Posts Tagged ‘Metaphysics’

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Within the Matrix of Love


2008
01.21

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Love, Movies, Philosophy | 1 Comment »

 

My review of the Matrix Trilogy.

best regards,

ian

P.S. By the way, saw a portion of “Dark City” last Saturday on Studio 23. Years ago, I received a forwarded email which compared several scene shots from “Dark City” with “The Matrix.” Homage or (unconscious) plagiarism?

 

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Within the Matrix of Love
by Michael Ian Lomongo, December 12, 2003

I know. Many are disappointed with the Matrix Revolutions and the trilogy as a whole. The last two installments didn’t live up to the promise of the original Matrix. And of course, pundits would always say that the whole thing was just a veritable chopsuey: “love story“-cum-”sci-fi”-cum-”martial arts”-cum-”watered-down pop-philosophy.”

Watered-down pop-philosophy? Maybe. But the trilogy can really serve as a stimulating introduction to philosophy for the general public.

Among the major themes we find in the films are questions regarding illusion and reality, freedom and determinism, power and love.

The first installment focuses on the metaphysical and epistemological questions. What is the Matrix? What is the nature of reality? How do we know for sure whether “our reality” is “really real”?

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2 comments

The Matrix, Overloaded


2008
01.21

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Art, Love, Movies, Philosophy, Theater | 2 Comments »

Posting my review of the first two installations of “The Matrix Trilogy.”

best regards,

ian

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The Matrix, Overloaded
by Michael Ian Lomongo, May 26, 2003

I

Why isn’t “The Matrix: Reloaded” as captivating as “The Matrix”?

I don’t think it’s because the novelty of the original movie’s winning combination of stunning visual effects and intriguing philosophical premise has faded. (We know now what “the Matrix” is. We no longer are as curious when we first watched “The Matrix.”) Neither is it simply because most sequels really do fail to come up to expectations. (Consider the “X-men 2″ which is, to me, infinitely better than the first “X-men” movie.)

I loved “The Matrix” mainly because I thought it was pop-philosophy (metaphysics) in film. The only other sci-fi/superhero film that approximates this achievement in recent times was “Spiderman,” a sort of pop-ethics with Kantian/Dostoyevskian/Nietzschean overtones. (Intrigued by a friend’s blurb that “Existenz” was the thinking man’s “Matrix,” I went out of my way to see it. I didn’t like it.)

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