The Matrix

I saw this once 20 years ago and thought now would be a good time to revisit it.

It's an interesting science fiction story with Noirish cinematography, blatant religious allegories, striking visuals, and enigmatic storytelling and premises. The unanswered mysteries at the end are a definite selling point. I haven't seen the second or third film, but I hear the third film is widely hated. I'm wondering why that is. Does it have a bleak, unhappy ending? Does the promised war between humans and robots not take place? Or are there mysteries that are still left unsolved? Any one of those three things occurring (or not occurring) would not be a deal-breaker to me (although I'd be likelier to frown upon a bleak ending) so I'm curious if I'll hate it too. I might. But I definitely might not.

The most loathsome character for me isn't Agent Smith. It's Cipher. I understand why Smith feels the way he does. Cipher though, it's not that he's a turncoat that bugs me. I would take blue pill too. It's that he ENJOYS betraying and killing his so-called friends. I wouldn't go so far as to betray my friends for a steak to begin with. But I DO sympathize with him missing the Matrix. The thing that's unforgivable is that he simply doesn't care about the people who care about him. I can't stand the dude.

We'll see how things go from here. I hear the second film is a disappointment and the third sucks, but we'll see soon enough. ****1/2.