This summer, MovieJawn is counting down our 25 favorite action movies of all time! We will be posting a new entry each day! See the whole list so far here.

by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport and Editor in Chief

“I think we can handle one little girl…”

I have always thought of The Matrix as more than just stunts, shootouts and explosions. Frankly my dear, it is one of the best damn movies ever made. In terms of action flicks though, The Matrix is aces.

I had to conduct a bit of research via Google to determine when I first encountered Lana and Lily Wachowski’s masterpiece. My sleuthing involved looking up the release date of the VHS tape, as this is how I remember first witnessing the motion picture. Apparently the VHS version of The Matrix hit shelves in December 7, 1999, which means it graced my eyeballs sometime during the summer of 2000. I “borrowed” the VHS from my brother (it was never returned). I always wanted his stuff. Well to be honest, I like stuff in general regardless of the gender it was coded for. It does not matter to me… I find all sorts of things cool and have many collections from pencils to dolls to action figurines. Speaking of action figs, my obsession with The Matrix ran so deep I remember in between watches tracking down a Neo toy on eBay. At some point I had to get rid of him due to moving. This was a weird time in my life when I decided to be a minimalist. A lot of my treasure hit the bricks and to this day I still think about little Neo; where he is, how’s he doing, what he’s thinking about and is he thinking about me?

It is important to note that at the time I watched The Matrix, my knowledge of film was minuscule. I rented a few indie flicks such as The Boy With Green Hair at my local blockbuster thinking I knew what the hell cinema was all about. I had no clue. A philistine. I had yet to begin my transformation to celluloid although, the opening sequence of The Matrix set me on the path to. Upon seeing the first mere minutes of The Matrix I quickly realized I made a grave mistake missing this mast gem in the theater. I am a proponent for movies to be watched via any method that is accessible to the viewer. However, with a motion picture such as The Matrix, it not only deserves to be seen on the largest screen possible with the most earth shattering sound system money can buy, it is required. Fortunately, years later I would rectify my mistake and catch a 35mm print at the Colonial Theater. Before this momentous occasion I had only experienced the action sequences being played from a DVD on a television. To see them play out on the silver screen was as if I was observing them for the first time.

When I think about the greatest action sequences of all time, the first three that pop in my noggin are all from The Matrix, specifically: Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) fleeing the abandoned hotel in the beginning moments of the film, Trinity and Neo (Keanu Reeves) completing the Morpheus rescue mission and the Neo and Agent Smith subway showdown. These three scenes are seared in my mind and the reason for this is not due to spending an entire summer endlessly watching the VHS tape; it is because they were unlike anything ever put to film. There is a reason The Matrix won four Academy Awards, exclusively in technical categories.

As I stated in my opening, I have always considered this to be more than just a science fiction action flick. Prior to watching, I had never had a movie make me ponder my surroundings and life in such a deep and meaningful way. The Matrix made me see things from an entire different perspective. Not specifically regarding my sexual identity (which is a theme of the trilogy as confirmed by Lily Wachowski) but more from a the world is not as it seems angle. The story had me questioning authority and viewing my existence in a whole new light. The Matrix woke me from my slumber.

Along with deep thoughts about my overall existence on planet Earth it gave me Trinity. The most bad ass gal about town. She may have been perplexed with how Neo was able to dodge bullets, but I am still wondering how she managed to do the things she did while wearing that latex. Granted I had not seen a lot flicks up until the point of watching The Matrix but I had never seen someone move like that nor perform feats of that nature, especially a woman. She was doing everything the boys were doing, but better. Now four thousand three hundred and sixty one films in and I still can’t name one other Hollywood action movie that showcases a lady performing the way in which Trinity does… except for the other Matrix flicks of course. She is not the epitome of badass, Trinity is the definition of it.