Face/Off is a guilty pleasure of mine.
The Matrix
- Thread starter JarodRussell
- Start date
Am I the only guy who likes the Matrix trilogy? And the Animatrix? 
The Animatrix is pretty enjoyable. My favorite episode is "A Detective Story" for its film noir influences.
The Animatrix is a good bunch of little stories that acomplishes more of that "Matrix" tone than the entirity of the sequels do.
I recommend John Woo's Blackjack (1998) with Dolph Lundgren, in which he already did almost EVERY stunt from Mission: Impossible 2. Hilarious.
Am I the only guy who likes the Matrix trilogy? And the Animatrix?
It appears so.
I'm suprised nobody has mentioned the completely stylised way all the actors were directed to speak the dialogue. The only ones who seemed to be exempt from this were the Nebuchadnezzar crew. In that kind of strangely stilted atmosphere, Reeves actually looked and sounded right at home.
Personally, I liked Reloaded just fine. The expansion of the world with the rogue programs, it was weird and gave the trilogy an excuse to fight opponents besides the nigh-unbeatable Agents, and the speech by the Architect, while possibly nonsensical, is a good dramatic representation of what it must be like to converse with a being that is far, far above human intelligence.
Revolutions blew it in so many ways, though, from the big stuff of themes and character arcs to the little details of believability and continuity. A few of the things that really stick in my craw (sure I've mentioned these before): The "family" of programs shipping their kid off to the Matrix (look! even disembodied AI is really just like us humans!), killing off Trinity only hours (in movie time) after they made a huge plot point of saving her life, battlesuits with open cockpits, Morpheus doing almost nothing of use, the - IMO - boring final duel (we have godlike power in this reality! Let's punch each other EVEN HARDER!) But above all, the abandonment of science fiction explanations for a vague mealy-mouthed spiritualism. Then again, I've seen that last one so many times since then, I'm probably numb to it at this point.
Revolutions blew it in so many ways, though, from the big stuff of themes and character arcs to the little details of believability and continuity. A few of the things that really stick in my craw (sure I've mentioned these before): The "family" of programs shipping their kid off to the Matrix (look! even disembodied AI is really just like us humans!), killing off Trinity only hours (in movie time) after they made a huge plot point of saving her life, battlesuits with open cockpits, Morpheus doing almost nothing of use, the - IMO - boring final duel (we have godlike power in this reality! Let's punch each other EVEN HARDER!) But above all, the abandonment of science fiction explanations for a vague mealy-mouthed spiritualism. Then again, I've seen that last one so many times since then, I'm probably numb to it at this point.
Oh, so do I. But in a small way I am known for not thinking rightly. Some of the more discreet posters will burble something about detached characters or stylized dialogue. I've seen Reeves in (just off the top of my head) River's Edge, Tune in Tomorrow, My Own Private Idaho, The Gift, The Watcher, The Lake House, Much Ado About Nothing, Point Break, Speed, Hardball, Sweet November, Chain Reaction, Street Kings (a James Ellroy movie, no less!) and Thumbsucker. He's done fine in a broad range of roles, even if action movies predominate.
(There are very few characters other than the Nebuchadnezzar crew in The Matrix, except for the nonhuman Smith and Oracle. But if the crew was speaking naturally, like normal people, how could Reeves, who was in their company most of the movie, possibly not stand out by acting spacey and detached? Most puzzling.)
He actually was terrible in Johnny Mnemonic, but that role may have been unsalvageable even by a RSC trained actor. I'll believe people really dislike Reeves for his bad acting when The Matrix is less popular than the sequels, because the sequels have less Reeves scenes. Or, when people talk about how Coppola's Dracula was ruined by the opening sequence when it was Reeves and Oldman on screen for fifteen interminable minutes.
But speaking of action movies, if I forgot that Travolta and Nick Cage starred in Face/Off and that the movie was a big hit, no matter how bored I got, plainly I don't know enough on the topic to pontificate. I don't know how I slipped from my usual strategy of pontificating only on subjects I know something about.
I also enjoyed the Matrix and disliked the sequels. While they are not the worst sequels, they do not compare to the original. The Matrix has great action, a good story, and easy to understand.
- What is real? Some believe in the supernatural, metaphysical. Some don't.
- Destiny vs Choice.
- Machine = villians
- Neo = the new guy / hero. The world is explained to us through him. He saves the day and gets the girl
- Morpheus = the wise mentor and teacher
- Trinity = the love intrest / faithful. She believes in Morpheus and the fight. Plus she kicks ass.
- Cypher = traitor / disenfranchised. We understand why he betrayed his crew. He's tired of the war, the fighting, the destroyed world, and only following orders. He wants to escape.
- The Maxtrix and construct, to me, is a like a giant video game, and we have the cheat codes.
The sequels are jumbled with side characters that goes nowhere, and efforts to complicate psuedo philosophy and the plot. I think they Wachowski brothers were also too focused on the SFX over story. I also dislike the Animatrix. I still like the orginal Matrix though.
I think Confused Matthew's review of the Matrix sequels are pretty good, though not as good as Red Letter Media's reviews. Warning : He rants on about post modern philosophy for almost 5 freaking minutes. http://www.confusedmatthew.com/The-Matrix-Sequels.php
- What is real? Some believe in the supernatural, metaphysical. Some don't.
- Destiny vs Choice.
- Machine = villians
- Neo = the new guy / hero. The world is explained to us through him. He saves the day and gets the girl
- Morpheus = the wise mentor and teacher
- Trinity = the love intrest / faithful. She believes in Morpheus and the fight. Plus she kicks ass.
- Cypher = traitor / disenfranchised. We understand why he betrayed his crew. He's tired of the war, the fighting, the destroyed world, and only following orders. He wants to escape.
- The Maxtrix and construct, to me, is a like a giant video game, and we have the cheat codes.
The sequels are jumbled with side characters that goes nowhere, and efforts to complicate psuedo philosophy and the plot. I think they Wachowski brothers were also too focused on the SFX over story. I also dislike the Animatrix. I still like the orginal Matrix though.
I think Confused Matthew's review of the Matrix sequels are pretty good, though not as good as Red Letter Media's reviews. Warning : He rants on about post modern philosophy for almost 5 freaking minutes. http://www.confusedmatthew.com/The-Matrix-Sequels.php
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