The Matrix Trilogy: Key Facts

Full Titles: The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Directors: Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski

Lead Cast: Keanu Reeves as Neo, Laurence Fishburne as Morpehus, Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith

Supporting Cast: Gloria Foster, Mary Alice, Joe Pantoliano, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lambert Wilson, Harold Perrineau, Nona Gaye, Harry Lennix, David Roberts, Helmut Bakaitis, Collin Chou, Tanveer K. Atwal, Monica Belluci, Cornel West

Producer: Joel Silver

Writers: Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski

Genre: Science Fiction

Language: English

Dates of Release: The Matrix: March 31, 1999; The Matrix Reloaded: May 15, 2003; The Matrix Revolutions: November 5, 2003

Awards

2000 Academy Awards:

The Matrix won Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Visual Effects.

Setting (Time & Place): 1999 and circa 2199; unnamed cities in the Matrix, the ravaged real world, the underground human city (Zion), and the Machine City

Major Conflict: Neo must find the faith in himself to assume his role as the One and lead the fight against the machines to save Zion and free human minds.

Rising Action: When the Agents ambush the Nebuchadnezzar’s crew, kill half of it, and capture Morpheus, threatening the security of all of Zion, Neo must choose to have faith in himself and re-enter the Matrix against all odds to attempt to rescue Morpheus.

Climax: Neo and Trinity’s successful rescue of Morpheus directs his path toward a final confrontation with Agent Smith, which Neo initially appears to win heroically, but Smith surprises him by appearing out of nowhere and murdering him. When Trinity resurrects Neo’s dead body with a kiss, Neo fully believes he is the One and defeats Agent Smith.

Falling Action: Having fully assumed his role as the One at the end of The Matrix, Neo can now lead the renegades throughout the two sequels on their quest to save Zion and free minds.

Foreshadowing: In a trilogy about fate, free will, and the repeating cycles of a computer program, foreshadowing is embedded in the very structure of the plot, its characters’ words, and its visual system. Everything the Oracle says, for example, foreshadows something. Every piece of information Neo learns about previous cycles of the Matrix foreshadows a future event.