The Wachowskis The Matrix in 1999. The duo took a variety of their loves — Ghost in the Shell, William Gibson’s cyberpunk stories, Hong Kong action cinema, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the list of influences goes on — and put them all in a blender to create the unique plot and visual style of The Matrix.
Those fans were less impressed by the two back-to-back sequels that followed in 2003, but those sequels featured plenty of the spectacular action sequences and memorable character moments that they’d come to expect from the first one.
Character: Neo
While John Wick is undoubtedly Keanu Reeves’ most iconic role, Neo is one of the closest contenders. The spirituality of the story and zen-ness of the character were perfect for Reeves.
He’s introduced as a mild-mannered computer programmer named Thomas Anderson who’s shocked to learn that his entire reality is a lie and that he’s “The One” who is prophesized to save humanity from its cybernetic overlords.
Action Sequence: Neo & Agent Smith’s Rain-Drenched Final Fight (The Matrix Revolutions)
While Morpheus and co. are battling the machines to determine the fate of Zion in the third act of The Matrix Revolutions, Neo is caught in the pouring rain for his brutal final showdown with Agent Smith.
Neo and Smith pummel each other in slow-motion, surrounded by an army of other Agents. They both take flight and fight in the sky like superheroes, with lightning bolts striking all around them.
Character: Trinity
Trinity is one of the humans that have been freed from the Matrix by Morpheus. Throughout the trilogy, she becomes a love interest for Neo. Trinity is involved in a lot of the trilogy’s most visceral fight scenes with her signature acrobatic combat style.
This role made Carrie-Anne Moss’ career. In addition to bringing plenty of pathos to the role, Moss nailed Trinity’s physicality in the challenging action sequences.
Action Sequence: The Chateau Fight (The Matrix Reloaded)
While a lot of the action scenes in The Matrix trilogy get their thrills out of gun-fu, the chateau fight sequence in The Matrix Reloaded gets its thrills with hand-to-hand combat by a stunt team with breathtaking fighting skills.
This sequence kicks off with the Merovingian’s goons opening fire on Neo and Neo using his superpowers to stop every single bullet in mid-air before they hit him.
Character: The Oracle
The Oracle is a prophet who lives in the Matrix and gives advice to liberated humans. She’s able to see into the future, but the movies mixed in some thought-provoking musings on determinism as the Oracle is unable to see past her own decisions.
In the first and second movies, the Oracle was played by Gloria Foster. However, she had to be replaced with Mary Alice for the third movie as Foster ed away during the back-to-back production of the sequels.
Action Sequence: The Lobby Shootout (The Matrix)
In the final act of the first Matrix movie, the Agents have captured Morpheus and locked him in a skyscraper, so Neo and Trinity arm themselves with “guns, lots of guns” to break him out. The rescue mission begins with a mind-blowing shootout in the lobby of the building.
The Propellerheads’ big beat hit “Spybreak!” is perfectly paired with the shootout on the soundtrack. The song’s inclusion in the movie gave the band a huge boost in of their global recognition.
Character: Agent Smith
The primary villain of The Matrix trilogy, Agent Smith, is a sentient program tasked with keeping humans in the Matrix and destroying Zion. Unlike his fellow Agents, Smith has a self-aware drive to escape from his job.
Go-to villain actor Hugo Weaving’s portrayal of Agent Smith is spot-on. The character’s indistinguishable monotonous voice isn’t all the way human, but it’s not all the way robotic, either.
Action Sequence: The Freeway Chase (The Matrix Reloaded)
In the middle act of The Matrix Reloaded, Trinity and Morpheus save the Keymaker from the Merovingian and take him down a busy freeway. They’re pursued by the Merovingian’s top henchmen, including the Twins.
To bring this sequence to life, the producers created a 1.5-mile stretch of freeway from scratch on disused runways on the decommissioned Naval Air Station Alameda.
Character: Morpheus
Neo is the star of The Matrix trilogy, but Morpheus is the leader of the team. He’s the captain of the Nebuchadnezzar and the one who freed almost all of the rest of his crew from the Matrix before recruiting them to the fight against the machines.
While most of the actors who were sent the script for The Matrix found it confusing, Laurence Fishburne was one of the few stars to get it as soon as he read it. Unsurprisingly, he was the perfect choice for the part.
Action Sequence: Bullet Time (The Matrix)
Easily the most iconic shot in the trilogy, the revolutionary “bullet time” effect defines the unique visual style of The Matrix series. When the Agents start firing at Neo, he finds that he has the ability to dodge all the bullets at the same speed they’re rocketing toward him.
The camera swoops around Neo as he flails around, avoiding the gunfire, as speeding bullets by him in every direction. There are few movie moments as iconic as this one.
