The Matrix

Released: March 31, 1999

Studio: Warner Bros.

Genre: sci-fi/action

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 171.50 Worldwide: 463.50

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: 304.14 Worldwide: 821.70

Directing: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski

Screenwriting: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantaliano

Review:

Thomas Anderson, aka Neo (Reeves), is a “cyber messiah” ^AFI07 hacker and computer tech programmer contacted by “the mysterious, vinyl-clad heroine Trinity (Moss) and the super-cool, messianic space-ship captain Morpheus (Fishburne).” ^EM’18 They tell Neo he is the chosen one to save the world from “a malevolent, sentient machine race” ^EM’18 which has trapped “all of humanity…inside a computer simulation (The Matrix) dreamworld and tricked them into believing that the simulation is reality.” ^EM’18

“Neo soon learns to take advantage of the Matrix, bending the malleable laws of physics to his will, such as impossible feats of physicality (such as running up walls or leaping impossibly high) and altering his perception so dramatically that he sees bullets in flight in order to dodge them.” ^EM’18

This was a “popular, imaginative, visually-stunning science-fiction action film” ^AFI07 largely because “the Wachowski Brothers blew the lid off technology” ^AFI07 with “airborne kung fu, 3-D freeze frame effects with a rotating or pivoting camera, and bullet-dodging.” ^EM’18

In the midst of all these special effects, the Wachowskis also managed to fashion a film “making everyone examine some fundamental philosophical questions about reality.” ^EM’18