The Matrix

The Matrix
Directed by	Wachowski Brothers
Written by	Wachowski Brothers
Produced by	Joel Silver
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	March 31, 1999 April 9, 1999
Running time	136
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$63,000,000

The Matrix is a science fiction action movie that was made in 1999. It was written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers. The main actors in the movie are Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Hugo Weaving. The main character is Neo, a hacker. A man named Morpheus shows Neo what the Matrix is. The Matrix is a computer program that is an unreal world. The computer program makes people think that they live in the real world. The machines built the Matrix.

The Matrix is a computer program that tricks people. It uses their bodies to get energy. Before the movie, Neo lives in the computer program of the Matrix. Then, Neo realizes that he is living a false life inside of the Matrix. Neo must fight the Matrix to free the humans. He is trying to let all the humans know the truth - that they are living inside the Matrix.

Story

Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) works at a computer company. On the internet, Thomas Anderson’s name is Neo. One night, he finds a strange message on his computer. The message is: "follow the white rabbit." A few minutes later, a girl with a white rabbit tattoo on her shoulder knocks on Neo's door. Neo sees the white rabbit tattoo. Because he remembers the message from his computer, Neo follows the girl. The girl leads him to a dance club. He meets the woman who sent him the message. The woman’s name is Trinity. Trinity knows that Neo feels strange. She tells Neo that the Matrix is watching him.

When Neo is at work the next day, he gets a package. There is a cell phone in the package. The phone rings. It is Morpheus. Morpheus is one of Trinity's friends. Morpheus tells Neo that he (Neo) is in danger. Men in black clothing are coming to attack him and catch him. Morpheus tells Neo to escape from the building through a very high window. Neo is too scared to jump from the very high window.

The men in suits catch Neo. The men take Neo to their building, and they ask him questions. Neo thinks that they are the police, but they are not the police. These men are programs from the machine world, called “Agents”. (Agent is a real word. Agents are a special kind of police).

When the men release Neo, Trinity comes. She tells him to get into her car. Trinity goes with Neo to meet Morpheus. Morpheus knows the secret of the Matrix. He tells Neo, “The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us, even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, (and) when you pay your taxes. It (the Matrix) is the world that has been pulled over your eyes (similar to a blanket that children hide behind) to blind you from the truth (to hide the truth from you).”

Morpheus gives Neo a choice. If Neo takes the blue pill, he will know nothing. He will not understand the Matrix. Neo will continue to live in the Matrix, but he will always be uncomfortable.

If Neo takes the red pill, he will understand the Matrix. He will understand the truth.

Morpheus says to Neo, "(If) you take the blue pill, the story ends. You (will) wake up in your bed and (you can) believe whatever you want to believe. (If) you take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I (will) show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

Neo takes the red pill. He chooses truth.

Suddenly, Neo wakes up in a tank of red water. There are wires in his head and arms. When he sits up, the wires fall off of him. The only thing he can see is many, many more tanks similar to his tank. Neo escapes from the tank that he is in.

Then, a ship comes and saves him.

Neo’s friends are on the ship, called the Nebuchadnezzar. Trinity and Morpheus are there. Neo is sick because he always lived in the tank. Trinity and Morpheus heal him. Morpheus tells Neo about the machines, the Matrix, and the real world.

Because Neo knows the truth about the Matrix now, he can change it. Neo can change the programming of the Matrix. After Neo practices, he can jump between buildings and avoid bullets.

Morpheus thinks that Neo is “the One.” If Neo really is the One, he can save the humans from the Matrix. Morpheus goes with Neo to ask the Oracle questions. (An oracle can see the future. Oracles tell people about their future). Neo still thinks that he is not the One. The Oracle tells him that he is correct. Neo is not the One. She says that Neo is waiting for something. Cypher is one of Neo’s friends. He is a traitor. Cypher does not like the real world. The truth is too difficult. Cypher works with the Agents, who are afraid that the One will destroy their Matrix. Cypher kills three of Neo’s friends. Cypher tries to kill Neo and Trinity, but Tank (one of Neo’s friends) stops Cypher. Tank saves Neo and Trinity.

The Agents capture Morpheus. Because Morpheus is a captain, he knows about the access code to zion (zion is the place where human hides from machine. It's in the earth core). The Agents want the information that Morpheus has. The Agents ask Morpheus questions, but Morpheus does not answer.

Neo enters the Matrix to save Morpheus. Neo wants to go alone, but Trinity goes with him. It is very dangerous. When humans fight the Agents, the humans usually cannot win. Neo and Trinity shoot hundreds of Matrix soldiers. Neo and Trinity arrive on the roof. Agent Brown is there. He shoots Neo, and Neo dodges the bullet. Neo is becoming the One.

