Neo & Trinity

Technically speaking, The Matrix is a form of simulated reality, since the individuals living inside it are unaware that they actually are in a simulation. While some philosophers have theorized that humans may actually be living in such a reality, simulated reality is still mainly just that: a philosophical argument. Virtual reality, on the other hand, has had a much more concrete history in the “real world.”In virtual reality, individuals are aware that they are in a different reality. This can be seen in the first film when Neo trains with Morpheus. Non-digital virtual reality can be seen in the panoramic murals that appeared in the 1860s, and devices in the 1920s simulated the experience of riding in a vehicle. In the late 1950s and 1960s, Morton Heilig tried to advance virtual reality with a device called the Sensorama. This was Heilig’s attempt to make “The Cinema of the Future,” as he described in a 1955 paper. The Sensorama played short films while engaging the senses in never-before-seen ways, all without the benefit of computers. However, filmmaking for the device was so expensive that the Sensorama never took off (so to speak). Read more »

I think the biggest question of what happens following the conclusion of The Matrix Revolution is whether or not the peace agreement that was reached between the humans and the machines really lasted. I hate to be a pessimist but I have a lot of doubt as to whether or not they were able to really keep the peace. Eventually the competition for natural resources to feed the competing human and machine civilizations would draw both sides back into war.

You have to think Read more »

Of all the diverse characters in the Wachowski Brothers’ “The Matrix,” Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) remains my favorite character. What a welcome relief to have a woman as a central and fully-realized hero, rather than simply the love interest. Trinity’s athletic skills and computer savvy rank her alongside the other technical wizards in the Nebuchadnezzar rebel ship. She is second in command to Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and like the tough and competent Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) character in the Aliens franchise, her gender does not preclude her from taking command. Her authority does not diminish her feminine characteristics, and Read more »

The sequels to The Matrix are much-maligned and, in some cases, rightly so. The Matrix: Revolutions is, at best, a sub-par sequel and a disappointing ending to an otherwise exciting and thought-provoking series. However, The Matrix: Reloaded is criticized almost as often and, I think, unfairly so. While it may not have the same sense of newness and innovation that the first Matrix film had, it has a flair all of its own, with action scenes that, in my opinion, far exceed those Read more »

After watching all three Matrix films for the umpteenth time, you may find yourself looking for some movies to sink your teeth into. Here are some of our favorites:Ghost in the Shell - This 1995 Japanese animated film was a major inspiration for the Wachowskis and still holds up as a great science-fiction movie. The plot follows a cyborg police officer named Kusanagi who is just as spunky and deadly as Trinity. A hacker called the Puppet Master is hacking into human brains and running amokand Kusanagi just can’t stand for that. But what does her own artificial self have to do with the mystery?Existenz - This is a dark film by the renowned director David Cronenberg, with a lot of scenes that could make you wince. It stars Jennifer Jason Leigh as a virtual reality game developer who is being targeted by an assassin with bizarre weaponry. Jude Law is the mild-mannered marketing trainee who is forced to go on the run with her. Together the two uncover a strange rivalry between two game companies and the “realists”, who are fighting to maintain reality.Minority Report – This 2002 sci-fi thriller is also a modern noir mystery, with an interesting twist: the crime hasn’t been committed yet. Instead, a trio of psychics predicts crimes and Tom Cruise apprehends them before it occursthat is, until the psychics “see” Cruise in the act of murder. Director Steven Spielberg doesn’t disappoint in this exciting tale.Tron: Legacy – This film hasn’t been released yet, but all signs point to it being an interesting and adult remake of an ’80s favorite. Garrett Hedlund plays the son of Jeff Bridges’s character from the original. Hedlund goes looking for his father and finds himtrapped in a gladiator-like virtual world. The two are forced to fight for their lives as they make their way back to reality.

Keanu Reeves had starred in many films prior to The Matrix, from far-out comedies to action thrillers. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, he was raised by his mother from the age of three. Her career as a costume designer and actress no doubt instilled a love of performing in him at a young age. As a student, he was a bit of a handful, but was a skilled hockey player. He later played a hockey goalie in his first professional movie role, in the film Youngblood.His most popular early film, of course, was Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure in 1989, in which he played a time-travelling teen with a distinctive, spaced-out persona. This film led to a 1991 sequel, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. Reeves’casting in the 1994 action movie Speed was a turning-point in his career, when he began starring in more action films. However, he continued to make unexpected choices, such as not appearing in Speed 2 in order to play Hamlet. This turned out to be a good choice overall, as Reeves received good reviews for his performance. However, Sandra Bullock and the other stars of Speed 2 found themselves trapped, not only on a cruise ship, but in a stinker of a movie.Reeves has been known to go without a salary so that more famous co-stars could be cast, such as in The Devil’s Advocate with Al Pacino and The Replacements with Gene Hackman. In the first Matrix film, Reeves started to gain a reputation of his own when he was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Actor. So what is Reeves doing now? His latest film was The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, in which he plays an unbalanced character who begins an affair with the main character. He is also appearing in an upcoming science-fiction film Passengers and the comedy film Henry’s Crime.

