The Matrix though was always lined up to be a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster so to appeal to a larger audience, and therefore bring in more revenue, the film is not simply science fiction, but more of a hybrid genre film, meaning it mixes elements of two genres, namely action and sci-fi. ‘Independence Day’, also an epic Hollywood blockbuster is another film which has this hybrid genre. Another feature of The Matrix, which increases its mainstream popularity, is the inclusion of a classic Hollywood double plot. In other words the romantic sub plot between Trinity and Neo. In fact it is not a big part of this film, but it is there as a sign of the Hollywood production process and sci-fi conventions and it also shows that love conquers all.
The film also includes elements of other genres as well, for example the rooftop scene, where Neo and Trinity fight their way through many armed guards without firing a shot, like in a kung fu film where numerous unnamed guards are knocked out before the hero reaches the main enemy. Also the shootout between the Agent and Neo on the rooftop resembles a Western duel. The landscape is bare and both of the contenders have a pistol as if it is a fair contest, though in the end, the intervention of Trinity means it is not.
The fact that Total Film used ‘film of the millennium’ is especially significant in the sci-fi genre because since the beginning of time, man has put significance on round numbers of years, and the millennium in particular has been the subject of many sci-fi plots as if the human race will enter a ‘new era’. It is the sense of reaching a milestone and going into the unknown.
Largely until quite recently, science fiction was a very sexist genre. Thought to be mainly enjoyed by men, it was written nearly exclusively by men, with men as the heroes, and women looking pretty and needing to be rescued. In the very early days there were a few women authors of sci-fi who had to take on male writers names so people would bother to pick up their books. Female characters were either the enemy or the damsel in distress. Either way, there was never a shortage of moments where they could strip down to a minimum amount of clothing for the camera. For instance Anne Francis in ‘The Forbidden Planet’ is quite a pathetic character who strips for the camera wherever possible.
The 1970 blockbuster ‘Alien’ was really a ground breaking sci-fi film, which starred Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, the main character and heroine. She is as strong and brutal as a man, some may say butch, but she also showed female character traits like maternal instincts and her general attitude. This continued throughout the series of films, ‘Aliens’ ‘Alien III’ and ‘Alien: Resurrection’. However many modern films, whilst on the surface have very good representation values of women, are actually just as bad as some of the older films. For instance ‘Independence Day’, with its strong female characters: Constance Spano, Marilyn Whitmore and Jasmine appears to be a great film for the representation of women. However if you look deeper, you see that the women all rely on their respective man. Marilyn Whitmore for example ignores the presidents advice and is killed in an alien attack. Spano and Jasmine however stand by their men and are rewarded at the end with the man they each desire.
The Matrix, does not appear to share these bad representation values. The two largest female characters, Trinity and the Oracle are seemingly as strong as the men, though not necessarily physically. For example The Oracle is the wisest person in the Matrix. Trinity is equal to Neo throughout, both in her appearance, clothes and hair, and because they save each other’s lives on numerous occasions. Neo does eventually come out on top as the hero, but overall the representation is good, meaning that the Matrix not only conforms to the genre, but does also stretch it beyond the current boundaries, hopefully for others to follow.
The Matrix stretches the sci-fi genre in a number of other ways as well, both in the culmination of many of the sci-fi films and plots before it and also with the inclusion of extensive intertextuality, extremely modern cinematography; special effects, modern graphics, and brand new filming techniques. The film exploits many of the fears in our modern society, of what man’s role will be in the future, what we are doing to the environment, how computers are getting ever more powerful to the brink of true artificial intelligence, even to the extent of what the after effects of experiments such as genetic engineering and nuclear testing will be. In this way The Matrix gives us a possible insight into the future, of a worst-case scenario. This not only makes a gripping and thrilling film but also makes the fears we have, a little closer to reality, in a way which few other sci-fi films have.
