The Matrix. 1999. USA. Written and directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski. Kung fu choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. With Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss. 35mm. 136 min.
One of the most influential science-fiction films ever made, The Matrix follows a hacker (Keanu Reeves) who discovers that the world he inhabits is an elaborate simulation engineered by machines. The Wachowskis (Lana and Lilly) imagined an action aesthetic drawing on anime, Hong Kong kung fu cinema, and John Woo’s balletic gunplay, envisioning fights that would remain legible—built on extended, uninterrupted movement even as editing, wirework, and groundbreaking visual effects gave the action a distinctly futuristic velocity. Inspired by Jet Li’s Fist of Legend (1994), they invited that film’s choreographer, Yuen Woo-ping, to join the production. His intensive fight camp transformed Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Laurence Fishburne into convincing martial artists, while his character-specific choreography and inventive wirework gave the combat an uncanny, weightless grace. The result completely reshaped the Hollywood action film.