The Matrix

With a $65 million budget, the Wachowskis put together a blockbuster of indubitable visual impact in which the sci-fi component must come to terms with a comic-book aesthetic while adhering to a videogame logic as well as incorporating elements of the late-1990s action-movie craze. In other words, we’re talking about a cleverly constructed film that thrilled a broad segment of the public, but whose originality is solely based in its syncretic nature.

There’s scant innovation in the content department: ontological and philosophical questions on the nature of realty, apart from having a thousand-year-old tradition in Western thought, have been addressed in far more sophisticated and meaningful ways in film and sci-fi literature over the past century – from “Time Out of Joint” (1959) and “A Maze of Death” (1970) by Philip K. Dick to the disquieting “Simulacron-3” (1964) by Daniel F. Galouye.

Themes relating to control and the fate/free will dichotomy (an obsession with directors) are frequently touched on, although they’re never really developed in depth, and end up being relegated to a handful of resounding aphorisms mainly voiced by Morpheus. Additionally, several genuinely interesting ideas get short shrift. A prime example is slimy Cypher’s perspective when he knowingly accepts falsehood and extols the virtues of ignorance. Another example is icy Agent Smith, who eventually reveals an unexpected phobia – fear of infection.

Rich in amazing action sequences created with innovative special effects processes of revolutionary scope, “The Matrix” exerted remarkable influence on the technical side of cinematography as well as on the figurative canons of mass culture.

4 Oscars: Film Editing, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects.