and here's the other Keanu Reeves movie i watched recently. two movies in a row?! i hear you shout, mot, what is this blasphemy?! i thought you didn't like movies! well yeah, i don't, but these are two movies i REALLY wanted to watch. i don't just do this for anyone, you know. what spurred me to finally watch this one was that i found a DVD of the first Matrix at a Goodwill for a cool $2.92, and couldn't resist. yeah sure it's one of the most critically acclaimed movies of all time, but not only that, it has a Propellerheads song in it! if there's anything even tangentially related to Propellerheads in this world, i need to know about it. it's a universal constant of life, and that's just the way it is. all jokes aside, the soundtrack is definitely what got me in the door. i mean, Prodigy, Propellerheads, Rage Against The Machine, even if the movie sucked (which it didn't) i'd still have some banger songs to listen to to keep me entertained. so while i came for the music, i definitely stayed for the incredible fight scenes, excellent storytelling, entertaining and fascinating characters, and incredible art direction. so why don't we get started?

here's a plot synopsis for those out there who are in the same situation i was about 24 hours ago and don't know anything about The Matrix, and who don't plan on watching the movie for some reason. some spoilers are abound, but i'm sure it's nothing you don't already know. Thomas Anderson, who goes under the hacker alias "Neo," is asleep in his apartment one day when he gets a message on his computer out of nowhere. he's told that he's The One, and must "follow the White Rabbit." turns out, the whole world is a lie, and mankind has just been living in a simulation under the control of robots, who keep them in little pods in farms to be used as batteries. while in the simulation, The Matrix, everyone thinks its 1999, in the real world, it's actually somewhere closer to 2199, and everything's fucked, with one exception. there's exactly one human city left, Zion, and the Resistance is doing everything they can to protect it, no matter the cost. Neo, after learning that his entire life he's lived up to that point is entirely fake and hasn't meant anything, is understandably pretty rattled, but slowly comes to terms with this fact and does his best to help protect Zion and keep humanity going. this was extremely compelling to me, i love that Neo is pretty much just some fucking Guy. take away the long, black coat and shades, and he's a computer nerd who's simultaneously terrified of the truth, while also being the only one who can save humanity at this point. i feel like whenever i saw something parody the Matrix as a kid, they always portrayed their Neo-like guy as some badass who always knows what's going on and what to do in every situation, but in the movie itself, Neo's imperfect. he fails to escape the secret service and gets taken in for questioning, he freaks out when he's told what the Matrix really is and can't accept it at first, he gets bugged (if you know you know) and is mortified when he finds out that it's real and it gets taken out of him. (more on that in a second) if you can't tell, Neo was my favorite character, closely followed by Morpheus, and then Tank. and hey, on the topic of Neo, let's address the elephant in the room: the Matrix is one bigass transgender allegory. you know, taking the red pill being a metaphor for taking estrogen (which, back then, was a red pill instead of the blue one we have today) escaping the Matrix being a parallel to coming out of the closet and the initially terrifying, herculean task that can be when you've been told to be one way all your life, hell, Neo even gets upset with Agent Smith for calling him Mr. Anderson, pretty much deadnaming him. what, you think i'm stretching? well say that to the Wachowskis, the main directors of the Matrix trilogy, who are both trans women. it's pretty blatant when you know what to look for. and honestly? based.

alright, there's your story recap, plus some bonus topics along the way. let's talk characters. i already went over Neo in detail, so let's get to the rest of the resistance. Morpheus is so cool, man. the guy knows how to keep his cool but also puts up a fight, and i love how wise he is. Lawrence Fishburne portrays him perfectly, i can't imagine anyone else playing him. Trinity i found to be kinda... whatever. i dunno, she's cool don't get me wrong, but like... she's kinda boring? i just never found myself all that interested in her, she's not crazy enough man. Tank and Dozer were always really fun to watch, they're the only two fully human members, no plugs to be found on them. i found Tank's positivity to be really infectious, especially on that first day of training. Mouse, while not getting a lot of screen time, was very entertaining every time i saw him. i guess he's the closest you'd get to a comic relief character? but i feel like the moment with everyone eating at the table and Mouse talking about Tastee Wheat just feels so real, and i really loved that. Apoc barely got any screen time but was alright, i liked Switch in the scene where they're in the car, and her fits were always 100% on point. Cypher was a really interesting twist antagonist, he feels like what Neo would have turned out like if he never truly accepted his fate as The One and i really like that. all in all, a great lineup here, i love em all.

easily the most striking aspect of the Matrix is its art design. nevermind the insane apocalypic sci-fi environments and mechanisms that litter the whole movie, or the costume designs that SCREAM late 90's/early 2000's "coolness." no, what drew my attention the most is just how much body horror is in this movie, which, for the record, is a lot for something so mainstream! Neo's mouth being removed and replaced with solid flesh, a robotic bug crawling into his body, that bug being removed in EXTREMELY uncomfortable detail, plugs lining most characters' bodies, which are then used to jack into the Matrix, it was enough to make my stomach turn for almost the whole movie. but while usually my squeamish ass would turn off the movie after the bug scene and call it quits, i actually found this aspect of the art design to be really fascinating?? it's been living in my head in the whole day it's been since i watched the movie, and i can't stop thinking about it. it somehow wraps around to being really cool?? again, i usually hate this kinda stuff, but... i dunno. speaking of which, the CGI is nothing short of fascinating. it's got that late 90s stank to it, but i'd be lying if i said i didn't absolutely love it. shoutouts to the scene with the mirror, makes me think i'm gonna be headed to Hazy Maze Cave.

overall, yeah, The Matrix absolutely lived up to everything i've heard about it my whole life. it's such an interesting movie and i'd say it might even earn a spot in my top three movies, right next to Napoleon Dynamite and Coraline. just today i found DVD copies of both The Matrix Reloaded and Ressurections at a different Goodwill, bringing my Matrix tax up to around 9 whole dollars now. i definitely plan on watching those two at some point, and i might even check out The Animatrix after that... and then i'll finally get around to playing that copy of Enter The Matrix i got for my birthday one year from a friend who knew i was getting a PS2 and gave me a bunch of random PS2 games they didn't play anymore! soon, Vinny, i'll finally play that, Full Metal Alchemist: The Broken Angel, and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time after a long 6 years of never touching them.