Get ready for some amazing insights from me about movies (sarcasm). I'm just a girl with a thing for anything but reality. I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, or movies in my life by now and it's time to start sharing my thoughts with the world whether you like it or not. I do have a degree in digital cinema and am currently pursuing a masters in cinema studies so I know a little more than the average bear. I like a lot of weird movies and have managed to find some bizarre films through Netflix and other movie sources. So, if you come keep coming back periodically then you'll get a good smattering of movies you have heard of or seen and movies you haven't.
To start off, I'm going to talk a little about The Matrix. Because why not? Of course this is a great movie to start with. It also happens to be the movie I watched earlier today. I have seen this movie many times before, mostly in bits and pieces. Clips have even been shown in some of my film classes. The biggest visual aspects of The Matrix are the color and the special effects. Color plays a big part in the audience's feeling during a movie and with this movie the drab life Neo is living in the beginning of the film is shown with green, almost sickly, tones that are muted. You don't need to notice this to understand that he thinks his life sucks. That's the beauty of the understated color manipulation. The defining feature of The Matrix are it's effects. They are still considered pretty amazing about 15 years after it was filmed. Technology has changed a lot but the way they used it is timeless. I think the coolest part is the slow motion, badass scenes where the actors were harnessed in front of a green screen that had numerous cameras in a semi-circle around them to get that frozen, 180 degree look. That is amazing. Movies nowadays can take the audience out of a moment if they become aware of the CGI used. Yes, most films use CGI however, the goal is to make it look like something could reasonably be real with a little 'willing suspension of disbelief.' The only moment in The Matrix that did that was at the beginning when the agents make it so that Neo can't speak by basically melting his mouth, if you will. The technology, not to mention prosthetics, just weren't quite ready for that. For being a computer simulated type movie, it's great that that was the only real time I specifically noticed CGI. Oh, wait, there was one tiny moment of some flames later in the movie that looked bad but I'll overlook that one.
Let's talk about plot and acting. I would have liked to see more action and a little less of the talkity talk, but that's probably just me. The budget probably only allowed for so much ass kicking which, was awesome when it did happen. Best actor? Agent Smith. Duh. Worst actor? Trinity, maybe. I like Keanu Reeves and think he can do certain things and certain emotions well. He had his moments as Neo in this movie. Trinity, on the other hand, had me cringing a couple times with sappiness and predictable lines that just made me roll my eyes. That could be more on the fault of the writing I will say. Lawrence Fishbourne as Morpheus was pretty good. His character kind of agitated me with his inability to say anything useful in the film. Morpheus is supposed to be the leader of this group and the one basically in charge but I just don't feel like he earned it. He didn't do anything particularly great that any of the others couldn't do. I would have liked to see more bad assery from him.
Overall The Matrix is a good movie. I can't say the same for the sequels but that's for another day. It will still be referred to and used as a cultural reference for years to come. I also see it still being a case study in many film classes for it's advances in the year it was filmed. So, go watch it. Or don't. Just watch out for glitches in the matrix and don't trust anybody named Agent Smith.
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