The Matrix

Hasn’t aged a day, actually it’s still 40 years ahead of the curve. I thought this was some of the most unbelievably fire world building and set pieces I’ve ever seen as a teenager, I think the exact same thing now but so much is amplified that it’s hard not to get charged up. When Neo is asleep at his computer with Massive Attack blasting through his headphones then minutes later he’s in the neon leather nightclub where Dragula is lighting up the place, I just feel completely at home. It is flat out vibe city and I won’t accept anything close to a different answer. You could write entire papers on the choices in filters, lenses, color grading, camera angles and most certainly visual effects coming together in ways that do this day still feel somewhat alien. I’ve seen this on repeat since I was in my early teens, it makes me smile ear to ear for the entire runtime so my score is going to reflect that going forward. It also helps that I completely subscribe to everything they’re trying to introduce here. That conversation between Neo and Morpheus is just sensational dialogue, gives the viewer full unimpeded access to this world that’s been built from the ground up. Where they go with this world is another story entirely, this stand alone example is one of the most richly rewarding 2 hours of exploration even with repeated viewings.