259. The Matrix

Title: The Matrix

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Year: 1999

Summary: Thomas Anderson is a computer programmer who maintains a double life as the hacker "Neo". Infamous hacker Trinity contacts Neo and informs him that a man named Morpheus can tell him the meaning of "the Matrix", a cryptic phrase he has uncovered; however, three dark-suited Agents, led by Agent Smith, arrest Neo to prevent this. Evading surveillance, Neo meets with Morpheus, who warns that he can be shown the Matrix but will be unable to "go back". Neo accepts by choosing an offered red pill; his reality soon disintegrates and he abruptly wakes, naked and weak, in a liquid-filled vessel, to find he is one of billions of people connected by cables to an elaborate electrical system. He is rescued by Morpheus and brought aboard a levitating ship, the Nebuchadnezzar.

Morpheus tells Neo that he is from Zion, the last free human refuge. He explains that in reality, there was a war in which humans lost to intelligent machines. Humans had destroyed the machines' access to solar energy and the machines had responded by connecting humans from birth to a simulation of the 1999 world, called "the Matrix", and harvesting their bioelectricity as a substitute power source. Neo has been living in this simulation since birth. Morpheus and his crew are one of several who "unplug" enslaved humans and recruit them as rebels. They can hack into the Matrix to re-enter its simulated reality, where their understanding of its true nature allows them to manipulate the simulation's physical laws, granting them seemingly superhuman abilities, but the simulation protects itself from threats using powerful human-like sentient programs known as "Agents". Neo learns that fatal injuries within the Matrix will manifest as death of the physical body. He proves highly skilled during virtual combat training, and Morpheus believes Neo is "the One", a man prophesied to end the war between humans and machines.

The group enters the Matrix to visit the Oracle, a prophet who predicted the emergence of the One. The Oracle implies to Neo that he is not the One, and warns he will soon have to choose between his own life and that of Morpheus. Still within the Matrix, the group is ambushed by Agents and tactical police, and Morpheus allows himself to be captured to let Neo and the rest of the crew escape. Their departure from the simulated world is hindered by Cypher, a crew member disillusioned with the harshness of the real world, who has secretly betrayed them to the Agents in exchange for a return to comfortable life within the Matrix. Cypher disconnects first and while the rest are still connected, he murders several of them as they lie defenseless in their seats. Cypher is then killed himself by Tank, the ship's operator, whom he had left for dead.

In the Matrix, the Agents interrogate Morpheus to learn his access codes to Zion's main computer. Disregarding his own importance, Neo proposes going back into the Matrix to rescue Morpheus. Trinity initially opposes, deeming it too dangerous, but seeing his determination, she eventually agrees to accompany him. They manage to rescue Morpheus, and in doing so, Neo gains confidence in his abilities, performing feats on par with those of the Agents. Morpheus tells Neo that the Oracle only told him what he needed to hear. Morpheus and Trinity exit the Matrix, but Smith ambushes and kills Neo before he can leave. Outside the Matrix, "sentinel" machines converge on the Nebuchadnezzar. Trinity, standing over Neo in the real world, whispers to him that the Oracle told her she would fall in love with the One. She kisses Neo, and he revives in the Matrix. His ability to perceive and control the Matrix reaches a new height, and he effortlessly destroys Smith before exiting the Matrix in time for the ship's electromagnetic pulse weapon to destroy the attacking sentinels.

Some time later, Neo makes a telephone call in the Matrix, promising the Machines he will show their prisoners "a world where anything is possible". He ends the call and flies into the sky.