"What is The Matrix?" (Assignment)

"What is The Matrix?" That was the question posed to audiences at the time of the film's release: 1999, nearly a decade ago. The answer to that query, however, simply cannot be summarized in a few short sentences. In fact, the film cannot be digested, entirely, in a single viewing. After watching it for the first time (for reasons of enjoyment, as well as necessity), I was compelled to see it again, and again, and again. That's how intricate a picture The Matrix was.

Without delving into the various religious and philosophical overtones the film contains, let me describe the overall plot of the movie, itself. The Matrix is a sci-fi/action film, about a post-apocalyptic world that has become dominated by a collective of machines, who use a digitized illusion to (unbeknownst to the populace), simultaneously, obfuscate and subjugate humanity; the purpose being, to harvest human beings as sources of energy. However, this tyranny does not persist, unimpeded. A rag-tag group of humans, miraculously freed from their bondage, coalesce their forces in an ongoing effort to combat the evil machine race, and liberate the rest of humanity. Though dedicated, they are simply no match for the sheer might of the machines; they are emboldened, however, by a prophecy handed down to them by a mysterious entity, of a Christ-like messiah who, inevitably, will defeat the machines, and deliver all of humanity.

Directed by the Wachowski Brothers (Bound), Andy and Larry, the film stars: (pedestrian actor) Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Hugo Weaving. To their credit, the afore-mentioned Reeves and Moss are credible in their separate roles of, opposition group members, Neo and Trinity, respectively; their performances bolstered, in no small part, by the superb Fishburne (who, as opposition leader, Morpheus, steals the show) and Weaving (the evil Agent Smith). At a duration of, approximately, two-hours and sixteen minutes, The Matrix is a sci-fi tour-de-force; undoubtedly, one of the most innovative, imaginative, and spectacular films of its genre, for our generation.