I'd like to approach this review from two different directions. First, I'd like to talk about memory for a second. We all know The Matrix. Most of us have seen it. We all know it's great, though many of us were let down by those sequels. It was groundbreaking, influential and thrilling science fiction. I saw the movie several times in those first few years after it came out. I knew the movie so well I didn't really feel I had to watch it again any time soon. And the quality of the film began to fade into memory. Yes, yes, when people would talk about The Matrix, I would always say, "yeah, that movie is great. Super influential science fiction/action film." My brain knew it. I bet yours does, too. But when is the last time you actually saw it? Because if you sit down and start watching the movie now - especially if it has been a long time since you've last seen it - you won't just know it's great. You're gonna feel it. You see, my senses had forgotten. And I know that is a weird thing to say, but when I watched The Matrix again for the first time probably in a decade, all of my senses were assaulted with its awesomeness.
For those of you who haven't seen it...maybe this review isn't for you. I don't want to write a plot synopsis because the less you know the better. Just go buy it and watch it, and then come back to this review later. But for everyone else, have you seen the movie lately? Is your brain telling you, "no, you saw that movie a bunch of times already. You don't need to see it again." Screw that. Go see it again.
Okay, I want to shift gears here. 1999 was actually a great year for movies. Check out this lineup: Fight Club, American Beauty, The Insider, Magnolia, Office Space, The Cider House Rules, Election, Boys Don't Cry, Sixth Sense, Blair Witch Project, Being John Malkovich, The Green Mile, and a whole bunch of others. That's a diverse and influential grouping of films, and The Matrix definitely stacks up well alongside them. The movie was a hit, and actually won four Oscars - Film Editing, Sound, Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects. But watching the film again now, I have to ask...why wasn't it nominated for more? Because looking back on it, I think The Matrix might have been the best film of 1999.
Not just the most fun. Not just the most entertaining. But actually the best.
At a certain point, the Academy Awards decided they were going to be about "Oscar movies" and it is very hard for a non-prestige film to break through. Especially since the 1990s. In 1977, it wasn't crazy that a movie like Star Wars could get a Best Picture nomination. But since the 1990s? No way. And I think all of us instinctively contribute to the problem. We've all been conditioned to think of movies in different categories. Action movies, comedies, and science fiction make the money. Dramas win the awards. Of course, science fiction films have always dominated the technical awards, but I'm talking about the top dogs - Best Picture, and awards for acting and scripting that almost always go to serious, dramatic films.
I know I felt that way for a long time. I had the idea of what an "Oscar movie" stuck in my head. If it wasn't pure drama, then it had to be an epic like Gladiator. The Oscars love epics. But something like The Matrix? I never would have even considered it. The Matrix was a super fun movie and one of my favorite films of the year, but I don't think I gave it any serious thought at the Oscars beyond those technical categories. But watching it now, I am really changing my mind. The Matrix isn't just good sci fi. The Matrix should have been considered the superbly written and directed film that it is. It should have broken through.
Let's look at a few of the categories.
Okay, I'm not going going to go crazy. The Matrix shouldn't be cleaning up in all the categories. The film is perfectly cast, but I'm not going to be pitching Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss for Oscar nominations, as much as I liked them in their roles. But what about Laurence Fishburne or Hugo Weaving? Fishburne's performance is even better than I remembered - I really like how different he is inside the Matrix - calm, collected, always in control - to how he acts in the real world, which is someone who is trying to be calm, collected and always in control for the sake of his crew and because he feels the weight of the world is on his shoulders. It's subtle, but I sensed the desperation lurking under his calm demeanor in the real world. And how about Hugo Weaving, whose awkward line delivery turned Agent Smith into one of the most iconic villains in science fiction. His repressed anger, the way he disdainfully talks about everything and everyone, the calm but horrifying menace he brings to the role, I just think Weaving knocked it out of the park. In his first scene, all it took was Weaving's disappointed "hmmm" when Neo flips him the middle finger for me to think, "damn, why wasn't he nominated?" That year, the nominees were Michael Caine for The Cider House Rules, Haley Joel Osment for Sixth Sense, Jude Law for The Talented Mr. Ripley, Michael Clarke Duncan for The Green Mile and Tom Cruise for Magnolia. These are all good performances, but I could lose Michael Caine if it meant I could get Fishburne or Weaving in there. Caine gave a memorable performance, but I'd make that trade. I know Caine was the winner in this category, but he had already won and I think he's been better (and honestly, he probably should have won the very next year for The Quiet American).
