MJB SCRIPT REVIEW | THE MATRIX

“𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼 𝗡𝗲𝗼. 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.”

Yeah baby! Brain mushing time! Let’s work out if we’re in the machine or it’s all hokum. Science fiction wunderkind; THE MATRIX.

Plot in a nutshell: When beautiful stranger, Trinity, leads hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--that humanity lies plugged into machines, locked in a virtual reality and fighting a losing battle to escape the clutches of machine kind.

This is one of those ideas that sticks. I mean it sticks way beyond the usual walk out of the cineplex or down to the shop to pick up more munchies.

Sticks.

Question-your-reality sticks.

So, beyond the deep scarring that this world offers, what are we looking at?

Excitement. This script is the very definition of a “page turner”. I simply couldn’t put the damn thing down. It just flows. This is writing that has tapped into the source and completely deluged itself. So let’s jump down the rabbit hole…

So, what did I learn from THE MATRIX?

1. Dialogue - it’s fascinating really. The terminology is very understandable, familiar, yet smart enough to sound cool. You can feel the characters “talking”, as opposed to lines that need to be learned and spoken. But there is a simplicity to the language. You get it. What the characters are saying to each other, their purposes, their relationships…all of it. You don’t feel locked out by some small ecosystem that thinks itself better than you. The writers want you in here (and I firmly believe dialogue is the keystone to keeping people involved in a film). The more understandable, familiar and embracing the dialogue is, the more you want to stay in that world. So this is a fine, fine example.

2. Actors - There are a plethora of monologues for the hardcore memory acting fanatics, but none that I’d recommend for auditions. There’s a zip to the patter and plenty of opportunity to choose a role that gives you something to do. Backstories here are for the imaginative as the characters have cracking face value, with just a hint of what’s going on underneath. Manna for the actor that loves to build their own character backstory.

3. Action Directions - These action directions are emotion. Graphic, yet rich and filled with movement. Descriptions that evoke the darkened images of this world. The greens and blacks and metal and blood. The almost balletic cartoonishness of the violence that seems so scarily painful and real. This is a wonderful example of choosing a “palette” for your script. Are there certain colours that evoke your story? Do you want a tonal vibe? A hint of colour in every scene to denote emotion, character or even the very “soul” of the script?

4. Action Directions 2 - Page 101. That’s how you write a gun battle. That.

5. Story - Is this life a video game? A construct? Do we have control? If so, how do we use it? If not, how do we get it? Questions, questions, questions. And the answers are teased and prized out of its leather clad hands painfully and erotically like a sexual pleasure. Never dirty, always close. This is storytelling with desire. Feel out the places this takes you and ask yourself if you have taken any of your readers on a journey that they couldn’t step away from?

6. Finale - Just big enough to make you hope that there’s hope. With such a downbeat premise and the thought of a war that is almost impossible to win, the very emergence of what Neo could become on the last page is the very definition of “give me the

f#%+ing sequel NOW!” Perfect job for a sci-fi/action movie script.

This is easily one of the most fun and brain boggling scripts I’ve read and immediately lands in my top 10. For writers of action, sci-fi, drama or mind bending wizardry, it’s inspirational. For those looking to up their dialogue or action directions game, it’s a must read.

I remember having a discussion with a friend after seeing this at the cinema the first time it came out. The question was; “would you want to live outside of the Matrix, or in it?” We eventually agreed that living in the Matrix was preferable, even at the cost of the horrid truth or reality. Any script that makes you question your reality is an important piece of work and I can’t wait to see or read more like them.

So get busy!

Link to the script:

https://thescriptsavant.com/movies/The_Matrix.pdf