Total Magazine described The Matrix as "the sci-fi film of the millennium." How can you account for its success? Refer closely to an extract from the film.
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 remember terminator and that it was really good, so the film with time travel might also be good. .
In the matrix there is a strong hero (neo) and an even stronger enemy (the agents); the whole of humanity is in trouble and a secondary romantic plot between Trinity and Neo. The technology used in the film is what we call "used reality" it is much more advanced than current time technology but looks old and used. There are big name stars including Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishbourne.
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.