The Matrix

rated -TEPID

The "Mish-Mash" is more like it! This film has elements from the pantheon of science fiction: films: Blade Runner, Alien, 2001, Dark City, Dune, 1984 - they're all there. The film looks terrific, and there are lots of germs of ideas here, but there's no logic, and no discipline. A good story editor needed - urgently!

So The Matrix is all style and no substance. But, funnily enough, Keanu Reeves' deadpan style works really well here. It's as if he knows it is all nonsense, but would rather not admit it. He comes through the process with some integrity. At least he is consistent.

The plot, however, is not consistent. It is a real hotchpotch. There is no way I can work the logic through so it makes sense. For example, how can you "unmmask" the Matrix without exposing the horrible truth inderneath that the world consists of babies attached to batteries? How can there be a happy ending under those circumstances? And, more worryingly, where on earth will the sequel (and I know there will be a sequel) start, and where will it end up? The mere idea is much more terrifying than anything in the film itself.