"The Matrix" (1999), people go insane over this "movie". I just have one thing to say about that; "WHY?!" I'm serious, some people obsess over this "film" to the point of paranoia. Granted, the first time I watched it, I thought it was kind of interesting. Then, when I watched it again, the problems and flaws just became more and more noticeable. "The Matrix" has a stupid and poorly executed story, the acting is all over the place and most of the special effects have not aged well. The concept for the storyline is, a computer programmer named Neo discovers the truth about the Matrix, he ends up drawn into a rebellion against the machines, along with people who have been freed from the Matrix itself. At first glance, the plot sounds like a lot of fun, with plenty of potential and room for clever storytelling. But, what we get is a boring and cliched mess. Seriously, did anyone proof-read the screenplay? One of the biggest issues right off the bat, is the overuse of stylized imagery, especially slow motion. Look, I'm all for stylized action and violence along with slow motion moments. But, there is so much exaggerated stylization and slow motion that it was almost at the level of cringe-worthy! Film Making 101: for those who want to write scripts, make sure the plot holds together and is able to carry through the entire runtime. Just adding excessive slow motion shots to pad out the runtime is no substitute for poor screenplay writing. It just shows how lazy the execution of the story is A perfect example of a "movie" that has this exact same issue, is "Mission: Impossible 2" (2000). That "film" also has an overabundance of stylized action and slow motion. Honestly, if you take out the slow motion, then these movies would be, maybe, five or ten minutes! The other glaring issue with the story in "The Matrix", is that the story is a jumbled and confused mess. It's stupid, a total bore and the plot doesn't hold together at all. How does such a poorly conceived storyline come to a person's mind? Even if you took away the stylized action and slow motion, it would be just as stupid and dull to watch. As for the acting, it's just as big a letdown as the plot itself. The only ones who appear to be trying are: Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne. Everyone else in the cast just looks bored and their lackluster acting doesn't help matters either! As far as special effects go, some of them are good. But, a lot of them have not aged well. You can really see how bad they are whenever there's a slow motion shot, or when there's an over exaggerated stylized action segment. In my mind, the best way to describe the bad special effects here, is that they have aged as well as rotten milk! The sets/locations are great and they give the movie a decent atmosphere. Finally, the soundtrack is composed nicely and it really sets the tone for untold storyline that had so much room for improvement. However, I truly think that the music is trying harder than every other element in this movie! Sadly, those two factors do not help this movie. Overall, "The Matrix" is just a very dull and uninteresting action and science fiction romp where hardly anything of substance happens. I'm struggling to give this "film" a 2 out of 5 star rating, which equates to 4 out of 10 stars. Do I really have to tell you to stay away from this waste of cinema? Here's a message to all of those who obsess over this "movie". Take a good look at yourself and check out a real action film, science-fiction film, or any other film in general. Maybe your movie standards will improve!