The Matrix review — an immersive cyberpunk classic

☆☆☆☆☆

The Wachowski Sisters' 1999 critically-acclaimed sci-fi film The Matrix starts off the story of Neo (Keanu Reeves), a computer hacker prophesised to be "The One" who can free mankind from the machines creating their simulated reality of the Matrix, with the help of other rebels such as Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss).

I watched The Matrix for the first time when I was about eleven or twelve, and I think it fundamentally changed me. I'd love to say that, at the time, it was solely because of the impactful themes of transcendence and transformation beyond modern culture and gender, but it was mostly because of the cool soundtrack and my love for Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss. At least now, at seventeen, I can more grasp and appreciate the actual themes of the movie.

Realising you're The One comes with self-realisation, self-awareness, the transcendental liberation from an identity forced onto you to an identity that better fits you. The Wachowskis, in understanding of conflicts in identity and ostracization, work with these existential themes perfectly.

There's a mix between the grungy cyberpunk genre of the US and Japan and Hong Kong action flicks clearly portrayed in the film. Allusions to John Woo films, to Jet Li fight scenes (Yuen Woo-ping, fight choreographer of Fist of Legend. was brought in as the fight choreographer for this film because of it), to Philip K. Dick and William Gibson, to Akira and Ghost in the Shell; The Matrix bounced off of so many influences while maintaining its own originality and coolness.

The Matrix relied on two main hues for the whole film: the Matrix itself was coated in green, symbolic of artificiality, sickness, and decay while holding reference to the Matrix's code. The real world juxtaposes the Matrix's green with blue, symbolic of the mechanical coldness and melancholy of dystopia outside of the simulation.

I want to appreciate the soundtrack, so perfectly representing the genre and the era it was made. Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, The Prodigy, so on. I actually think my Blu-Ray has the music video for Rock is Dead. The entire soundtrack fits so perfectly with the visuals of the film and I absolutely love it.

Overall, a movie this visually and thematically stunning is a classic to me, totally immersive in its claim against the commercialised, pressuring society we live in, and its exploration of the themes of transformation and liberation (a budding, closeted allegory for being transgender), has been one of my favourites for years, and I doubt that'll change any time soon.