In my essay I will be looking at how you can account for the matrix’s success by referring to an extract from the film.

A genre is the type of film. There are many genres including sci-fi action romance and western to name a few. The matrix is a cross genre which combines many different genres, namely the ones I have mentioned above.

A convention is what defines a certain genre, e.g. in a sci-fi film people would expect to see special effects. These are what appear in a certain genre over and over again.

The defining conventions of a sci-fi film are the use of technology, high production values, a utopia/distopia and a struggle against evil. As over time these have become more frequent in the sci-fi genre.

These conventions have developed through imitation and innovation. Using the old conventions and changing them making them better, for example, in terminator; they use time travel for the first time now in the matrix they use it and also in many other sci-fi films. Conventions are use because if people see a film about time travel for example, they r

In the last scene Neo has just been to see the oracle, and Morpheus gets captured by the agents because he believes Neo is the one (Neo’s name is an anagram of one). Neo and trinity have re-entered the Matrix to try and save Morpheus. The scene aims to build tension by having the heroes go against almost impossible odds, before saving Morpheus in an impressive scene.

There are many conventions from other genres. From the western there is the long coat that Neo wears which is reminiscent of the film “the good, the bad and the ugly”. From the martial arts genre, there are the fight scenes between Neo and Morpheus, which show Morpheus teaching neo to unleash his powers, making him faster. Morpheus is Neo’s mentor which is used in many martial arts films for example “the karate kid”. From the action genre there are many stunts, there is a hero and a villain, “we need guns, lots of guns” that is a one liner which is used when the military hardware is bought in. There are loud diagetic sounds.

There are a couple of low angle shots making the agent look powerful and the heroes looking weak.

The Matrix was very successful as it took 456.4 million dollars at the box office which is an astronomical amount. It was very popular with the public as you can tell from the box office takings. It won several awards including two for its soundtrack, one for the editing and one for the visual effects. It had many great reviews including the one in the title “sci-fi film of the millennium.” There are two sequels that have been made for the Matrix which are due to come out in May and November.

Morpheus jumps onto the roof and looks on in disbelief at Neo as he does not believe he is the one, this puts doubt in the audience as they already think that Neo is the one. There is a point of view of Neo which shows the danger that he is in.

Some topics in this essay:
Trinity Neo, Total Magazine, Neo Morpheus, Neo Trinity, Morpheus Neo’s, Neo Neo’s, Lawrence Fishbourne, November Personally, real world, Morpheus Morpheus, shot neo, mobile phone, slow motion, flying air, sci-fi film, gatling gun, adds drama shot, targeted audience, makes audience, sound bullet, real world desirable, tank real world, neo gatling gun, gun foreground neo,