Watching the new transfer has made me remember this great truth.
So few action movies today ooze this much style in every moment, every shot, every frame. The Wachowskis were simply operating on another level compared to so many action directors today. If you really look at the picture you can tell they were working in an exacting manner, and carefully storyboarded every scene and in my opinion executed them to perfection.
Everything is impeccably shot and framed in a way that is truly memorable. Iconic, even. But what I really love is the clarity. Trinity's first action scene is shot in a darky-lit room, with basically only the cops' flashlights serving as light sources. Yet everything that goes on is crystal clear. You see everything that Trinity is doing, you see her actions and her reactions. There's no bullshit shaky-cam that a lesser director would use to try and hide a double or an actor's poor attempt at the choreography. No rapid-fire quick editing without any sense of direction or orientation to mask a director's inferior talents. The Wachowskis make this movie flow perfectly and look exciting and gorgeous without any handicaps or compromises.
And this is just the first five minutes of the movie and I didn't even pick the really memorable moments from this initial scene.
The Matrix in a way almost seemed to be on the verge of being left by the wayside(no thanks to its not-as-well-liked sequels), but hopefully the new 4K release brings it back on the forefront when people talk about great action movies, sci-fi movies, or just plain great movies period. Watching it again for the umpteenth time, it honestly feels like a breath of fresh air compared to so much of the stuff that passes for blockbusters in this day and age. Someone somewhere else said this movie was dated. Fuck no. Feels as new as it ever did.
So few action movies today ooze this much style in every moment, every shot, every frame. The Wachowskis were simply operating on another level compared to so many action directors today. If you really look at the picture you can tell they were working in an exacting manner, and carefully storyboarded every scene and in my opinion executed them to perfection.
Everything is impeccably shot and framed in a way that is truly memorable. Iconic, even. But what I really love is the clarity. Trinity's first action scene is shot in a darky-lit room, with basically only the cops' flashlights serving as light sources. Yet everything that goes on is crystal clear. You see everything that Trinity is doing, you see her actions and her reactions. There's no bullshit shaky-cam that a lesser director would use to try and hide a double or an actor's poor attempt at the choreography. No rapid-fire quick editing without any sense of direction or orientation to mask a director's inferior talents. The Wachowskis make this movie flow perfectly and look exciting and gorgeous without any handicaps or compromises.
And this is just the first five minutes of the movie and I didn't even pick the really memorable moments from this initial scene.
The Matrix in a way almost seemed to be on the verge of being left by the wayside(no thanks to its not-as-well-liked sequels), but hopefully the new 4K release brings it back on the forefront when people talk about great action movies, sci-fi movies, or just plain great movies period. Watching it again for the umpteenth time, it honestly feels like a breath of fresh air compared to so much of the stuff that passes for blockbusters in this day and age. Someone somewhere else said this movie was dated. Fuck no. Feels as new as it ever did.
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