1999, 2hrs 15 min., Rated R for sci-fi violence and brief language. Dir: Andy and Larry Wachowski. Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne.

Going in, I didn't know anything about this movie in terms of plot or substance. But the ad campaign (especially the ones with the action coupled with the song from Enigma) pulled me in so much that I had to see The Matrix on its premier night. And I wasn't alone, going with sister Stacy and her boy-toy Joe, along with a theater packed full of mainly guys under 25 who wanted to see some cool effects. We did not leave disappointed.

This is a movie that knows what it is, some great action and special effects in a film that creates a new world for the viewer, and explains every detail of our harrowing future (It's a very Chicken Little way of looking into the crystal ball, I might add), all without focusing on any real character development or dialogue. Sort of like any summer blockbuster.

Straight plot review: Keanu Reeves is Neo, computer programmer by day, computer hacker by night, and a man who has a feeling that something isn't right in the world, and searches for a man named Morpheus to answer his questions. What a coincidence, Morpheus is looking for Neo as well, as "The One" who will save humankind from the machines. What machines, you ask? The ones who created a Matrix, to shield us from the real world, some 200 years in the future where humans are kept in cocoons, harnessed for energy like batteries for the machines, as our minds are hooked up to a supercomputer that has us believe that our world is really 1999. I know, it's definitely something to provoke deep thinking.

But who can think that deep when the special effects rock so much!? Think later, say "cool" over and over again during the movie as Keanu and the Agents (of the machines to prevent people like Neo and Morpheus from opening our eyes to the real world) do battle, with lots of guns and martial arts and gymnastics, as well as superhuman abilities like dodging bullets and walking on the walls and jumping a hundred yards across buildings.

I love movies that create entire worlds from our own, worlds that make us question our existence in pure science-fiction fantasy. The kind of elements you ask each other sprawled over your car in the middle of nowhere staring at the stars.

Last year, it was Dark City that provided me this release. Not as much action with the special effects and more of a thinking fantasy, but a mind-bender nonetheless.

This will be a cult hit for sure. And will actually make a lot of money as well.

By the way, don't worry about the acting. They all did fine. Watch the action and effects, everything else will fall into place. Also, Carrie-Anne Moss is my newest rage in female adoration.