The Information on: `The Matrix'

What Is It?

Andy and Larry Wachowski's follow-up to their heist-thriller-cum-lesbian romance, Bound. A hugely hyped, SFX-fest.

Who's In It?

Keanu Reeves plays Neo, a computer hacker on the run from a government agent (Hugo Weaving) and his cronies, who suddenly cottons on to the fact (thanks to rebel guerrillas Carrie-Anne Moss and Laurence Fishburne) that he's trapped inside a computer-generated reality called "The Matrix", designed by the powers that be to keep humankind enslaved. Even better, Neo is "the one" who can save the world from it all.

What They Say About It

"Jackie Chan speeded up, but with the laughs removed... a loud, boring, pompous, violent sort of movie," Anthony Quinn, The Independent.

"Yet another slice of over-long, high-concept hokum. Less than meets the eye," Geoff Andrew, Time Out.

"Wonderfully enjoyable pulp classic... an unalloyed pleasure from first to last, crammed with hi-tech, high-camp action sequences and spiffy effects... it makes us fall in love with Keanu Reeves all over again," Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian.

Where You Can See It

The Matrix (15, 139 mins) is on general release