Music plays a large role in setting the tone of any film. The right song or score can change the way a scene is understood, as directors like Quentin Tarantino have shown in films like Pulp Fiction. It is no surprise that music plays such a large role in the Matrix film. Star Keanu Reeves has a strong musical background, playing guitar in the ’90s rock band “Dogstar.” However, there is a vast variety of sounds on hand in the film, from electronic compositions to heavy metal.To start things off, there is an original score by composer Don Davis, who has gone on to score films like Jurassic Park III and Antitrust. He based his score off of the idea of mirrors, which played a large role in the film. This comes out in the alternation between orchestral sections and in the use of counterpoint, which is when two or more independent voices (or instruments) create a harmony.There is also a large variety of artists featured on the soundtrack itself. Some of these include industrial metal bands like Rammstein and Ministry, whose eerie and dissonant mechanic noises fit in well with the themes of the film. The aptly-named Rage Against the Machine was also a fitting choice to include. Other artists on the soundtrack include the British rock group Fightstar, the electronic composer Rob Dougan, and the distinctive Marilyn Manson.The music from the film was released on two albumsone featuring the original score and one featuring the original soundtrack. Other songs appeared in the film, but were not included on either soundtrack, such as pieces by pianist and composer Duke Ellington and renowned guitarist Django Reinhardt. Now, go and watch the film again, with your ears as well as your eyes.

The fights in The Matrix owed a lot to the Hong Kong film industry. Choreographer Yuen Woo-ping previously worked on films with such intriguing titles as Dance of the Drunk Mantis, Shaolin Drunkard, and Iron Monkey. After The Matrix, however, his credits got a lot more well-known as directors and film-goers alike craved more of the energetic action sequences. Since 1999, the year of the film’s release, he has worked on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Hustle. His brother, also a choreographer, worked on the 2003 film Daredevil.The Matrix popularized slow-motion gunfights, spinning perspectives, and of course the unique “bullet time” effect. For example, the shoot-out in the lobby made numerous lists of the greatest action scenes in recent memory. These motifs became so popular that they even entered into the world of video games, most notably in the shooter Max Payne and the raunchy adventure game Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Other films satirized the heavy use of these techniques and drew comedy from them. Some examples include Scary Movie, Shrek, and Kung Pow: Enter the Fist.The Matrix films (and fights) also borrowed much of their visual look from Japanese animated films like Ghost in the Shell. This came full circle when The Animatrix was released. A compendium of 9 short animated films, these stories filled in corners of the Matrix universe and were directed by legendary anime directors like Shinichiro Watanabe and Peter Chung. Other non-related anime films also had action sequences inspired by the film, like the series FLCL.

Like the best science fiction, The Matrix and its sequels raises questions about who we are and the world we are living in. The Wachowskis had much to draw from in their ideas about a real world hidden behind the faade of the one we see every day. This topic and its ramifications have been raised in philosophy going all the way back to Plato’s allegory of the cave. In this parable, a group of people is chained inside a cave for their entire lives, and the only visions they get of the outside world are the shadows cast on the wall in front of them.A more modern philosophical influence was Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation, published in 1985. Supposedly, the Wachowskis required their cast and crew members to read this and understand it before filming, and a copy of the book appears in the film as a hiding place for some discs. Baudrillard says that humans live in a simulated reality because society has replaced all meaning with symbols. The book also references a short story by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges called “On Exactitude in Science”, in which a kingdom devotes its energy to constructing a larger and larger map until the map perfectly overlays the kingdom.The belief in Messianism also reflects on the character of Neo in the film. Just as most major religions are centered around a divine savior, the world of the Matrix can only be redeemed by Neo. Humans are seen as incapable of saving themselves in most messianic beliefs. However, the later Matrix films change this notion by showing the revolt of the humans against the machines.The next time you sit down to watch the film, think about exactly what you are seeing, and consider whether you can trust your eyes when you turn them away from the screen.