Telephone Call From Istanbul

The Matrix (1999)

Rating: R

Runtime: 136 minutes

Box Office (in today’s dollars): 244 million (approximately)

Characters: Thomas Anderson/Neo, Morpheus, Trinity, Agent Smith, Apoc, Cypher, Dozer, Mouse, Switch, Tank, The Oracle

Favorite Quote: “How about I give you the finger, and you give me my phone call.”

Favorite Scene: The shootout when Neo and Trinity go to rescue Morpheus

Favorite Character: Trinity

Other need-to-see nineties movies directed by the Wachowskis: none

When this movie came out, I remember everybody talking about how it was going to change movies forever. And it did. For a few years, anyway. And not so much for the better. Every movie tried to “look” like The Matrix and it almost became laughable. But The Matrix was cool. Neo (the hero) was cool. Morpheus was cool. But Trinity was the coolest. She is my favorite character (I always pick the girl it seems). The rest of the crew had cool names like Mouse and Tank. I never had a cool nickname. Visually, the movie is amazing, so I will tell you my favorite scene later and favorite quote now: “How about I give you the finger, and you give me my phone call.” There is probably some awesome futuristic dialogue somewhere in the movie, but I always go with funny.

Ok, it’s later . . . favorite scene. I mentioned the “look” the movie had earlier, and there were a bunch of scenes I could have picked: Neo and Morpheus battle, Neo and Trinity in the helicopter, Neo stops the bullets . . . but the best scene is the shootout in the lobby when Neo and Trinity go to rescue Morpheus. So many bullets . . . so much Trinity awesomeness!!

The sequels (Reloaded and Revolutions) were not as good as the original, but they did start (or at least help popularize) the new trend in Hollywood for the next decade: movie franchises!! From Star Wars to Harry Potter to Lord of the Rings to Spider-Man to Pirates of the Caribbean, they just kept coming. And now twenty years after The Matrix was released, the box office has been dominated by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I can’t imagine if The Matrix had failed that we would have ever been treated to a string of movies starring Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man (third generation), Black Panther, and Captain Marvel. I mean, who would have defeated Thanos?? Tom Cruise?? Will Smith?? James Bond??

Next movie to review: The Phantom Menace