The One…that begot two more
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Director: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
This is of course “the one” that started off the trilogy, and in my opinion the best of the three. This is a futuristic sci-fi/action movie that tells us the world is not what it seems, and how one man may be able to save us from the machines.
We first meet Neo (Reeves), a businessman in a boring company by day, and a software hacker by night. His world is changed when he meets up with a rebel band, led by Morpheus (Fishburne) and the strong warrior Trinity (Moss). Apparently Morpheus believes that Neo may be “The One”, the person who can save humanity. It is revealed that humans are actually “living” in a giant virtual-reality simulation, while their bodies are mined for energy by robots and computers. A viewer might think that the sun emits thousands and thousands more times of energy than even all of humanity can provide, but never mind: if the computers were as coldly logical as they should be, there wouldn’t be any need for humans… and thus we would miss out on a great action flick.
Sure, some philosophy and other such arguments of “good vs. evil” and “what is reality?” are tossed into the mix, but it all boils down to a number of very cool scenes, a mix of shoot-em-up and martial arts. I particularly enjoyed the fight in the subway station between Neo and Agent Smith (Weaving), (actually a computer program designed by the computers who may have will of his own).
All in all, I would definitely recommend this entry into the series. I would avoid the next two films, as they veer away from reality and logic and delve more into philosophy and religion. They are more talky and I think miss out on the promise the first film had. Too bad, because this one is a very nice trip indeed.
Leave a Reply