Monday, February 23, 2004

A few days ago, Roadshow Entertainment announced that Australia would be the first territory to see the release of The Matrix Revolutions on DVD/VHS. This is really cool news. They cited the fact that it was a "joint Australian/US effort" (and the film's abnormal following in Australia) as being the primary reason. So, that's good to hear. I guess I'm one of those abormal Aussie Matrix fans. I was watching Reloaded again the other day. The more I watch these movies, and the more I read various articles and philosophical pieces about them, the more I appreciate the sheer energy and creativity that has been injected into the franchise. I know that it's kind of popular to bash The Matrix, especially because Reloaded was kind of a "half movie" (that is, Reloaded and Revolutions are really intended to be one single piece). Still, I think that The Matrix will always hold a really unique place in movie history, both for the genius behind its story, as well as the revolutionary technical achievements of the franchise. When watching the bonus DVD with Reloaded (especially when you watch the making of the freeway chase), you realize how absolutely insane the attention to detail was on a technical level. I also find it incredibly cool to know that Carrie-Anne Moss actually rode that motorcycle into oncoming traffic. She's awesome. Of course, it's also great that The Matrix has really been one of the first "big budget" Australian movies. It's very much like Lord of the Rings. Lord of the Rings was a joint Australian-New Zealand effort, made with American funding. The Matrix was a joint Australian-American effort, produced largely with American funding. Naturally, the movie industries in both Australia and New Zealand are incredibly small compared to the United States. But it's great that more American studios are seeing the talent in this part of the world -- and providing funding for projects accordingly. It's also great that both The Matrix and LotR are really showing off Australian special effects and engineering talent. I know that a graduate of my little graphic design school ended up becoming one of the special effects creators in Revolutions. Although, admittedly, I don't know his name. I'll have to find out more about that. My excitement surrounding The Matrix is actually an odd story. I really adored the first movie, like just about everyone out there. When I saw Reloaded, I liked it, but I certainly wasn't as crazy about it as I had been with the first movie. However, upon watching it a second time (and coming to a greater understanding of the overall story), my appreciation for it really grew, as did my overall enjoyment. Side projects like The Animatrix, the 300 page free comics, short stories and official essays all helped, of course. At first I was inclined to believe that all of these projects were just cash-ins; that they were simply licensed products. But that's actually not true at all. Although it's true that these things are undoubtedly cash-ins, they are also critical pieces of the Matrix puzzle. Anyone who has seen The Animatrix will know that it fills in a huge amount of information, which one would otherwise simply never get. You would have to look at Reloaded very hard to come away with the answers that The Animatrix provides. I've also come to the realization that most movie goers simply don't want to put in the effort. This is why, in my estimation, Reloaded was so unverisally canned. Mind you, it wasn't really canned by the critics. Many of the critical reviews were pretty positive, in fact. But the general populace seemed to meet it with a "ho hum" attitude. I think, if you take the original movie in a vacuum, what you have is something far more simple and easy to understand. It's something you can think about for five minutes after the movie and completely understand (well, not completely, but to a satisfactory degree). But both Reloaded and Revolutions demand more from the audience. These movies aren't serving you everything on a plate. They're simply beckoning you -- they're asking you to follow them down the trail, as it were. Or maybe down the rabbit hole. I've been asked whether this is a sign of good film making or bad film making. The truth is, I don't know. Should we expect writers and directors to create a very airtight movie, where we come away understanding everything and seeing every angle? Is the creator obligated to tie up all of the loose ends in front of our very eyes? I think it's true that, for the most part, movies are a form of entertainment that probably shouldn't be too confusing for the audience. A great director will probably take a relatively complicated concept and use imagery and dialogue creatively, in order to filter that down for the masses. But at the same time, I think we have to ask ourselves if we, as an audience, are not being underestimated by movie creators. Originally I thought to myself "Okay, so, I have to watch the movies, read the comics, read the short stories, watch The Animatrix and play the video game. Uhh, no thanks." It seemed a bit too wide open and pointless to me. That is, until I actually went out there and began exploring for myself. The end result is that I haven't come back, having seen a bunch of licensed and somewhat-unrelated stories and ideas. Everything has a purpose, everything is consistent and everything holds true to a continuous spine. When I then look at the enormous and deliberate structure of this web...I really can't help but be amazed by the intelligence behind it. I mean, I wouldn't call myself an ignorant or gullible person (and my original skepticism really demonstrates that). But at the same time, I'm definitely willing to concede that something is worthwhile if I discover that intelligence myself. And this is also why I have been such a vocal defender of the franchise -- because it deserves to be explored and appreciated, by people who recognize and adore the truly great stories out there. I am thinking of actually writing down some of my own theories and analysis, as well as providing some important comparisons. The primary reason that I haven't done any of this to any great degree yet (save for on OtakuBoards occasionally) is that I just haven't had the time for it. Even sitting here, writing out my thoughts, takes a certain amount of time. And I guess I would want to do justice to the subject matter, by providing it with my full attention. But we'll see. In any case, I've been looking at Matrix fansites over recent days. None of them are very good. Even the biggest Matrix-related message board is pretty awful. I want to keep this in the back of my mind, should I decide to show them how it's done. ~_^

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