Style Over Substance: On The Matrix And How Deep Themes Don't Equal A "Deep" Movie

“You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”  This quote is from the 1999 cyberpunk thriller, The Matrix, and it occurs between the protagonist Neo and his mentor, Morpheus.

To clarify: this post isn’t a Matrix love letter but rather an explanation of why I found it so unimpressive.  My motive isn’t to provoke fans of the franchise.  Though the hype for The Matrix has dated back to my middle school days, it’s hasn’t exactly been a pressing issue I felt needed addressing…until now.  Because it seems one can’t discuss meta topics like reality, freedom or even A.I. these days without it having to be reduced to a Matrix comparison.  This is in addition to terms like “red/blue/black-pilled”, which reference the above quote, being used to describe any non-conventional ideology.   

So, given that The Matrix won’t be losing relevancy any time soon, I feel it’s necessary to highlight what, after many viewings, I’ve always found to be glaring flaws.  Namely, the poorly defined and, at times, inconsistent rules which we’re made to believe the Matrix is built on show how good themes do not equate to a good movie.

The violence against those in The Matrix at the hands of the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar, for example, has always perplexed me.  Whether Trinity defeating the cops at the beginning or Neo cartwheeling through the lobby at the end, fatally wounding several guards in the process, the film’s protagonists swap between the role of heroes and villains.  If the viewers were supposed to believe that the office building staff were complicit in the evil scheme being enforced by the agents, the Wachowski sisters didn’t do a good job relaying that on screen.

Additionally, I wasn’t as wowed by The Matrix’s special effects as the masses.  There are undoubtedly iconic scenes, such as the one where Neo dodges bullets.  However, these moments gave off more of a music video vibe than one of a timeless film.  Further, the turn of the millennium brought an onslaught of movies whose action scenes relied heavily on trapeze / tension wire stunts where it was clear the actor/actress was strapped into a harness.  While not as bad as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, shots like those of Morpheus training Neo in the dojo still manage to piss me off.  These effects, in addition to the flawed narrative, exemplify how The Matrix is style over substance.

Ultimately, The Matrix’s ending is its biggest flaw.  After Neo is killed by the agent, Trinity informs his corpse that he can’t be dead because the Oracle predicted that he’s “the one.” But this revelation makes way for other gaping questions, namely: can anyone be resurrected simply because a third party interprets a prediction in their favor? Also, Trinity explains that The Oracle said her love would be the one.  But who’s to say that Neo, some guy she just met, was that specific love? For all we know, The Oracle could’ve been referring to a man or woman she would meet in her sixties.  Overall, it’s a weak premise for such a big moment in the plot.

Essentially, The Matrix is one of the most overrated and increasingly over-quoted films of my life.  I’ve rewatched it several times over the years to try to force myself into a consensual appreciation for it, but I feel like every viewing only makes me dislike it more.  While it addresses important topics such as freedom and the encroachment of technology into our lives, the producers put more effort into its stylized action sequences than creating consistent rules for how The Matrix works. 

Hopefully, this critique wasn’t too triggering for fans of The Matrix franchise and will allow readers to consider how criticisms of the status quo are increasingly being dismissed as symptoms of consuming too much fantasy and/or sci-fi.  With that said, thanks for reading and, of course, stay pissed.