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The
Matrix
viewed
September 5, 2000 on HBO  Full
Details
(for original review, skip past
this entry)
Seeing this movie once again, I
found myself defending it before my incredulous
girlfriend, who seemed hard-pressed to enjoy it.
So I've switched sides on this one. What I had
identified previously as utter silliness I know see as
the point. All the pseudo-revolutionary
up-the-system spiel I know simply accept as formula, and
then sit back and enjoy the ride. As I said
before, Keanu's vapid performance is part of the deal,
and its chief representative: eye candy. Keanu and
The Matrix are both mindless eye candy.
Enjoy.
viewed
November 20, 1999 on video
Somewhere halfway into watching The Matrix, the thought occurred to me that Keanu Reeves could be
our generation’s version of Cary Grant.
The essential, charming qualities are there: an
urbane, sexually non-aggressive but sleek-looking
gentleman who seems more intelligent than he may
actually be, by virtue of sharp eyebrows and terminal
politeness. Both
are robust but not violently hunky playboys whom both
women and men find attractive. This comparison does far more credit to Keanu than to Cary
(and I suppose to compare Grant to anyone is pretty
insulting to one of the screen’s most inimitable
personalities). However,
the comparisons end here: where Cary rests his appeal on
an array of witty lines and a self-negating deference to
friends and lovers, Keanu relies on an arsenal of
special effects and a self-negating detachment from
others.
Nonetheless, Reeves has been
something of a phenomenon this decade: a seemingly
talentless actor with a generally impressive track
record. His
presence in films such as Speed
and The Matrix are surprisingly successful; perhaps because he does
bring something to the table: a generic seriousness that
fits the generic premise of these action pics.
The good-looking vacantness that is Keanu Reeves
is also what defines blockbusters like The Matrix: lean,
lovely to look at, and utterly devoid of content.
I would at this point direct my
comments to The Matrix itself, but Jonathan
Rosenbaum has a wonderful capsule at his site that I
could hardly add to.
Basically, the movie gets off to a great start
and an hour passes before you realize that you’ve seen
this story before and all that’s left to enjoy is the
stop-motion 3-d effects of this noisy one-trick pony of
a movie.
Thumbs down from Roger
Ebert.
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