Am I the only SF/Fantasy fan who didn't care for "The Matrix?"

[DerekG]

After watching Alex Proyas's "Dark City" and David Cronenberg's "eXistenZ" (thematically similar, and neither of which pandered to the MTV generation), I confess I never had much use for "The Matrix." Whether my aversion be chalked to Reeves's detached air, Laurence Fishburne's need to e-nun-ci-ate every syllable as if he were quoting Scripture, or the disquieting lobby sequence, in which our "heroes" take it upon themselves to massacre a cavalcade of security guards, the movie just bugged the hell out of me.

It was so ubercool I wanted to vomit.

[Squatch]

1. I hated how the only way to defeat the security guards was

by resorting to guns and wearing trenchcoats/sunglasses. It was a pretty sophomoric storyline.

[Benfea]

7. Sophmoric storyline?

Check out some of these essays on the Matrix:
http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/new_phil_frames.html

At the bottom of the left panel, you'll find a list of the essay writers and their credentials. Almost all of them are philosophy professors, and some of them were educated at or teach at ivy league schools.

Obviously, there is a great deal of subjectivity in whether or not you like a particular movie (I have my own criticisms, particularly of the second and third movies), but if you read any of the above essays, I think you'd have a hard time describing the storyline as "sophmoric."

Contributors list:
http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/new_phil_contribs.html

PS — even if you didn't like the Matrix, you will probably find those essays interesting. They're well worth reading, and I only wish my college philosophy classes were half that engaging.

[pitohui]

2. yeah it was boring

it didn't bug me, it just couldn't hold my attention, it's fine for people who have had little exposure to the real thing, i'm sure it was all new and wonderful for them

[hobo_baggins]

3. i liked it up until the kiss resurrected him...then i tuned out...LAME-O

then in the second movie they did it again...even worse!

[ET Awful]

5. Yup they should have let him die and let Trinity go apeshit and waste

all the agents. They could made HER the badass in the end, which would have been exceedingly cool :P

[El Fuego]

4. The first one was OK entertainment, but

but II and III sucked big time. I saw both movies in the theater, and it was like torment to have to sit through them.

[jpgray]

6. This is correct

It's hard not to have a little bit of fun with the first one.

[DanCa]

8. I didn't care for it either (nt).

[blindpig]

9. I found the premise absurd.

Machines needing living human bodies to provide energy? Where does the energy come from to fuel those bodies? Wouldn't it be easier to tap that fuel directly?

I watched the 1st, ok eye candy but in the end bullshit.

[Deja Q]

10. It's all eye candy, drivel drama, with a handful of sci-fi-esque oneliners

thrown in to give it the "sci-fi" classification.

Okay, so humanity is seen as a wasteful species that breeds like cockroaches do. We've seen it all before and all the awards went to special effects, quickly used by everybody else for their movies and tv adverts too.

[progressoid]

11. II & III were crap. The original was crap in training.

[benEzra]

12. You're not the only one...

but I have to say I'm not in that group. I, my wife, and my sister all loved it.

My favorite aspect of it was the way it played with your perception of reality--that the world we live in isn't really real, that we're all actually stuck in vats somewhere dreaming all this, and the REAL world is the sci-fi one. It's certainly not the first work of fiction to do this, but what it did, it did very well.

[Swede]

13. I liked the trilogy.

Man vs. machine, reality vs. fantasy etc.

[politicat]

14. Feh.

I had issues with the premise because humans are inefficient at converting nutrients into energy so we're sucky batteries, (and accupuncture won't build strong muscles,) and I really, really, really hate Keanu Reeves. He is one of the worst actors to ever make a shameful amount of money, and the whole Chosen One theme is just overdone.

We didn't even bother to see the third one, and we giggled through the second one in the way people giggle over Plan Nine from Outer Space.

Besides, if it's existentialism you're after, there are better versions.

[TheBaldyMan]

15. I think the Four Word Film Review summed it up best ...

Dude, I'm Jesus, Whoa!

A desperate and banal film typical of Hollywood sacrificing plot, acting and feeling for special effects. If only they'd spent a fraction of the SFX budget on the script.

[BigMcLargehuge]

16. Meh...

Dark City was far superior.

[LeftyMom]

17. Similar themes were explored much better in Serial Experiments: Lain

The first Matrix movie isn't bad, but the sequels are utter crap.

[lectrobyte]

18. Dark City and eXistenZ rocked. I thought the whole Matrix thing

was a nice popcorn kind of movie, especially 2 and 3. The first one does have a nice "is this real?" feeling, but as far as that goes, even low budget movies like this http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0284978/ or this
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0244290/ just blow it away script-wise.

[kay1864]

19. I agree 100% w/politicat

Keanu sucks as an actor.

More important, I like a little science with my science fiction (otherwise it's fantasy, not SF). The whole PREMISE of the movie is faulty--humans as batteries? Please. So the whole reason they're fighting is bogus, since it's based on a faulty premise.

Of course I'm a bit sensitive on this topic, b/c our nation is becoming increasingly scientifically illiterate, and movies like this just reinforce that ignorance. And the Repukes just make it worse, by dissing global warming, evolution, etc.

Oh wait, now I belong in GD. My bad. :P

[TimeChaser]

20. The original movie borrowed heavily from Ghost in the Shell and

Serial Experiment Lain. For two and three, everything just went to hell.