The Matrix
If The Matrix is Kung-Food for thought, it's a giant plate of Kung Pow!
What do you do if Americans have been kidnapped and taken to hostile territory? You call Bruce Willis. What do you do if machines have enslaved humanity? You call Ewan McGregor, and when he turns down the role, you call Keanu Reeves.
The Matrix is a modern-day retelling of Plato's "The Allegory of the Cave," which is just one of the many famous philosophical works that actors were required to study in preparation for their roles. However, Keanu Reeves spent most of his time trying to find the words "allegory" and "cave" in the dictionary. He couldn't find "allegory" (he hasn't learned most of those letters yet), and he was confused when he finally found the definition of "cave," only to see a picture of the inside of his own head.
Keanu plays Neo (it was an easy word for him to find in the script), a computer nerd who also happens to be humanity's only hope for survival. It seems that our reality only exists in our minds, and is controlled by a computer known as "The Matrix." The Matrix is just a cover for the fact that our bodies are being used as an energy source for a race of machines that enslave the planet, which is just a taste of what would have surely happened without the Microsoft Antitrust suits!
Neo and friends attempt to "unplug" from The Matrix and wake up for the first time in the real world. Keanu is able to successfully unplug, but he has to be reminded several times not to stick his tongue in the socket.
Laurence Fishburne offers Keanu a choice: Take the blue pill and return to the world as he knows it, or take the red pill and discover what The Matrix is. "I'll take either one, as long as it doesn't have Ginkgo Biloba," says Keanu. "That stuff makes my brain hurt."
There are two realities discussed here: the "reality" of the world presented by The Matrix, and the reality for those who have "freed their minds." A third reality explaining how Keanu Reeves is able to make $15 million per picture was originally written into the script, but the idea was scrapped when Producer Joel Silver said, "We're already asking the audience to suspend belief enough as it is!"
And while we suspend disbelief, writers/directors Andy and Larry Wachowski suspend every actor from a series of wires for amazingly intricate, gravity-defying kung-fu sequences that would even make Neil Armstrong envious.
So is The Matrix good? Unfortunately, no one can be told what The Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.
But I'm going to tell you anyway -- it's great.
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Because four beers is better than three beers ...
After watching The Matrix, you'll probably be more interested in karate chopping furniture than making the sex.
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