By following up their debut thriller Bound with the 1999 box-office smash The Matrix, the codirecting Wachowski brothers--Andy and Larry--annihilated any suggestion of a sophomore jinx, crafting one of the most exhilarating sci-fi/action movies of the 1990s. Set in the not too distant future in an insipid, characterless city, we find a young man named Neo (Keanu Reeves). A software techie by day and a computer hacker by night, he sits alone at home by his monitor, waiting for a sign, a signal--from what or whom he doesn't know--until one night, a mysterious woman named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) seeks him out and introduces him to that faceless character he has been waiting for: Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). A messiah of sorts, Morpheus presents Neo with the truth about his world by shedding light on the dark secrets that have troubled him for so long: "You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad." Ultimately, Morpheus illustrates to Neo what the Matrix is--a reality beyond reality that controls all of their lives, in a way that Neo can barely comprehend.

Some Great Ideas

Although I was very disappointed by the third Matrix movie and less than impressed by the second, this movie was pretty darn good. With a little tweaking of the plot it could have been an all time great. I think the problem for me is all the romantic fluff between Neo and Trinity. This compromised the great ideas and transformed the movie into just another box office hit. If the writers/director had some real vision they would have concentrated on the substance of the movie and ditched the cheap romance! This change of direction probably could have saved the two subsequent efforts.

Freezing

An earlier reviewer stated that "The movie was freezing so I sent the movie back. Hopefully the replacement will be better". I also found the movie to be freezing. Thank you for your time. Have a nice day.

overated

I'm confused, is the Matrix I saw the same one that everyone has been raving about? you know, the one Neo, Trinity, the Agents and a decimated earth of the future controlled by robots. are they both the same movies? they are? wow, what a let down. don't get me wrong, I really like the idea behind the movie and the spacer effects are superb. even the acting was sort of good. that's not what I had a problem with. the problem is in the details.
the first problem I had was that all the con-fu hand to hand fighting was really, REALLY, fake. it's down right laughable at the end when Neo is fighting agent Smith in the hull. it was just one of the dumbest things I had ever seen.
another problem I had was that the movie was just too short. I mean one minuet Neo is freaking out about being pulled out of the Matrix, the next he's dodging bullets and killing whole swat teams. the movie would have been much better if it had just been a little lounger.
My last complaint is a miner one but one I feel almost ruined the movie for me. I thought that the real world was going to have nothing to do with earth or what is in the Matrix. so I was very disappointed to find out the "real world" was really earth in the future. it would have been much better if, instead of taking shortcuts, the directors of this film would have actually created a completely different would with different laws of nature and everything.
I will not deny that this is a good movie, but it is not in any way a masterpiece or worth spending $20 on. take my advice and rent this movie before even thinking about buying it.