In terms of the cinematography, The Matrix employs some very advanced techniques, for example the three hundred and sixty degree panning shot of Neo, which appears to be freeze frame. This was done using still cameras positioned all around the studio disguised in the background, all set to trigger at very small intervals. These were then all linked together on a computer. This is a technique not seen before in film, but since the release of The Matrix it has been included in a number of films. Other advanced shots in the film are the slow motion dives and shooting where time appears to slow down. There is a quite a lot of quick, but wide camera pans which, though are not uncommon in sci-fi, are not usually used to this extent. Wide pans give a view of a large area of the scene, but often tend to disorientate the audience. In the Matrix this is often combined with some very quick edits. The human eye cannot take in all the information from such a quick montage of images, and this gives the impression of very quick and intense action or builds up great tension. For example, the entire scene where Neo and Trinity storm the agent’s headquarters, from the beginning of the fight sequence to the end, on the roof with the helicopter, and also the squid chase scene, which has quick cuts between Neo fighting the Agent in the to the crew of Morpheus’ ship fighting against the squid sentinel. There is lots of tension in both these scenes because of this fast editing.
The film uses narrative intertextuality in a few places, and also intertextuality in the characters. The most obvious case of this is the link with ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Morpheus says to Neo ‘time to jump down the rabbit hole’, and also the link when Neo gets sucked into the looking glass. Morpheus himself is one of the characters, which takes its name from another text. Morpheus is the Greek God of Sleep who shapes your dreams. This is significant because Morpheus has the power to release people from The Matrix, or their dreams, into the real world. Intertextuality is usually used to enhance the film with subtle humour or to give the audience an insight into the film. Either way, if the audience understands the links to other texts, they feel more included in the film. Some other instances of intertextuality in the film are, the Oracle, an all seeing character taken from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and Trinity referring to the Holy Trinity.
The Matrix is a mystifying film with a mystifying plot until late in the story where it is all explained. It uses extensive enigma codes to create this effect right from the start of the film. For example the very first graphic after the Warner Brothers logo is the falling symbols, which are not recognisable to the average viewer. It implies that it is a computer screen from both the classic colour of the symbols and the sound that is heard. The ensuing scenes continue to raise questions without giving answers. For instance Trinity’s arrest; What has she done? How can she run so fast and perform the jumps that she does? Who are the mysterious men in suits? We can make an educated guess that she was the person one end of the phone call previously and that is probable she is involved with computer related crime, but this is only implied. We do not even know who to ‘support’, a choice between a criminal and a team of sinister officials.
All good sci-fi films have someone, or something for the hero to lead the fight against, and The Matrix is no different. The Agents provide this enemy, though they are simply a personification of the computers which took over the world. Because of this, the Agents show few signs of humanity, they don’t panic, show emotion, and they can dodge bullets and can morph into other people’s bodies. For example the scene near the beginning of the film where Trinity is about to be arrested. The police show their nervousness by shouting frantically ‘do it, do it now!’ The agents however get out of their car in synchronisation, show no facial expression. They all have perfectly identical suits and sunglasses and are calm. At this point, we do not actually know who is ‘good or bad’, but the Agents seem to be some sort of sinister government enforcement agency like the FBI which may imply that they are on the bad side. How you define good and bad is a tricky question, but usually it refers to whoever is morally correct in the situation of the film. The ‘good’ side are often the ones that the story follows.
Neo is introduced as a relatively normal man. Though he is a hacker and has a double life, which may not seem particularly normal, he is confused about what is happening like the audience and unlike the other main characters has no superhuman powers like defying gravity. This all means the audience can relate to him a lot more than any other character. The film is mainly set in Neo’s narrative perspective. As he learns about The Matrix and his role as the one, so do you. This induces empathy for him, which gets the audience much more involved in the film.
To conclude, I think that all these points justify why Total Film described TheMatrix as ‘film of the millenium’. The matrix not only conforms to, but stretches the genre of science fiction.
