Made In Hollywood

Some seek the truth and wish to stay in the real world, while others, weary of the cruelty of reality, long to return to the virtual world. Everyone has the freedom and power to choose, but to betray in the name of returning to the virtual world is wrong. In mainstream Hollywood commercial films, whether it's a traitor aligning with the evil side or one abandoning the good side, they usually meet a tragic end. From the moment Cypher revealed himself as a traitor, his fate was already sealed.

But what about Neo's fate?

The audience stared at the screen, their brows furrowing, as the so-called great prophet made it clear: Neo was not "The One!"

Is Neo the savior or not?

With this question in mind, the film continued. Whenever there is betrayal, there must be sacrifice. Agent Smith brought in a large force of police to surround the building where Neo, Morpheus, and the others were, leading to an epic battle.

Morpheus was forced to face Agent Smith to protect Neo but was no match for him. Under his cover, the others broke through the siege, and Cypher, who had slipped away earlier, was the first to return to the real world. The betrayal was inevitable.

Trinity, Neo, and the others were trapped in a room of an abandoned hotel. Cypher, believing he had taken out the Twins, began to deliver one of Hollywood's most clichéd villain monologues, taking down two people in the process. However, his endless chatter had serious consequences.

Whether it's a criminal being overturned by police due to talking too much, a robot being dismantled for talking too much, an evil being purified for talking too much, or even a fire-breathing dragon being shot by mortals for talking too much...

The villain's monologue is truly the ultimate cheat in a film, almost as powerful as the protagonist's halo!

Of course, the chatter is also meant to create atmosphere, as the audience's emotions are most easily stirred when the protagonist is facing life-and-death situations.

Thus, at the most critical moment, the Twins reappeared and took down Cypher. Neo and Trinity escaped the Matrix, but Morpheus was captured by the agents.

How to deal with Morpheus caused a divide between Neo, Trinity, and Tank. Morpheus held the login password for the last human stronghold, Zion's mainframe. If the password were leaked, it could pose a fatal threat to Zion. Thus, Tank suggested pulling the plug on Morpheus to ensure Zion's safety with his death.

Neo insisted on rescuing Morpheus, and Trinity decided to accompany him.

"The final battle is about to begin!"

Anthony glanced at his watch. Unknowingly, the film had already passed an hour and a half. The time for the final showdown had come. He was filled with anticipation. In the opening battle, Duke, the director, showed an incredible fight through Trinity. Would there be even more surprises ahead? He remembered there was a scene in the trailer where Neo looked extremely cool, and it hadn't happened yet.

Many viewers, like Anthony, were eagerly waiting for the climax.

Neo and Trinity were preparing their weapons, while Agent Smith was interrogating Morpheus.

As the audience awaited the final battle, film critic Kenneth Turan was struck by a line Agent Smith said to Morpheus.

"I was trying to categorize your kind, and then the revelation came. So I realized, you're not mammals. Every mammal on this planet has an instinct to adapt to environmental changes and achieve balance, but humans don't. You find a place, and then you just breed, breed, breed, until all natural resources are exhausted. The only way you can survive is to spread out, invade another place. There's another life form on this planet that lives like you, want to know what it is? A virus! Humanity is a disease, a cancer on this planet, a plague."

In that instant, the film, which already had philosophical undertones, became something grander in Kenneth Turan's mind. In his view, the film's exploration of reality and illusion, and its negative view of humanity, would elevate The Matrix to a classic.

Many viewers who had watched the film felt the same way, thinking it would become a classic science fiction movie. But why?

"It's cool, the visuals are amazing, and the styling is so sleek!"

Harkins said this to Norman, and it represented the thoughts of many viewers.

Since the previous films had been flashy, cool, and stylish, and had gained popularity among audiences, Duke naturally put a lot of effort into making The Matrix even more flashy, cool, and stylish!

Neo and Trinity were engaged in a fierce gunfight with over a hundred guards in a building, bullets flying thick and fast like air. The shells fell like raindrops, and the building's columns were riddled with holes, turning into shattered pieces. Marble and concrete debris flew everywhere, seemingly passing through the eyes of every audience member.

In the Matrix's virtual world, all physical laws can be disregarded. The effects caused by the shooting were just there to make the audience feel thrilled!

Was the effect satisfying?

Listening to the excited screams and cheers from the audience, it was clear just how thrilling it was.

"Amanda..."

Even though she wasn't a fan of gunfight movies, Miley couldn't help but feel excited at such a cool scene. She tightly squeezed her legs together and grabbed her companion's arm. "I think... I think I'm going to have an... orgasm!"

"Right now?" Amanda asked with excitement, "But there's even more cool stuff coming!"

The audience seemed to be climbing toward a climax, but Kenneth Turan didn't think so. This scene was just a show-off, a scene with no real necessity. Neo and Trinity could've easily taken down a few guards, so adding this lengthy battle sequence felt like it destroyed the film's intellectual depth!

But this gunfight scene was just the beginning of the final climax. Neo and Trinity had already made their way into the guard crowd, rushing in like lightning.

Neo, in his black sunglasses and coat, moved with incredible speed and style.

Trinity, in her black sunglasses and tight leather outfit, was swift and sharp.

The two combined gunfights with close combat, completely overturning traditional Hollywood action tropes. They showcased a level of style, coolness, and sexiness that was taken to the extreme.

If the opening gunfight had only introduced the concept, Neo and Trinity, fighting 2vs100+, were given a full showcase with rapid slow-motion, flash editing, and various techniques by Duke.

Gunplay, inverted crucifixions, and rapid fire kicks...

A series of moves with both gun and hand-to-hand combat pushed the atmosphere in the theater to its peak!

"Oh my god, I swear!"

Miley trembled as she gripped Amanda's arm, "I'll definitely watch this film again, it's even more thrilling than... sex and drugs!"

The atmosphere in the theater was chaotic but filled with excitement.

"They are so cool!"

In the front row, Spielberg whispered to Lucas, "Duke is about to lead a new trend. I believe future movies will definitely..."

"Gun-fu!" Lucas reminded.

"Gun-fu will definitely be imitated and even overused," Spielberg said.

Hearing this, George Lucas rubbed his beard. "I think this could work in Star Wars, right?"

Further ahead, Irene Lauder whispered to Duke, "You seem to be about to create a trend."

She looked back after saying that. After watching so many films, aside from the tear-jerking sensation from Titanic, this was the first time she had seen such a wild reaction from the audience.

"Too bad it's an R-rated film," she said, feeling a bit regretful. "If it were PG-13, I think it could've swept the world."

"Things in this world don't always follow our will," Duke said casually.

But Irene Lauder's words made sense. The audience's reaction was so strong. After The Matrix, there would certainly be countless copycat films. Hollywood's imitations were just as intense as any other film market in the world. In fact, it was even more so, as Hollywood's big-budget productions were often built on the foundation of hundreds of bad films each year.

After the pure gunfight and gun-fu, Neo and Trinity made their way to the hall, took the elevator to the top floor, and planted bombs. A massive explosion nearly destroyed the lower floors of the building. As Duke had promised during post-production, this explosion was unlike anything seen in previous films.

"I knew it! How could Duke's sci-fi film not have explosions?" Anthony waved his arm excitedly as the explosion's flames flowed like liquid. He didn't find anything wrong with it since it was a Matrix world.

"Ugh, back to the same old routine," Kenneth Turan lamented. "It could've explored philosophy and worldview more deeply, but now it's back to explosions, gunfights, and fights. Is that really the essence of a sci-fi film?"

But the audience around him wasn't concerned with these intellectual debates. Following their instincts, they felt the film still had a long way to go before it ended. With Duke's style, there were bound to be even more surprises ahead!

The screen didn't make them wait too long. The climax scenes kept coming. Neo and Trinity reached the rooftop, where they encountered resistance from the agents in front of the helicopter.

"Trinity, help me!"

With the previous build-up, everyone knew that in the Matrix world, Neo was no match for the agents, and the agents' guns were already aimed at him!