Sim1Remember, there is no spoon
August 31st 2009 17:59
Matrix Revolutions is a bit of a rubbish movie, wouldn’t you say, dear readers?
It’s the Wachowsky brothers remembering the ten-year old boys inside them wanting nothing more than blow shit up. And that’s all there is to this film, sadly. Yes, of course Neo saves the world and humanity and what not, but all that is drowned in the unnecessarily long battle scenes and the gory stuff (like sliced up faces and gauged out eyes, Resident Evil-style). It’s like Andy and Larry didn’t really have to put any effort into this one, because people were going to watch it regardless. Not least because Matrix Reloaded ended with the mother of all cliffhangers- the line ‘To Be Continued’ splashed menacingly across the screen in Matrix-green.
And fair play to the brothers Wachowsky, they captivated us and (if the movies are to be believed) our stunted imagination with parts one and two.
When The Matrix was first released, everyone who was anyone had the Nokia slide phone and wore long leather coats. The Matrix was a new fashion trend. And those bullet time effects were phenomenal (still are). One of my favourite movie scenes of all times is still the one where Trinity jumps backwards out of a window and falls, shooting bullets upwards at the agent. Luckily, that very scene appears twice in Matrix Reloaded. It’s not so lucky that she doesn’t actually die in it, because let’s face it, Trinity is rather annoying. That sulky face, the constant ‘Are you alright?’ and that superior air about her that is backed up by...well, a whole lotta nothing really.
Keanu Reeves, our hero Neo, on the other hand is a totally different story. Even though my favourite film critic over on www.mrcranky.com attributes the ‘acting skills of a carp’ to the lovely Keanu, I have the major hots for the guy (Reeves, not Cranky) and he adds a certain darkness to Neo, and well, a lot of his other roles really. Hands up who’s ever seen Keanu Reeves smile? Hmm, didn’t think so. Still, what is there to smile about if you think that we are all plugged into a computer program with absolutely no control over what we do, who we do and where. A computer program that has our entire existence planned out for us. Even Truman Burbank stopped being jovial once he realised it was all just a game. Or in his case, a TV show.
And is it so hard to imagine that the Matrix really does exist? That someone up there is holding all the strings? Of course, there’s a fair number of spiritualists, new age believers and teachers of esoterics who tell those who are prepared to hear it that our life is exactly that- an illusion created by a computer program, the Matrix.
And the first two installments of the trilogy are wonderfully intriguing, or dare I say convincing in that respect. Wouldn’t it be magic to tell someone to download Spanish Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced into our brains before we set off on our holiday to Benidorm? But then what about Cypher’s point in the first movie? He’s had enough of living in the ‘real world’ and wishes he had taken the blue pill. And he wants out. He misses the sensation of a nice steak and a glass of nice red (and trust me- I’m with him on this one!). Isn’t it a little depressing to think that ‘maybe they couldn't figure out what to make chicken taste like, which is why chicken tastes like everything’? Why don’t we just stay oblivious, stay in the Matrix and deal with whatever the programmers throw at us (and call it ‘life’) and as a reward get to enjoy things like purple sunrises, the smell of freshly cut grass and the taste of a fine New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc?
The ‘critical summary’ on Wikipedia says, the movie is meant for entertainment and not based on science. But what if all our science is rubbish anyway? We once thought, the earth was flat. Now we think it’s round. What if, in 500 years, we discover it’s a triangle with ears?
I wonder what the delectable Keanu thinks on the matter, seeing that he appears in a number of movies concerned with this subject of what’s real and who’s controlling our lives- A Scanner Darkly; Constantine; The Devil’s Advocate; The Day The Earth Stood Still....
And what are your thoughts, dear readers?
It’s the Wachowsky brothers remembering the ten-year old boys inside them wanting nothing more than blow shit up. And that’s all there is to this film, sadly. Yes, of course Neo saves the world and humanity and what not, but all that is drowned in the unnecessarily long battle scenes and the gory stuff (like sliced up faces and gauged out eyes, Resident Evil-style). It’s like Andy and Larry didn’t really have to put any effort into this one, because people were going to watch it regardless. Not least because Matrix Reloaded ended with the mother of all cliffhangers- the line ‘To Be Continued’ splashed menacingly across the screen in Matrix-green.
When The Matrix was first released, everyone who was anyone had the Nokia slide phone and wore long leather coats. The Matrix was a new fashion trend. And those bullet time effects were phenomenal (still are). One of my favourite movie scenes of all times is still the one where Trinity jumps backwards out of a window and falls, shooting bullets upwards at the agent. Luckily, that very scene appears twice in Matrix Reloaded. It’s not so lucky that she doesn’t actually die in it, because let’s face it, Trinity is rather annoying. That sulky face, the constant ‘Are you alright?’ and that superior air about her that is backed up by...well, a whole lotta nothing really.
Keanu Reeves, our hero Neo, on the other hand is a totally different story. Even though my favourite film critic over on www.mrcranky.com attributes the ‘acting skills of a carp’ to the lovely Keanu, I have the major hots for the guy (Reeves, not Cranky) and he adds a certain darkness to Neo, and well, a lot of his other roles really. Hands up who’s ever seen Keanu Reeves smile? Hmm, didn’t think so. Still, what is there to smile about if you think that we are all plugged into a computer program with absolutely no control over what we do, who we do and where. A computer program that has our entire existence planned out for us. Even Truman Burbank stopped being jovial once he realised it was all just a game. Or in his case, a TV show.
And the first two installments of the trilogy are wonderfully intriguing, or dare I say convincing in that respect. Wouldn’t it be magic to tell someone to download Spanish Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced into our brains before we set off on our holiday to Benidorm? But then what about Cypher’s point in the first movie? He’s had enough of living in the ‘real world’ and wishes he had taken the blue pill. And he wants out. He misses the sensation of a nice steak and a glass of nice red (and trust me- I’m with him on this one!). Isn’t it a little depressing to think that ‘maybe they couldn't figure out what to make chicken taste like, which is why chicken tastes like everything’? Why don’t we just stay oblivious, stay in the Matrix and deal with whatever the programmers throw at us (and call it ‘life’) and as a reward get to enjoy things like purple sunrises, the smell of freshly cut grass and the taste of a fine New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc?
The ‘critical summary’ on Wikipedia says, the movie is meant for entertainment and not based on science. But what if all our science is rubbish anyway? We once thought, the earth was flat. Now we think it’s round. What if, in 500 years, we discover it’s a triangle with ears?
I wonder what the delectable Keanu thinks on the matter, seeing that he appears in a number of movies concerned with this subject of what’s real and who’s controlling our lives- A Scanner Darkly; Constantine; The Devil’s Advocate; The Day The Earth Stood Still....
And what are your thoughts, dear readers?
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