Okay Juicers, so I am doing this 30 day Film Challenge that should really give my thoughts and emotions an interesting time during the next month of quarantine. Day 20 is an important choice, it asks me to choose a movie that changed my life. There is really only one choice for me and that is The Matrix.

The Matrix is one of the first vivid movie memories I have and it is a funny story. I was 7 years old when i first saw the Matrix and I was definitely too young. I remember my Dad telling me at the time “do not let your mom know you watched this” because it is rated R (sorry for narcing Dad). However, it completely and utterly made me fall in love with movies, which obviously changed my life because now I am here 20 years later writing this post.

*The movie is 20 years old

IMDB Synopsis

Neo (Keanu Reeves) believes that Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), an elusive figure considered to be the most dangerous man alive, can answer his question — What is the Matrix? Neo is contacted by Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), a beautiful stranger who leads him into an underworld where he meets Morpheus. They fight a brutal battle for their lives against a cadre of viciously intelligent secret agents. It is a truth that could cost Neo something more precious than his life.

“What is real, How do you define ‘real’?”

The Matrix is a movie that not only changed my life but changed cinema. Action movies had never looked like this before it came along. From the opening scene with Trinity running off the walls and escaping from the Agents you know you are in for an absolute thrill ride.

The idea of the Matrix is one that is pretty relevant to society today. In the movie The Matrix is a society that has been taken over by machines and put all living humans into a simulation of life without them knowing. A group of renegades led by Morpheus wake people out of this and try to turn them basically into freedom fighters. This is odd because of how many people in the world always joke around nowadays that we are living in a simulation.

Morpheus has searched for years for one they call “The One” and he finds a man named Neo (or Mr. Anderson). The Scene with Morpheus and Neo deciding to take the red or blue pill has become legendary, and mostly because Laurence Fishburne is entrancing you from the moment he opens his mouth.

He shows Neo the real world and what they can do to stop these machines they call Sentinels.  They fight them first by training Neo in every combat program imaginable in the Matrix. He shows his skills in many ways: martial arts, aerial combat, dodging bullets, and even stopping bullets. All of these traits are what makes The Matrix a great movie because it gave The Wachowski twins a chance to show the world a new type of cinema. This movie was a pioneer for an effect called Bullet Time, which is slow motion while the camera still moves at full speed. This is a very cool effect because you still get the full power of a punch or kick, but you get so see it in a more unique way. Of course the famous shot using the effect is the dodging bullets sequence.

Keanu Reeves is incredible as the lead through all this as kind of the confused yet strong hero. He has to go up against Hugo Weaving who is a classic villain and scares you because his tone of voice never rises and always seems in control. Everyone who has seen this movie can pronounce “Mr. Anderson” exactly like he does.

There are so many memorable scenes we can talk about but it is the sum of the whole with this movie that really makes it work. We get to continually see Neo level up throughout the story until he becomes “The One” near the end, and when he does, it is so satisfying because of the journey you have been on.

*A couple other tidbits

• Carrie-Anne Moss is amazing as Trinity and is completely on the level of Keanu being bad ass.
• The Don Davis score is iconic as well and really brings the movie to another level.
• Joey Pants you little rat traitor!
• The Wire stunts are amazing and all done basically by the three actors.

As I said The Matrix changed cinema and changed the Juice man’s love of movies, back at the beginning of this century. Even today movies and effects do not look this good, and that is a testament to the Wachowski’s. They have a fourth movie on the way with the same cast, minus Fisburne, so we will see if they can reclaim the magic.

Juice Rating:

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