounters with the cryptic phrase "the
Matrix". Trinity contacts him, saying that a man named Morpheus can
explain its meaning; however, the Agents, led by Agent Smith, apprehend
Neo at his office. Undeterred, Neo meets Morpheus, who offers him a
choice between a red pill that will allow him to learn the truth about
the Matrix, and a blue pill that will return him to his old life.
Swallowing the red pill, Neo's reality disintegrates and he awakens,
naked and weak, in a liquid-filled pod, finding himself one of countless
people connected by cables to an elaborate electrical system. He is
rescued and brought aboard Morpheus's hovercraft, the Nebuchadnezzar.
Morpheus explains that, in the 21st century, humans waged a war against
intelligent machines that they had created. When humans blocked the
machines' access to solar energy, the machines began to harvest the
humans' bioelectricity for power. The Matrix is a shared simulation of
the world as it was in 1999 in which the minds of the harvested humans
are trapped and pacified; Neo has been living in it since birth.
Morpheus and his crew belong to a group of rebels who hack into the
Matrix and "unplug" enslaved humans, recruiting them as rebels. The
rebels' understanding of the true nature of the simulated reality allows
them to bend its physical laws, granting them superhuman abilities. Neo
is warned that fatal injuries within the Matrix will also kill one's
physical body, and that the Agents he encountered are powerful sentient
programs that eliminate threats to the system. Neo's skill during
virtual combat training lends credence to Morpheus's belief that Neo is
"the One", a man prophesied to lead the insurrection of enslaved humans
against the machines.
The group enters the Matrix to visit the Oracle, a prophet who predicted
the emergence of the One. She implies that Neo is not the One, and
warns Neo that he will soon have to choose between his life and the life
of Morpheus. Before they can leave the Matrix, the group is ambushed by
Agents and tactical police. Morpheus allows himself to be captured so
that Neo and the crew can escape. However, their getaway is hindered by
Cypher, a crew member who betrayed Morpheus to Agent Smith in exchange
for a comfortable life within the Matrix. Cypher disconnects and murders
several crew members as they lie defenseless in the real world. He then
prepares to disconnect Neo and Trinity as well, but is confronted and
killed by Tank, a crewman whom he had left for dead.
In the Matrix, the Agents interrogate Morpheus in an attempt to learn
his access codes to the mainframe computer in Zion, the rebel humans'
last refuge in the real world. Tank proposes killing Morpheus to prevent
this, but Neo, who believes that he is not the One, instead resolves to
return to the Matrix to rescue Morpheus, and Trinity insists on
accompanying him. They succeed in rescuing Morpheus, and in doing so Neo
gains the necessary confidence in his abilities, performing feats on
par with those of the Agents. Morpheus and Trinity exit the Matrix, but
Neo is forced to fight Smith after the latter intervenes and thwarts his
escape. Outmatched, Neo attempts to find an exit while fleeing from the
Agents; he eventually manages to locate an exit in an apartment, only
to run into Smith and be fatally shot upon arriving there. In the real
world, "sentinel" machines attack the Nebuchadnezzar, while Trinity
stands over Neo and whispers to him that the Oracle told her that she
would fall in love with the One. She kisses Neo, and he revives, this
time with the power to perceive and control the Matrix. He effortlessly
destroys Smith and then leaves the Matrix in time for the ship's
electromagnetic pulse weapon to disable the attacking sentinels.
Some time later, Neo makes a telephone call in the Matrix, promising the
machines that he will show their prisoners "a world where anything is
possible". He hangs up and flies into the sky.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix