What All the Fuss is About A contrarian view of the Matrix phenomenon.

The American Enterprise Online ^ | 5/19/03 | Eric Cox

[Valin]

The Matrix Reloaded must be one of the most hyped and overrated movies of all time. In stark contrast to the first installment of the Matrix trilogy—which received mixed reviews and only built a huge fan base after its release on DVD--the release of the sequel was trumpeted in advance on the covers of Time and Newsweek. The films’ creators, the equally heralded Wachowski brothers, are described practically everywhere in the media not merely as great filmmakers, but as wise, all-seeing visionaries who have something profound to tell us about the current state of the universe.

It’s all a bunch of hooey. Although the technical achievements in both films are stunning, the martial-arts fight scenes are beautiful and absorbing, and the concept of a technological dystopia interlaced with ideas from various religious philosophies (primarily Buddhist and Gnosticstic ones) is ingenious, the films are essentially eye candy with an unsophisticated muddle of mysticism and philosophy thrown in to make them seem like more than that.

A good example of how the films attempt to dazzle the audience with verbal gymnastics is the lengthy, convoluted monologue in The Matrix Reloaded, in which “The Architect” of the matrix “explains” to Neo (Keanu Reeves) that he is merely a cog in a deterministic machine, one of a series of supposedly messianic figures who have all failed in their mission to make people aware of the matrix (an elaborate virtual-reality computer program that simulates what most human beings take to be reality). The Architect could have said it just that way, in a few short words, with powerful dramatic effect. (One of the best scenes in twentieth-century literature is at the end of George Orwell’s 1984 when Winston Smith learns that O’Brien, the man he thought was the leader of a resistance movement, is actually a double agent who invented the notion of a resistance movement, which does not exist. The full force of the blow descends on the reader as powerfully as it does on Smith precisely because, as horrifying as it is, it makes total sense, and we kick ourselves for not seeing it coming.)

But it is in this regard that Andy and Larry Wachowski deserve all the accolades they receive: they are master showmen. Better to make The Architect’s monologue appear mind-bendingly complicated so that the audience won’t even attempt to make sense of it. Maybe then they won’t realize that the film switches from endorsements of free will to determinism and back again so many times it would make Plato’s head spin.

The basic idea behind the Matrix movies is simple: What we think we know and what is true are not necessarily the same things. Moral: What we want might therefore not be what’s good for us. Take away the dark sunglasses, the black overcoats, the martial arts, and the semantic sophistry, and the Matrix movies are The Truman Show (1998) or The Wizard of Oz (1939), or any number of other stories with similar themes. (The filmmakers at least pay tribute to the latter movie with several clever leitmotifs.)

Interesting, yes. Profound, hardly. There is nothing profound about mysticism. Indeed, once you entertain the notion that the world is not what it seems, that reality is not reality, you can come up with any number of intriguing notions (recall that one theory has the universe resting on the back of a turtle—now that would make for an interesting movie).

As to the films’ supposed critique of technology—and it might not be fair to suggest, as most critics do, that the films even attempt to offer one—nothing resembling a coherent, let alone subtle, critique is offered. The films certainly posit that it is possible for machines to become so complicated that they will one day develop minds of their own and attempt to destroy us (even Rod Serling saw that one coming), but so far, at least, the films haven’t been interested in suggesting how we might stop such a thing from happening.

In The Matrix Reloaded, Neo and another character pause to consider this question in the subterranean colony where humans who have chosen to resist the matrix hold fort, but they come to the common-sense conclusion that destroying all machinery is certainly not the answer, and beyond that, like most of us, they can only offer a shrug. (It is convenient for the film’s contrast between high technology and basic humanity that it has the humans living in primitive-looking caves and relying at least partially on torchlight for a hundred years, but that hardly seems plausible, given that there are surely one or two folks down there who could figure out how to generate enough electricity to hang up some more light bulbs.)

Enough hype. The Matrix (1999) was a good movie; The Matrix Reloaded—oversexed and over-reliant on fight sequences and cheap sentimentality—is not even that.

It’s no wonder, though, that both movies have become the phenomena that they are: in addition to being entertaining (the first one more so than the second), they suggest that a smorgasbord of shallowly conceived religions and philosophies are enough to cope with the perplexities of what many people today take to be a complicated world.

—Eric Cox is managing editor of the Hudson Institute’s American Outlook and a movie columnist for TAEmag.com.

The American Enterprise Online:

[Enterprise]

The mass dance scene in the beginning of the movie had me rolling my eyes and drumming my fingers on the seat rest. Another thing which gave a "quagmire" effect at times, was the lengthy dialogue. Otherwise, I got my money's worth because of the special effects, and I look forward to episode three.

[Mister Magoo]

This guy sounds like a real fun guy to have at a party. At least the Wachowski brothers are not trying to dumb down the plot like so many others directors. It makes you think, which is rare for an action movie.

[Iscool]

Although the technical achievements in both films are stunning, the martial-arts fight scenes are beautiful and absorbing, and the concept of a technological dystopia interlaced with ideas from various religious philosophies (primarily Buddhist and Gnosticstic ones) is ingenious, the films are essentially eye candy with an unsophisticated muddle of mysticism and philosophy thrown in to make them seem like more than that.

But aside from that, It’s all a bunch of hooey

Now there's a critic really worth listening to...He's saying the movie is "fantastic", but don't waste your money on it...

[Enterprise]

I saw it yesterday and I will see it once more with a friend. I would say to go ahead and waste your money on it, but be prepared for a bunch of "hooey."

[Norse]

LOL - the Dance scene was absolutely rediculous. It helped me further lose faith in Humanity. They showed naked bodies, occassionally zooming to wet, sweating feet, all the while the entire thing was a multi-racial orgy that was dancing to some third-world African drum beat

[bigcheese]

They should have started the movie at the part where Neo goes to see the Oracle, IMO. Everything before then was pretty hokey...

[poet]

"It makes you think"

Huh? The people I've talked who have seen it only speak glowingly of the special effects. I gave the FX a 10, but, the story a 5. The overacting was atrocious. The first one was very good. The should have titled it: Matrix Unloaded.

[Enterprise]

HA HA! After the dance scene I was glad the computers won! After Neo defeats them in the third film, they can all be liberated and can spend their lives dancing barefoot in the mud. Boomtitty boomtitty boomtitty boom!

[Pukin Dog]

Just another guy who doesnt get it.

The dance scene was a pivotal point, which will I hope become clearer to some in the third movie. I guess it is human nature to trash what one does not understand, but I hope those trashing the film will return to share if they still believe as such after the final film airs in November.

[evets]

I saw the Matrix. That dude had an EXCELLENT adventure.

[Cicero]

It's not mysticism, it's a ripoff of mysticism. California Buddhism, to coin a phrase. Mysticism doesn't say that the world is unreal, it says that there is something more real than the phenomenal world.

It's odd to see so many Freepers approving of what amounts to a post-Vietnam version of relativism, suspicion, and new-wave gnosticism.

[showme_the_Glory]

Tron II

[Sloth]

The dance scene was a pivotal point

Possibly true, but it was still tiresome crap.

[Abe Froman]

I have to agree with the majority of posters that the cave-dancing bit was a idiotic, needless, and pointless bit of T&A set to an african drumbeat. The "cake" scene was likewise unexpected and completely out-of-place. I was also a little frustrated with the portrayal of the people on the ships as apparently normal blue-collar working types who go home to crack a beer and bang their live-in girlfriends.

The first installment played with genuine intrigue---it was out of the ordinary. Now we need to be exposed to Bad Boys/MTV dialogue and behavior in the second one? That's not what I was paying for.

[OneVike]

I totally agree with your opinion. They could have cut the whole scene out including the love scene and made it PG. They then would gat a couple hundred million more $ from young kids. The fight scene with Neo and all the look-a-likes got a little long, cut in in half. I was very disappointed with it.

[Pukin Dog]

You are correct in that it is not mysticism, but it is not buddhism either. There is nothing in the Matrix to suggest that the world is unreal, only the creations of the mind which we sometimes mistake as being real.

There is nothing "new-wave" about the Matrix, nor is it about religion so to speak. I do not want to give away the film, because these discussions are exactly what the brothers hoped to generate.

Those hostile to the film without understanding it, are only proving the message of the film itself. I personally can hardly wait for all the reversals of opinion due in November.

[keri]

There is nothing profound about mysticism.

This guy is really hooked...

...shallowly conceived religions and philosophies...

[discostu]

My only arguement with this is the success of the first movie. It made bank at the box office not just on DVD. Other than that he's nailed it right on, the movies are a pile of psuedo-philosophy ornamented with semi-religious symbolism, all wrapped around antique plots, and shinied up with great effects.

[discostu]

Actually the plot is at least as dumb as most Hollywood directors (people are batteries?! HELLO) they just bury it under tons of idiotic dialog. Star Trek scripts periodically have the note {Insert techno-jargon}, 90% of the dialog of Matrix and Reloaded could be covered with the note {insert psuedo-philosphy}.