Neo and Trinity save Morpheus. They want to leave the Matrix, and they always use a telephone line. There is a telephone line in the subway station. Morpheus and Trinity leave the Matrix. Before Neo can leave the Matrix, Agent Smith arrives. Agent Smith is the leader of the Agents, and he is the most powerful agent. Agent Smith wants to kill Neo before Neo becomes the One.

Neo is loosing the fight with Agent Smith. Smith is too strong. Neo is not the One yet. Smith throws Neo onto the train tracks. A train is coming. Smith says to Neo, “(Do) you hear that, Mr. Anderson?” Mr. Anderson is Neo’s human name. It is his name from the time when he was not free. Neo says, “My name is NEO.” Neo jumps, and he escapes Smith. The train kills Smith, but Smith is a program. Usually, programs cannot die. Smith is alive again. Neo runs.

Neo arrives at the “Heart ‘o the City Hotel”. Agent Smith and two Agents are there. They shoot Neo many times. Neo dies. Trinity is on the ship in the real world. She is watching Neo’s real body, and she knows when he dies. She tells Neo, “The Oracle told me. The man I love is the One. You can’t be dead (it is not possible for you to die). I love you, Neo. Can you hear me? I love you.”

She kisses him.

In the Matrix, Neo is reborn, and he has a second life. The Agents shoot Neo, but he is not hurt. Now, he knows how to stop the bullets. Neo can see reality now. He knows the truth of the Matrix. Now, Neo is the One.

Neo kills Agent Smith. He jumps into Smith’s body and destroys Smith’s computer program.

The fight against the machines has begun. It is the fight to free the humans.

Neo says to the machines,“I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid. You're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see.I'm going to show them a world without you.A world without rules and controls,without borders or boundaries.A world where anything is possible.Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.”

He hangs up the phone and flies into the sky.

Symbolism

There is a lot of symbolism in The Matrix. Common sources are Christianity, Buddhism,Hinduism(the concept of maya), the ancient philosopher Plato and Plato's Cave, modern philosophers such as René Descartes, and modern authors such as William Gibson.

Descartes says that maybe humans are brains in jars. A monster is maybe tricking humans. The monster makes humans believe that they are in the real world, but actually humans are simply brains. Humans cannot know what is real.

Philosophy

There are also references to Simulacra and Simulation, a very modern philosophy book by Jean Baudrillard. Baudrillard says that in the modern world, copies of copies are made. "The Real" is gone because people do not know what the first things were. For example, a modern person who eats a chicken did not kill the chicken. That person does not know what a real chicken is. The chicken meat is false because the person did not kill the chicken. The person's reality is the chicken meat.

Trivia

• Move the letters in "Neo", and "Neo" becomes "one."
• Morpheus is the Greek god who makes dreams.
• King Nebuchadnezzar is the king from Babylon who had many dreams, and he was a *king of change and of understanding the truth.
• The directors, the Wachowski Brothers often use the story “Alice in Wonderland”. Alice falls into a rabbit hole, and she finds a strange world. “Alice in Wonderland” is a story about

illusions. The next quote talks about “Alice and Wonderland.”

Symbols in the music of The Matrix

• In the first scene, when Neo is sleeping on his keyboard, "Dissolved Girl" by Massive Attack is playing.

The chorus of this song is: I feel like I've been/ I've been here before You're not my savior/ but I still don't go It feels like something that I've done before I could fake it, but I'd still want more/

• When Neo is in the dance club, the remix of a Rob Zombie song called "Dragula" is playing. The first line of that song is: "Dead, I am the One."

• When Neo is meeting with the Oracle, the quiet music in the background is Duke Ellington's "I'm Beginning To See The Light."

Music

Don Davis made the score (orchestra part with violins and flutes). The Matrix's soundtrack (band music for a movie) includes music from bands such as Rammstein, Rob Dougan, Rage Against the Machine, Propellerheads, Massive Attack, The Prodigy, Rob Zombie, and Marilyn Manson.

Other meanings

The word matrix sometimes means "origin" or "beginnings". In very old English, matrix means "womb". A matrix is also a part of mathematics.

Sequels

The Matrix was followed by two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded (May 2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (November 2003).

Effect of the movie

A new religion called Matrixism or The path of the One is based on the movie The Matrix. The religion began in 2004 with 300 members. Now there are about 16,000 members of Matrixism. There is writing about Matrixism in books and newspapers.

Other websites

• "Matrixism: The path of the One". Retrieved 2008-06-21.