The Matrix: Cult Classic or Computerized Con?

This Film as Text article, aimed at senior secondary students of Media, focuses on the phenomenon of The Matrix series. In the opening section, McFarlane discusses the film's cult following, commercial history and its Australian-ness. He places the film in the context of sci-fi films with a strong action-thriller component and recent kung-fu blockbusters, providing the background for the analysis of its hybrid structure. McFarlane proceeds, discussing the convoluted plot and moral universe of The Matrix and the profiles of the central characters, the 'pawns in the Wachowskis' game', involving the battle between two concepts of the world.