10 Accidental Masterpieces From Otherwise Bad Directors

9. The Matrix €“ The Wachowskis

Andy and Lana (previously Larry) Wachowski first made their mark with the crime thriller Bound, but it was their spectacular, brain-bending, sci-fi masterpiece The Matrix that got everyone's attention. The Matrix got everyone talking and hypothesising about it's true meanings and subtexts. When two sequels were announced every film geek started pondering the possible paths the trilogy would take. With such a phenomenal first act, The Matrix was poised to dethrone the Star Wars films as the greatest trilogy ever. Boy, what a huge let down. It seemed people wanted to like The Matrix: Reloaded but it was almost as if everyone wanted to wait until the third act, The Matrix: Revolutions, to determine just how well it would support the preceding films as a whole. Well, it didn't. What started as a promising start to a film series became a convoluted mess layered with heaps of philosophical and religious under tones that managed to only confuse people. Even those who seemingly understand the films can't really seem to explain it to the rest us dummies. The Wachowskis followed up their trilogy with an adaptation of the Alan Moore and David Lloyd graphic novel V For Vendetta. While somewhat popular to the comic book geeks around the world, the film failed to reach the high watermark set by the original Matrix. Since then, the Wachowskis have directed Speed Racer and Cloud Atlas. Speed Racer was almost instantly forgettable, and while Cloud Atlas was a good film that got good reviews it must be mentioned that the Wachowski's directed three of the six narratives within that film (Run Lola Run's Tom Tykwer picked up the baton for the other half) so it really can't be considered a true Wachowski film. However, give credit where credit is due €“ Lana and Andy have an ambitious project in production titled Jupiter Ascending. Perhaps this film, with Cloud Atlas, can help remove the bad aftertaste their last few films have made.
Contributor

My name is Alejandro. I answer to Alex, Al the pal, Uncle and various other pet names. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and currently live in San Diego, Ca. Being a native Southern Californian, I have been spoiled by good weather, beautiful women , celebrity sightings and diverse culture. I have a season pass to Disneyland and despite this, I still consider it to be the happiest place on earth. I am an avid film geek and gamer. There are many reports of expletives omitting from beyond my bedroom door during marathon sessions of Call Of Duty. I spend a lot of my free time writing, playing/producing music and playing bass in a 90's cover band called The Big Lewinsky (www.facebook.com/thebiglewinskyband). I also enjoy iphone-ography with my 4- in-1 Ollo clip and gorilla tripod along with the countless apps available for photo editing. My favorite films of all-time (currently) are The Godfather, The Shawshank Redemption, The Exorcist and anything by Stanley Kubrick, except Barry Lyndon...and maybe Lolita.