What about screenplay? Yep, I am going there! The script, by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, is so expertly constructed, and does such a good job of staggering information to you. It's a smart script - philosophical without becoming heavy handed (unlike the unfortunate Matrix sequels). Fishburne's simple, "do you think that's air you're breathing?" is more impactful than any of the philosophical ponderings in Reloaded and Revolutions. The script is so creative and the twists and turns are so well thought out, that I would definitely pitch this for a Best Screenplay nomination. So what would I knock out? This is easy. I would probably keep the eventual winner, American Beauty, Magnolia, The Sixth Sense for that twist ending alone, which is one of the most influential and copied moments in recent cinema history, and Being John Malkovich because it's so crazy that it just needs to be in the lineup - in fact, I probably would have voted for Malkovich to win. But Topsy Turvy? Nothing against that movie, which I really did like, but that's a no brainer for me. Get it out of there, and put the Wachowski script in.
I know people might think this is crazy, but I've really thought about this. And it's going to get crazier. Because the Wachowski's directed the hell out of The Matrix. And I look at the list of nominees for Best Picture and Best Director, and I think the Wachowski's and The Matrix are better than all of them.
Again, I want to stress that 1999 was a great year and I am not saying anything bad about these movies. But as the decades have passed and we look back at what was nominated, it becomes clear what films have stood the test of time. American Beauty, The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider and The Sixth Sense are all great films. I admire them all. But which one would I get rid of to put in The Matrix? Honestly, any of them. Other than the last five minutes of The Sixth Sense, have any of these five films influenced filmmaking or our culture in any way that even comes close to what The Matrix has done? The Matrix has reached iconic status - and not just because it's "cool" with its leather trench coats and sunglasses - no, if that were the case, I'd be pushing The Blade movies for Oscars. And it's not because of the terrific fight choreography. Nope, because then I'd be pushing John Wick movies for Oscars. Those elements are absolutely crucial parts of what makes The Matrix what it is, but it is the way they are used, it's the way these elements are written, shot and edited that has made The Matrix iconic. To put it simply, I think The Matrix should have nominated, and in a perfect world, it should have won.
Also, as a quick tangent, Fight Club should have been nominated, too. Again, I'm not sure which film I would have knocked out of the nomination list because I think Fight Club is better than all of them. Ultimately, I think my five would have been The Matrix, Fight Club, American Beauty, The Insider and Being John Malkovich. But again, it's not an easy category, because 1999 was such a great year.
There are two other categories that I want to mention. Best Cinematography is just stacked. But I still want to give Bill Pope, the director of photography, some props. The Matrix, with its tinted blues for the real world and tinted greens for sequences inside the Matrix, certainly presaged the way color has since been used in movies - especially with the advent of digital color grading, which just changed the entire field. The nominations that year were American Beauty, Sleepy Hollow, Snow Falling on Cedars, The End of the Affair, and The Insider. That's a tough category, and I am not confidant about who I could kick out. Though again, I see a bias towards dramas - with the exception of Sleepy Hollow, these are all dramas and shot in a fairly conventional way - even if they are all expertly crafted. Actually, I am pretty impressed that Sleepy Hollow slipped in here, now that I'm looking at it. So am I upset that Pope wasn't nominated? No, this is a tight category. But either way, I think Bill Pope's achievement was pretty remarkable and should have been recognized.
I also want to give Don Davis some love for his original score. It may have been a bit heavy for Oscar voters, but it's become iconic music - those bendings horns are instantly recognizable. But I am not sure who I would knock off the list. American Beauty, The Cider House Rules and The Talented Mr. Ripley are all terrific scores, but I have not seen the other two: Angela's Ashes and the eventual winner The Red Violin. But again, I'd like to point out something. These are all dramas, with subtle and beautiful work. But loud and powerful music - the type that grabs you by the collar and blasts those horns in your face, just isn't favored by the Academy unless you're one of the Lord of the Rings movies, and I think Don Davis' work should have been considered.
