The Matrix

: This article is about the film The Matrix. For other usages of the term, see Matrix.

Impact

It can be said that The Matrix forever changed the dynamics of action film making in Hollywood. It upped the ante for cinematic fight scenes by hiring acclaimed choreographers from the Hong Kong film scene where such scenes had been refined by years of experience. The success of this film put those choreographers in high demand by other filmmakers who wanted fights of similar sophistication. An unfortunate side-effect was a sudden and obvious surge in movies, commercials and pop videos blatantly copying "the Matrix look", usually without the training and attention to detail that made it successful in the first place.

Related Topics:
Fight scene - Choreographer - Hong Kong film scene

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Following The Matrix, countless films have begun to make abundant use of slow-motion, spinning cameras, and, often, the famed bullet time effect of a character freezing in mid-air and the camera panning around them. The effect has been parodied in many comedy films such as Scary Movie, Shrek, ', and ', and in TV series such as The Simpsons and Family Guy. In Scary Movie, the 'killer' doubles back like Neo does when shot by an Agent on a rooftop, except he hurts his back. In Team America, two fighting characters jump into the air, freeze, and then they revolve rather than the camera.

Related Topics:
Bullet time - Parodied - Comedy - Scary Movie - Shrek - TV series - The Simpsons - Family Guy

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The success of The Matrix, particularly on the DVD format, also played a significant factor in highlighting the making of its sequels to what the Wachowskis claim was always envisioned as a trilogy of films.

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The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions see an evolution in almost every concept laid down by the original film: philosophical parallels, religious allegories and an expanded scope to talk about issues pertaining to consciousness, among many others including the evolution of 'bullet time'. They see a departure from the first movie's relatively plot-lite antics into a more linear plot regarding the pending arrival of a machine army at the human enclave of Zion acting as a catalyst for Neo to fulfill his prophesied journey as the One in order to end the war.

Related Topics:
The Matrix Reloaded - The Matrix Revolutions - Bullet time

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