Friday, December 17, 1999

So what if you don't get it? Get 'The Matrix'

Confession: I haven't the slightest clue what "The Matrix" is about. OK, I'm a girl and the only computer game I ever mastered was Donkey Kong.
   All I got plotwise from "The Matrix" was that it had something to do with artificial intelligence, virtual reality, religion and acupuncture. Other reviewers used the words "anime" and "cyberpunk" to describe it. I'm not sure what those mean either, but I just totally dug this special-effects-driven film starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne.
   Now out on video and DVD, "The Matrix," more than any film released this year, redefined the way filmmakers use computer-generated images and other visual tricks. Most stunning are the stunts that have Reeves (looking buffer than he has in years) dodging bullets in slow-mo (called "bullet time"), with the camera whizzing around him in 360-degree turns.
   The real star of this movie is the work of visual effects supervisor John Gaeta. He mixes photographic elements, old-fashioned matte paintings, CGI and live actors in scenes that are simply breathtaking to watch.
   There's a scene that uses light as glue. You have to see it to understand what that means.
   Another scene with an amazing helicopter crash bounces the chopper like a pebble in a pond, distorting all the images around it as it slams into the side of a skyscraper.
   In "The Matrix," the physical properties of every solid object are distorted, bent, reflected. Nothing is what it seems.
   So is there a story?
   From what I could tell, Reeves' character, Neo, is some sort of savior. He's a computer hacker who is sent into a world of artificial intelligence with a partner named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss). Laurence Fishburne is a guy named Morpheus who promises Neo he will learn the secret of all existence. Couldn't figure out at first if Morpheus was the good guy or the villain, but, man, is he the coolest.
   In their virtual world, Neo and Trinity run away from bad guys who look like Men in Black. They run through a lot of dilapidated buildings and across the roofs of buildings in downtown Sydney. They shoot a lot of people. And when they're in a jam, Trinity finds a phone and screams "Tank, we need an exit! Fast!" and zoom! They're zapped to safety.
   Definitely, Reeves is a good guy. I think in the end he saves all humankind.
   Even the movie's waaaaaay cool website (www.whatisthematrix.com) doesn't really explain what "The Matrix" is. But it does have inside info on the making of the movie, including interviews with the on-set masseuse and Keanu Reeves' stand-in.
   The Web site also has a video game that lets you blow away bad guys from an animated scene in the film (in retrospect, with all the black trenchcoats and high-powered weapons, the violence is a little too Columbine to be called fun). And there are links to other Web sites that deal with artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
   The DVD ($25) has been a surprise best-seller, outselling "The Titanic." Combined with the movie's box office success, two more "Matrix" sequels are in the works, with Keanu Reeves signed for both.
   Written and directed by the mysterious Wachowski brothers, Larry and Andy (they also did "Bound"), "The Matrix" is a major work of cinematic art.
   Just don't ask me what it's about.
  
   "The Matrix" is rated R (not recommended for viewers under 17) for extreme violence.
   Media critic Elaine Liner can be reached at 886-3688 or by email at linere@caller.com.
  
  

 
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