"Matrix" equals "Dark City" for gloom, doom, and paranoia, but is more like a 90's luddite manifesto. For the first twenty minutes or so, "Matrix" feels innovative and original, but too soon all too familiar idioms leap from the screen to whack us over the head. There's the innocent central figure who is plucked from obscurity to save the world. There's the dark alluring wench who's love alone is enough to give said hero superhuman strength. Come to think of it, it's a 90's "Star Wars" with the dark cluttered cityscape of "Twelve Monkeys," the plot of "Terminator," and too many high flying karate kicks of Jackie Chan thrown in.

To give it its due, the plot is dense and somewhat clever--especially if compared to most films of this type. There's enough philosophical ideology running around to encourage the belief that at least one of the film's creators read a book or had an inspiring teacher. But for the most part, the film looks like an underground comic book, with an over-reliance on snappy cinematography and quick and unusual camera angles.

But even with an original plot base and a smattering of surprizes the film is still sadly inhibited by Keanu Reeves who just doesn't project the, ur, itellectual depth to allow us to believe he is a competent computer hacker let alone the long-awaited savior of the world. As he watches Larry Fishburn make a superhuman leap from one skyscraper to another America's home grown Richard Burton exclaims "Whoa!" But Australian actor Hugo Weaving has a lot of fun as the villain, but like Keanu, he's rather cold and lifeless and totally devoid of a sense of humor.

The last forty-five minutes of the film are a fairly relentless series of explosions, machine gun fusillades, helicopter crashes, and way too many karate kicks. Although some of it is artistically done, twenty minutes of slow motion explosions and gun fighting is about nineteen and a half minutes too much.

In general, far too much of the film is designed not to elicit understanding of the human condition but rather to yield the nearly sublingual response common to the fourteen-year-old baseball-cap-on-backward set: "kewl."

There's at least one good reason to see "Matrix," however. The film is shot in Sydney and if you look really carefully at the final scene, you can see the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background. Otherwise, forget about it.