Anyways, I know this is rambling, and I'm not sure if anyone cares about me breaking down the categories this way. But I was so enamored by The Matrix when I watched it again, and then so surprised by the 1999 Oscar nominations when I went back to look at them, that I just wanted to get into it.
And to be fair, the movie isn't perfect. It does have some problems. Some nitpicks. To this day, I get frustrated when Neo, Morpheus and Trinity get to the phone in the subway station and are finally about to escape. And even though they are being chased by these super powerful agents, Trinity basically stops Neo and says, "hey, hold up, I want to talk to you about something." No no no. Pick up the damn phone, escape, and then talk about it later! The love story, in general, doesn't quite work for me. I know Trinity is destined to fall in love with Neo, and they do a good job of establishing the idea of destiny earlier, but I think the two of them needed another scene or two together to really sell the fact that they are falling in love. And I've always found something goofy about the way Cypher dies. Not sure if it is the editing in that one spot, or the fact that Tank has to talk to him before pulling the trigger. Can't put my finger on it, but that moment has always been strange.
See what I mean? These are nitpicks. Trifles! But if you ask me to find something I don't like about a movie, I almost always can oblige.
At the end of the day, even though the sequels damaged its reputation, The Matrix is a brilliant film, and should have dominated 1999 not just at the box office, but during awards season, as well. Our brains have conditioned us to think otherwise, but that's just an "Academy Awards Matrix" that we're all trapped in. Let's break free and see this film as the classic it is. And hopefully let's give future action films and science fiction films the chance they deserve to compete with dramas at the Oscars!
MVP:
I have to go with the Wachowski's. Though veteran producer Joel Silver helped steer the ship, this is the Wachowski's vision through and through. It's a remarkable achievement. The film is so meticulously conceived and crafted, I just couldn't give the award to any one else.
I also have to give them props for insisting that fight choreographer Woo-Ping Yuen (who would later choreograph the fights in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) work on the movie. Yuen tried to get out of it by demanding too much money and also requiring the actors to train with him for four months prior to filming. Most studios would have balked at that request. But the Wachowski's insisted. They had a vision, and that was to bring fights to American mainstream audiences the likes of which they had never seen before. And they knew their man. They needed Yuen, and they were right. The fight scenes are dynamic and thrilling, and certainly helped change the way fight scenes have been choreographed ever since.
They also had a vision with the special effects. Bullet time has been imitated for so long now that it is hard to remember how unique and thrilling it was the first time we saw Neo bend backwards in slow motion as bullets flew over his body, leaving trails of distorted air in their wake. So innovative. So cool. Still copied today. All part of the Wachowski vision for this film.
Yeah, this is an easy MVP.
BEST LINE:
Part of me wants to just say "whoa" or "I know kung fu" because they are priceless and certainly career defining moments for Keanu Reeves. But I have always loved Morpheus' lectures to Neo, especially during the training dojo sequence. So I am going to go with the line I mentioned earlier.
Morpheus: How did I beat you?
Neo: You're too fast.
Morpheus: Do you believe that my being stronger or faster has anything to do with my muscles in this place? Do you think that's air you're breathing now?
TRIVIA:
I love casting what ifs. The Matrix has a couple of big ones. Sandra Bullock was offered the role of Trinity, but turned it down. Will Smith was offered the role of Neo, but also turned it down. I've heard descriptions of the pitch meeting the Wachowski's gave him, which was more about the bullet time and crazy effects than it was the story, and Smith decided to make Wild, Wild West instead (ouch). But Smith has no regrets because he thinks he would have messed the role up and no one could have been a better Neo than Keanu Reeves. And he's right! And then Sean Connery was offered the role of Morpheus and he turned it down because the script made no sense to him. I love Connery and this would have been fascinating to see. But I can't imagine anyone other than Fishburne in that role.
