There have been, in the past, films from the science fiction genre that were brilliant & innovative, i.e. 2001 or Blade Runner. The Matrix, however, is more of an action flick than anything else.

While it starts with an interesting storyline premise, the story and character development start to disappear about 30 minutes into the movie in favor of the more visually-appealing action scenes. While the eye candy is technically very well done, the actual content of the film slides into the background and eventually fades completely from sight. The one exception to this is Keanu Reeves' glaringly bad portrayal of the hero. His one-liner delivery and annoying poses made me groan in disgust several times. I would think that by now American audiences would have shunned him like the no-talent hack he is. Other performances range from pretty good (Hugo Weaving) to so-so (Carrie-Anne Moss) generally, but Laurence Fishburne's respectable ability is squandered in a role that is not worthy of him.

In summary, if you like eye candy -and even I sometimes do- you may be able to enjoy The Matrix, if you completely ignore the main character. But if you're a sci-fi fan waiting for an intelligent, watchable film, you will just have to keep waiting.