TECHNOLOGY

I have placed "sizzler ratings" next to movies to give you an idea of how good they are

	The Sixth Day
	The Matrix

THE SIXTH DAY (1999)

Starring: Arnold Schwarenegger, Tony Goldwyn, Sarah Wynter, Robert Duvall
The plot: In the near future, cloning of human's has been banned under the "Sixth Day ammendment," although pets and animals are being cloned. On this particular day, it's charter helicopter pilot, Adam Gibson's birthday and he has to both take out an important businessman, and get a cloned pet to replace the one that suddenly died that morning before his 8 year old daughter realises it.He ends up trading positions with his business partner and goes into town to look into - reluctantly - cloning his dog. However, when he gets home that night, in time for his suprise birthday, things go horribly wrong when he see's the party has started - and he is already there! Almost immediately, some people pull up and attempt to kill him. Adam begins the run of his life to find out why there are two of him and to try and prevent himself from being killed.
Comment: There are some people who just shouldn't smile -and Arnold is one of them.. The first 10-15 minutes grate on one as Arnold grins enthusiastically at everything to convince us, the audience, that he is a happy family man. Then the action begins and for a long time there, I wondered if they were going to let loose 'why' all this happened. I guess that was a 'plot twist,' but somehow, it made the way the movie fell together more irritating in this instance (I won't deny it's a tactic that works elsewhere!). It amazing that Duvall is even in this morning - the lines he has to deliver are so far below his calibar that even he has trouble portraying anything other than a cartoon chracter in this SF 'thriller.' However, eventually, the movie spits out an ending and you realise, it could have been much worse, but it wasn't that bad.
Return to top

THE MATRIX (1999)

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburn
The plot: Thomas Anderson is a sytems engineer by day and Neo, the hacker at night. However, he is no longer satisfied with the real world as he is compelled to answer the questions, "What is The Matrix?" Enter: Morpheus, an individual who will provide the answer IF Neo is willing to face the truth and assume the mantle of "The One."
Comment: I give this movie a 'scorcher' rating for a creative script (it should be enough to make William Gibson, Father of CyberPunk, rather proud...) and some truly spectacular cinematography/special effects. However, the opening scene dialogue between a cop and an 'Agent' clues you in pretty quickly that the acting is not going to be one of the stronger points of this movie. In fact, at the end of it, you realise that on a comparative scale, Keanu Reeves stands out as Oscar material in this film.... The plot can also be a little bit confusing, possibly necessitating a second trip to see the film - but that isn't really a hardship as the entertainment value of this film is still 5 star!
Return to top