Matrix odds and ends. It contains some spoilers so beware that
if you haven't seen the movie yet and want to.
Recently saw the Matrix for the first time. If I wanted to be
mean I would say it was just an above average cubicle-dwellar's
fantasy, which is true, but there were some fun aspects to it and
it was better than most action/sf films these days.
It was funny how when the agents morphed into a body they
always were wearing sunglasses. Since when do computers care if
they look cool? :-)
Reeves should be credited with a performance that is arguably
almost impossible to pull off without looking like a complete
idiot or self-conscious. In a small way it was kind of brave of
him, careerwise, to put himself out there like that, he could
have easily been let down by post-production screwups.
The romance touch at the end was a nice change and the fact
that the Guru didn't die this time was a big plus for me. I was
ready to give up on the film half-way through when it looked
headed to cookie-cutter "Guru teaches and dies"
territory.
The main agent-villain is not someone I look forward to seeing
again in future films but he did a creditable job in this. Good
unknown-actor casting.
It would have been a better film if they'd fleshed out the
world a bit more, visited or even glimpsed the city they kept
referring to for example. I could also have done without the
standard "no rules! no limits!" 90s advertising lingo
at the end.
I thought it was odd that none of the protagonists expressed
any sympathy for the many police and other people whom they mowed
down. Those guys were just doing their job and weren't privvy to
the inside knowledge the lead characters had. The leads had to
kill them but a few words about it would have helped.
Also, towards the end it started to feel like the filmmakers
may have missed the real story. The increasing individuality of
the Weaving agent was becoming fascinating and non-AI-ish.
