THE MATRIX

FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS

Keanu Reeves in "no, honestly, it's a really good movie" shocker. No, honestly, we're not joking...

What is reality? It's what we can feel, taste, see - right? But these are just electrical impulses that trigger a response in our brains, so how do we know "reality" it's just an engineered sham? Truth is, we don't. And neither does Keanu Reeves in his latest film, The Matrix.

Reeves plays Thomas A Anderson, by day a humble computer programmer for a respected software firm. At night, however, he is "Neo", hacker par excellence. One night, cryptic messages appear unbidden upon his screen. Intrigued, he follows their instructions, which lead him to a nightclub. There, he meets a beautiful stranger who challenges everything he knows - or thought he knew. Gradually, inexorably, he is drawn into a nightmare world where "reality" is the real dream.

The Matrix draws upon innumerable other science-fiction films from the last two decades, (Dark City, Men In Black, Blade Runner, and Total Recall, to name but four) but instead of creating a feeble, plagiarist mishmash (as would be so easy), the brothers Wachowski have made one of the darkest, most explosive, most stylish movies for years.

The special effects are superb, particularly in the depiction of the mechanical monstrosities who control the "real" world, but it's the action sequences which really separate this film from other by-the-numbers action flicks. Revered fight choreographer Yuen Wo Ping - who has worked with Jackie Chan - has created the finest, most complex battle sequences this side of Hong Kong. Even the normally wooden Keanu Reeves, to his immense credit and our surprise, convincingly uses a wide variety of kung fu stances and styles, as do co-stars Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving. One or two of said stances may well elicit a giggle or two as Keanu flops his arms about, but expect an awed hush when the gang start flying through the air and destroying scenery.

Speaking of Carrie-Anne Moss, this relative unknown is the very epitome of sleek, sensual menace in her leather and shades. Her air of quiet determination and her utter dedication to the cause lends the film a weight and seriousness which is might otherwise lack.

Time to cut to the chase. This film kicks arse. Not only does it deliver a vaguely thought provoking plot which refuses to descend into pseudo-psychological techno-babble, but it has panache seeping out of every frame. It appeals to your head, your heart, and your adrenal glands. Probably the first "must-see" film of the year.

Tom Mayo