The
Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by
Larry and Andy Wachowski and starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne,
Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving.
Computer programmer Thomas A. Anderson leads a secret life as a hacker
under the alias "Neo", and wishes to learn the answer to the question
"What is the Matrix?". Cryptic messages appearing on his computer
monitor and encounters with several sinister agents lead him to a group
led by the mysterious Morpheus, a man who offers him the chance to
learn the truth about the Matrix. Neo accepts by swallowing an offered
red pill, and abruptly finds himself naked in a liquid-filled pod, his
body connected by wires to a vast mechanical tower covered with
identical pods. The connections are severed, and he is rescued by
Morpheus and taken aboard his hovercraft, the Nebuchadnezzar. Neo's
neglected physical body is restored, and Morpheus explains the
situation.
Morpheus informs Neo that the year is not 1999, but estimated to be
closer to 2199, and that humanity is fighting a war against intelligent
machines created in the early 21st century. The sky is covered by thick
black clouds created by the humans in an attempt to cut off the
machines' supply of solar power. The machines responded by using human
beings as their energy source, later growing countless people in pods
and harvesting their bioelectrical energy and body heat. The world
which Neo has inhabited since birth is the Matrix, an illusory
simulated reality construct of the world as it was in 1999 developed by
the machines to keep the human population docile in their captivity.
Morpheus and his crew are a group of free humans who "unplug" others
from the Matrix and recruit them to their resistance against the
machines. Within the Matrix, they are able to use their understanding
of its nature to bend the laws of physics within the simulation, giving
them superhuman abilities. Morpheus believes that Neo is "the One", a
man prophesied to end the war through his limitless control over the
Matrix.
Neo is trained to become a member of the group. A socket in the back of
Neo's skull, formerly used to connect him to the Matrix, allows
knowledge to be uploaded directly into his mind. In this way, he learns
numerous martial arts disciplines, and demonstrates his kung fu skills
by sparring with Morpheus in a virtual reality "construct" environment
similar to the Matrix, impressing the crew with his speed. Further
training introduces Neo to the key dangers in the Matrix itself.
Injuries suffered there are reflected in the real world; if he is
killed in the Matrix, his physical body will also die. He is warned of
the presence of Agents, fast and powerful sentient computer programs
with the ability to take over the virtual body of anyone still directly
connected to the Matrix, whose purpose is to seek out and eliminate any
threats to the simulation. Morpheus is confident that once Neo fully
understands his own abilities as "the One", they will be no match for
him.
The group enters the Matrix and takes Neo to meet the Oracle, the woman
who has predicted the eventual emergence of the One. She tells Neo that
he has "the gift" of manipulating the Matrix, but that he is waiting
for something, possibly his next life. From her comments, Neo deduces
that he is not the One. She adds that Morpheus believes in Neo so
blindly that he will sacrifice his life to save him. Returning to the
hacked telephone line which serves as a safe "exit" from the Matrix,
the group is ambushed by Agents and SWAT teams. Morpheus is captured,
allowing Neo and the others to escape. They later learn that they were
betrayed by the crew-member Cypher, who preferred his old life in
ignorance of the real world's hardships and therefore made a deal with
the Agents to give them Morpheus in exchange for a permanent return to
the Matrix. The betrayal leads to the deaths of all crew-members except
Neo, Trinity, Tank, and Morpheus, who is imprisoned in a government
building within the Matrix. The Agents attempt to gain information from
him regarding access codes to the mainframe of Zion, the unplugged
humans’ subterranean refuge in the real world. Neo and
Trinity
return to the Matrix and storm the building to rescue their leader. Neo
becomes more confident and familiar with manipulating the Matrix,
ultimately dodging bullets fired at him by an Agent. Morpheus and
Trinity use a subway station telephone to exit the Matrix, but before
Neo can leave, he is ambushed by Agent Smith. He stands his ground and
eventually defeats Smith, but flees when the Agent possesses another
body.
As Neo runs through the city toward another telephone exit, he is
pursued by the Agents while "Sentinel" machines converge on the
Nebuchadnezzar's position in the real world. Neo reaches an exit, but
he is ambushed by Agent Smith and shot dead. In the real world, Trinity
whispers to Neo that she was told by the Oracle that she would fall in
love with "the One", implying that this is Neo. She refuses to accept
his death and kisses him. Neo's heart beats again, and within the
Matrix, Neo revives; the Agents shoot at him, but he raises his palm
and stops their bullets in mid-air. Neo is able to perceive the Matrix
as the streaming lines of green code it really is. Agent Smith makes a
final attempt to kill him, but his punches are effortlessly blocked,
and Neo destroys him. The other two Agents flee, and Neo returns to the
real world in time for the ship's EMP weapon to destroy the Sentinels
that had already breached the craft's hull. A short epilogue shows Neo
back in the Matrix, making a telephone call promising that he will
demonstrate to the people imprisoned in the Matrix that "anything is
possible". He hangs up the phone and flies into the sky.
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