THE MATRIX REGURGITATED

review written 7/15/2003

Broken Allegiance creator Nick Hallam blew me away with a film that's not a thing like his spectacular Star Wars effort.

When you take into account the fact that I'm not a fan of The Matrix, that's saying something.

The effects are top-notch, at least by comedy standards; the water gun fight had me giggling with joy. And there's no shortage of the other production values, either. The costumes look good. The green-tinged cinematography of The Matrix is faithfully transferred to this spoof, and Hallam reveals his genius when he temporarily lifts the green for a joke. You didn't even notice he was replicating the look until he stopped. Accurate and not overdone. Wonderful.

Neo and Morpheus are decently-acted (the "it is it" conversation is a laugh and a half), but Agent Smith combines Hugo Weaving's dastardly sneer with a comedic vibe all his own and turns in a stellar performance. Shame we couldn't have Niobe Dean as Trinity. Shame also that I'm not sure which actor is which.

The problem with the film is that a few of the jokes fall flat. The formlessness of the non-plot helps save this, a bit, but not much. Maybe you have to be a Matrix geek to get it. (At the time of this writing, I've seen the original twice and have not seen Reloaded; Revolutions has not hit theaters yet.)

This is solid spoofery. Track it down. Take the red pill. (That's the one that makes you enter the Matrix, right? It's been a while.)