Innovative in many different ways, though it also pioneered a lot of shit (from bad imitators of its style to synthetic looking action scenes to the over the top stuntwork that’s found in every blockbuster nowadays).
Not that I’m holding that against this film, it actually gets most of these things right.
I really like the action, cinematography (the green tint for the Matrix was a great choice, which I believe was something they added in later cuts), music, story and characters in this.
The philosophy stuff is a nice side dish, it’s not as overbearing or overcomplicated as in the sequels.
It’s also not nearly as deep as some people pretend it is, and I feel sorry for those who build their entire view on life around this movie.
The acting is a bit of a mixed bag for me.
Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving are excellent (which is odd, Hugo Weaving is hamming it up big time and that shouldn’t work given what the other actors are doing, but it does), but the two leads are very stiff and often miss the mark in selling their dialogue.
I imagine that must’ve been the big trade-off for the Wachowskis; Carrie Ann Moss and Keanu Reeves are great with the action stuff and a lot of what they do is in camera, but they’re not the greatest actors.
Taking that bullet was the right choice in the end, though.

8.5/10