In a gloomy, rainy, early 21st-century world, hacker Thomas “Neo” Anderson (Keanu Reeves, back in fine Speed-era form) spends his days doing meaningless software company drone-work and his nights breaking “every computer law on the books.” He’s in hot pursuit of the legendary Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), who claims to be able to explain some nebulous but possibly evil concept called the Matrix.

And just what is the Matrix? Well, that would be telling. And it would effectively cut out what little conceptual guts power this latest exercise in pure, crazy, graphic novel-inflected cool form Bound writer/directors the Wachowski Brothers (identical twins Andy and Larry, who got their start writing for Marvel Comics) has.

Suffice to say that, like the Japanese manga and Hong Kong movies that form its closest counterparts, it’s told pretty much through pictures and poses (for instance, the Wachowskis hired “wire-fighting” expert Woo-ping Yuen to teach their cast those insanely high kicking kung fu moves).

It also involves transcendental themes and cultivates an atmosphere of paranoia based on the Buddhist fear that the world around us is nothing more than maya, illusion, distracting us from scary but primal truths.

on the other hand, The Matrix is also an exercise in outrageous style over substance, featuring flowing trenchcoats, vinyl dresses, sunglasses at night and a truly freakish North American crossover performance by Aussie actor Hugo Weaving (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) as Agent Smith, the Matrix’s unstoppable defender of the faith. His uber-flat, computerized accent must be heard to be believed. And let’s face it: if Neo, Morpheus and the rest of the gang ever actually did succeed in destroying the Matrix, they’d have no place to walk around looking cool. Which would suck! Must be why they left all that room for a sequel.

Retyped by Heather on April 27th, 1999. Printed exactly as previously printed by Eye magazine.