Why We Love The Matrix

by Kim Taylor-Foster

Rediscover all the reasons you love The Matrix with this unique guide to the cult 90s sci-fi classic, filled with trivia, essays, and behind the scenes looks at characters, production, and so much more. Whether you saw the movie in theaters in 1999 or watched it for the first time at home, there is no denying that The Matrix has had an immense impact on pop culture. A "must-see" of the science fiction genre and Why We Love The Matrix is the first and only guide that combines entertaining information about the history and making of the film with a celebratory look at all the different aspects that have helped solidify this as a beloved favorite of sci-fi fans.

Offering entertaining essays about the key features that have helped the film become the classic it is today—like the origins of the plot and characters, film techniques, and the philosophy behind the story—plus quotes, sidebars, and eye-catching two-color illustrations throughout, Why We Love The Matrix is a great gift for both casual and more serious fans of the movie and, let's face it, Keanu Reeves.

128 pages, Hardcover

Published April 6, 2021

Reviews

[Rachel]

Read and reviewed for LJ.

[Adam Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, the franchise where five million cows were slaughtered to make the wardrobe for these movies. Why We Love The Matrix by Kim Taylor-Foster takes a deep dive into the hugely influential cyberpunk action series by The Wachowskis about a virtual world inside a massive computer system, released on March 31, 1999, until November 5, 2003. Even if you haven't seen it yet, you've still likely seen/felt its influence.

Revolutionary as the series (or perhaps only the first film) was, these movies owe a lot to classic cyberpunk, anime, fantasy & biblical lore. The idea of The Matrix is a modern/Sci-Fi update of Descartes's Demon, The Allegory of The Cave, Vedic notions of Maya, etc. Which had been a staple of sci-fi for decades, including the movie Dark City, which came out just before  this film (Neuromancer & Shadowrun got it especially bad for a while since they had both been using the term "The Matrix" for their cyberspaces a good decade or more before the movie even existed.)

Elements like characters wearing black badass long coats & cool shades who fight with fancy "Wire Fu" & "Bullet Time" (in which people thought this film invented those tropes, even though the technique has been used in countless martial arts films decades before The Matrix was made) dodges are associated with nothing other than Matrix in popular culture. Still, all of them were popularised by the first Blade film a year before & again had roots in the "cyberpunk aesthetic".

Especially in the later 2010s & on into 2020 & beyond, with many feelings like uncaring governments were simply exploiting them for their labor & wealth (or energy, if you like) & with Lilly Wachowski finally outright confirming in 2020 that the first film is a metaphor for the realisation of being trans, the films were caught up in the general re-evaluation of the overall Cyberpunk movement & the first one, in particular, was valued as a seminal film that was important in newly-acknowledged ways.

[Mira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure I am close friends with the author of this wonderful book. I have known her for many years to be a true lover of all things cinematic, intelligent, witty, humorous and a true scholar of film and I am delighted to report that this book echoes all her amazing qualities.

Matrix lovers will not be disappointed and may be surprised to learn a few things that they did not know about! The book has been lovingly put together with great graphics, thoughtful chapters and words of wisdom from Morpheus himself.

It’s a hard recommend to get your hands on this book and take a trip back to the movies that dominated the 90s. Follow the white rabbit, bend some spoons, learn kung fu and enjoy.

[David Wellens · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very shallow deep dive that hardly touched upon the many topics the book outline promises. I was hoping it would not only detail the many great performances that brought these characters to life but also the technical side of this groundbreaking film and the many intricaties, easter eggs and layered connections between all 4 films, which would have gone a long way in redeeming the trilogy of sequels.

Alas, none of that happened and what little the author did write is all material that could easily be garnered from the other, bigger and more detailed books released over the years, as well as the plethora of interviews, both in writing as well as recorded.

I do not recommend it, unfortunately.

[Jake Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really any new information, and the “Matrix” chapter of “Best.Movie.Year.Ever.” does more to streamline all the facts and quotes present here in a handful of pages than this book does in 100+ pages. But it’s a fun refresher course on this world, and the illustrations are fun.

[Faye Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend Kim write this if you love The Matrix,give it a go :)

[Jon Huff · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a fun book. It’s reads more like an extended article with a fair amount of illustrations (including a repeating two-page spread highlighting a Morpheus quote) to pad out the page count. I got what I expected for the most part, as it’s a pretty surface-level examination of some key themes of the films. After decades of film writing on the Matrix there’s not a lot of new territory to cover, so this is clearly meant as a very casual dive. Just something to jog your memory before the fourth Matrix movie or introduce the newcomers who might be discovering it to some of its core concepts. A micro-celebration of the many ways the Matrix has impacted cultured. I didn’t always love the tone of the writing. Nothing at all wrong with it, but just for my own personal tastes it grated a bit at moments.