Mind Games

Randy Metcalf Arizona Daily Wildcat look ma I can fly!

Of course, being the sympathetic person that she is (like all Wildcat staffers), our reporter approached the woman to see what was wrong. Apparently, the morose stranger had had a run-in with none other than Keanu himself prior to the show. And the cause of her distress?

"He doesn't look anything like he did in 'Speed,'" she sobbed.

Well, it's enough to bring a tear to anyone's eye, I suppose.

The reason Mr. Reeves looked so different, however, was that he had just flown in from Australia, where he and fellow cast members from the sci-fi epic "The Matrix" had been filming on location.

As a result, Keanu showed up in Tucson a gaunt, nearly hairless (not to mention eyebrowless) picture of heroin chic gone bad. Don't worry, though, he only looks half-dead for a small part of the film. And what a film it is.

Yes, a great movie, starring Keanu Reeves.

For those of you suffering from debilitating "Johnny Mnemonic" flashbacks every time you see the trailers for "The Matrix," have no fear. If it wasn't for that pesky "Star Wars" thingie coming out, this would probably be a shoe-in for the year's best in otherworldly entertainment.

The premise for "The Matrix" is the same question which plagues Philosophy 101 students around the world: "What if your entire life isn't real? What if you're just being 'programmed' in some way to have to have the experiences you're having and reality is something else entirely?"

Makes ya think, huh?

So, while your interest is already engaged, the next assault to the senses comes from one of the most dazzling displays of special effects to ever hit the screen. The film uses a technique called "bullet-time photography," which employs the use of several cameras all shooting the same frame from different angles, then putting them together via computer. This allows the filmmakers to slow down or freeze part of the action, leaving people hanging in the air, flipping at varying rates of speed, and, in general, looking really damn cool.

The cast is first-rate, and, while Keanu remains Keanu, he's finally found a role that is perfectly suited for him - a character (Neo) that comes off as slightly naive, yet overwhelmingly eager and often awestruck by the events around him.

Then there's Laurence Fishburne, the film's greatest asset (talent-wise) as Morpheus, the leader of a rebellion against the extremely-well-established order and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, who presents a female counterpart to Keanu's lead with a ballsy, masculine persona that puts most of the men around her to shame.

Sure, she falls in love with Neo, but the point is that she doesn't have every adolescent male in the audience drooling over her in the process. It's a bit of role reversal that is just one of the many welcome surprises of "The Matrix."

Just be forewarned that this the kind of experience that can make you question everything you know about yourself, and about the world, without any necessity for suspension of disbelief.

And be forewarned as well, that no, he really doesn't look anything like he looked in "Speed."