'The Matrix' is pure entertainment

'The Matrix' is pure entertainment

By Tam Notosusanto

JAKARTA (JP): Matrix: 1) (Math.) a set of numbers or terms
arranged in rows and columns between parentheses or double lines.
2) (Anatomy) any nonliving, intercellular substance in which
living cells are embedded, as in bone, cartilage, etc.
(Webster's New World Dictionary)

Anyone who is familiar with the Orwellian biosphere of 1984 or
Aldous Huxley's Brave New World should have no trouble identi
fying the living world in The Matrix. It is ostensibly a world
very much like our own, set sometime in the future, with
skyscrapers almost touching the bright blue sky and crowds of
people hurrying off on the streets. But, as Laurence Fishburne's
character Morpheus tells Keanu Reeves' Neo a half hour through
the film, it's not really the real world. It's actually a sunny,
happy parallel universe controlled by machines in which humans
are just implanted and multiplied by way of biotechnological
cloning in order to consume and enjoy "the life" as programmed by
the dominating computers.

Neo is a computer programmer who has been living and working
in that world, until one day he is fetched by a renegade group
led by the charismatic Morpheus that live outside "the matrix" --
as the created world is known. "This is the real world," conveys
Morpheus to Neo as he shows him a dark, somber landscape with
buildings in ruins. Morpheus' band is set to challenge the
dominance of the ruling cyborgs, and Neo is dragged along because
Morpheus believes he is "The One" who will eventually lead the
human race out of its miserable state.

Writer-directors Andy and Larry Wachowski (mentioned in the
directing credit simply as "The Wachowski Brothers"), who debuted
with the stylishly shot indie movie Bound (1996), apparently
decided to go commercial Hollywood with this sophomore effort, a
slam-bang futuristic action extravaganza loaded with
state-of-the-art special effects. And starring heartthrob Keanu
Reeves, no less.

The film's premise is nothing new, really. The evil, con
trolling machines here might as well be Big Brother, or the Dark
Empire, or HAL 2000, and they smell equally evil and lethal. It
is the ongoing paranoid vision of the human race being
overpowered by their own creations: machines. Been there, done
that. And the plot device of a messianic figure "chosen" to save
the world has been recycled too many times in various sci-fi
films from The Day the Earth Stood Still to Terminator 2:
Judgment Day.

The Wachowski brothers did attempt to give their film some
weight to make it something more than just "that cool, new sci-fi
flick" or "that cool, new Keanu Reeves movie". Symbolism is
apparent in their selection of names for their characters: Neo,
Morpheus (sounds a lot like the name of that ancient Greek dude
with superhuman powers, Orpheus) and Trinity (here a female
warrior played by Carrie-Anne Moss). Even the leader of the
villainous agents constantly pursuing Morpheus' group, played by
the excellent Australian actor Hugo Weaving, is given the
historically significant name McCarthy. And don't ignore the fact
that the vessel in which the good guys reside in this film is
called The Zion.

But enough with the heavy symbolism, which would probably only
excite college students sufficiently educated in liberal arts.
Anyone knows, just as the Wachowski brothers do, that the crowd
is in the movie theaters for the special effects. The directors
splatter the movie profusely with eye-popping, mind-blowing
visuals that would easily make this movie a challenger to Star
Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace for the Visual Effects Oscar.
The effects range from the simply astounding (see bullets that
freeze in the air, see morphing effects like those in Terminator
2: Judgment Day) to the nightmarish (watch the dragonfly-shaped
monitoring device crawl into Keanu Reeves' navel. Yecch!)

The Matrix even gives indications that it is coming out of an
America currently overcome with the Jackie Chan-John Woo fever.
Almost all the fight scenes include the jumping and flying of
martial art movie theatrics. The obligatory training session
scenes, which could be easily derived from The Karate Kid or The
Empire Strikes Back, are given some flavor by the Wachowskis by
having the eye-pleasing karate choreography that Reeves and
Fishburne themselves performed after four months of training
under the tutelage of Jet Lee's personal trainer. And won't
martial artists everywhere get envious when they see how Reeves'
character earns his black belt: He is simply propped in a chair,
his head infused by loads of hi-tech martial arts software, and a
moment later, he opens his eyes and proclaims: "I know karate."

But no matter how cool the good guys are, no good versus evil
movie is going to work without the baddies. For this end, the
Wachowskis have three agents who wear sinister dark glasses and
suits: They could easily be the hatless evil versions of The
Blues Brothers, or actors stepping out of Quentin Tarantino's
Reservoir Dogs. However, the more effective heavy here turns out
to be the traitor played by Joe Pantoliano (himself a villain in
the Wachowskis' first film), who spends a moment in the film
pondering whether he should continue fighting alongside the good
Zion guys and living a crummy, fearful life or go back into the
fake but zestful matrix. Sounds like a contemporary Indonesian
being given the choice of staying in the reformasi bandwagon or
opting for the status quo.

All in all, The Matrix is pure entertainment, with a thing or
two for the brainy. It's essentially cheese, but what thought-
provoking cheese it is.