The Matrix

The first thing that strikes me when watching old trailers is how different they've become. How they give away so much, and I'm not certain that this trailer for The Matrix is any different. It showcases Bullet Time quite heavily, in fact, I think it includes a shot from every BT scene in the film. That's alright, cause it was drawing us in at the time, without giving away the concept of the film itself. I swear they were talking about this new tech on the news, showing that bullet-dodging scene numerous times. It's one of the few times the news watching public gets to see behind the scenes footage of a movie before and during it's theatrical release. Yes, the technique was that revolutionary, and this is proven by the numerous imitations and parodies that have followed throughout the years since. By the way, it's been nearly thirteen years since release.

You see, it reminds me of science fiction classics that showed us mind-bending special effects and helped push along technology and movie effects. When you see how they film certain scenes, the simplicity is baffling, but it's the innovation and implementation of those techniques that truly amazes. Certainly, there are regular advances that are used here, like the ever-marching movement of CGI.

But putting all the effects aside, which puts aside what many people associate with this movie, you have to look at the science fiction that drives the entire experience. A world within a world; it's certainly not a new concept but as I said before it's the implementation that makes this story unique. Set in a bland world, we find Keanu Reeves playing a computer hacker by night and chained to a desk in a boring office job by day. Some agents take in interest in him - he thinks for his hacker-ish ways - but really for the role he is going to play. Through a series of events that you're all too familiar with, Keanu finds himself transformed into Neo, and transported into The Matrix: the real world.

The world as we know it is just a computer simulation run to keep us happy, as we provide quintessential energy for our robot overlords. Neo is introduced to the real world and we're taken along for the ride, learning as he does. As we watch the movie our adventure mirrors that of Neo's exactly, and although Keanu's emotions can't quite match our own (he is so subdued) we're still astonished when he becomes astonished. When he pulls an incredibly impossible move, he's just as full of wonderment as we are. That plays a big factor, as every single person watching this can put themselves into his shoes. It's also not a stretch for us to think that we're just in a virtual world. This movie came out as computer games were going online and there were virtual worlds that people could lead second lives in, i.e. Everquest and it's this knowledge that makes it so believable. We've been exposed to robot uprisings before, and we see artificial intelligence explode in real life. It's just a matter of time before we run into judgement day, and it's just a matter of time before we're turned into human batteries.

The Matrix is one of my favourite movie-going experiences. In high school, many of my friends were nighthawks, save for one. We hung out all the time (still do) and enjoyed the sunshine whenever possible. So after a meal at Burger King, we found ourselves downtown standing in front of the marquee of a local multiplex. The Matrix was listed, and while we were aware of the movie through the advertising campaign and news-worthy bullet time, we had no idea if it was good or not. Lovers of the sci-fi though, we had to entertain the movie, and the movie - exactly - entertained us. My friend couldn't stop moving with excitement throughout the film, while I took an opposite approach and didn't move a muscle. When we came out, we were both of the same mindset, that we consumed something that was far beyond a simple movie, but that we had just watched the starting of a movement. The sun was still shining, unlike the world of The Matrix, and since then we've always had a love affair for afternoon viewings.