Gladiator (2000) Not really influenced by the Matrix but a landmark film. Rarely has there been a comeback for a Director than this. Ridley Scott hadnt been relevant since Blade Runner almost 20 years previously. Not only that, but Gladiator revived the swordsn sandals genre. The only other historical epic that did this justice was his own Kingdom of Heaven (DC).
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) By far the most important Chinese film ever made. A massive, massive victory for chinese cinema. I dont think its Ang Lees best film though. For millions of people this was the first display of Oriental style mythical superpowers. The Wushu style wireframes was also a heavy element in The Matrix, and both films shared the same legendary stunt director; Woo-Ping Yuen.
Mission Impossible 2 (2000) it shouldnt be on the list of influential action movies that stood the test of time. MI2 is the fall from grace for John Woo, and it suffers from 90s / early 2000s corniness. Some of the motorcycle shots and the sunglasses bits have not aged well, but there are some surprisingly good effects, really solid stunts, and a fantastic soundtrack. Its a surprisingly capable movie.
Rush Hour 2 (2001) ; The last time we saw Chris Tucker in a capacity where we really loved him, Rush Hour 2 heavy on the mix of east and west. In fact that is the gimmick. I wonder if this film would have been released to day if it would be offensive. It is very racial.
Equbrilium (2002); If you ever wanted proof that a bad title, or two different titles (called Cubic in some territories) can tank a movie, look no further than Equbrilium. It was designed and hyped to be the new Matrix. The Gun-Kata effects were fantastic. It featured a ripped Christian bale kicking ass with his classic deadpan face, and a wonderful Sean Bean. Of all the films on here this is the film that got screwed over the most. It completely failed.
Infernal Affairs (2002); Might just be the best hong kong thriller of the last 20 years. Its an amazing movie full of hong kong style shots, over exaggerated close ups. In fact, in the gif here, it is the exact same framing as Trnity pulls on Mr Smith in the movie.
Shaolin Soccer (2002) ; Arguable one of the funniest sports movies ever made, this film uses computer effects to great effects. Its a legit good movie. I know the thought of a soccer movie sounds about as fun as watching paint dry, but you have to watch it.
Minority Report (2002) ; Better than what we thought back then. Maybe its because the social commentary poised in the film have raised some interesting question in the last few years. Minority Report is not a sci-fi classic, but its surprisingly solid. Colin Farell is as usual, annoying.
Hero (2002) ; Zhang Yimou makes a spiritual successor to Ang Lees crouching Tiger 3 years after Tiger got roaring applause at the Oscars. Hero becomes the second non-english language film to chop the box office besides Passion of the Christ. An amazing achievement, yet depressive. Wushu wires are used even more here, but the colors set the tone for a Rashomon narrative. This is one of Jet Lis best film. In my opinion its better than Crouching Tiger. Tans soundtrack is to cry for.
Oldboy (2003); Most influential Korean film ever? Chan-wook Park won in Cannes in 2003. I was down at the festival at the time and it was a big thing as it was the year where Tarantino was on the committee and was coming out with his controversial Kill Bill that had just been axed into two films. To the disappointment of many who called it a rip off.
Oldboy borrows not so much from the Matrix in an action sense. Its famous one-shot that took 3 days of planning has set its own template and standards for one shots since then. Oldboy does have a similar green tinted color correction throughout however. There are so many scenes in this film stands out. The octopus scene is legendary, the end is legendary. This is a film for the ages, and its better than the two other films in the revenge trilogy.
Last Samurai (2003) ; Highly debated on GAF through the years in cultural appropriation discussions. White men learning and inserting themselves into Asian cultural tidings that could have been reserved for an Asian actor. The same argument (I know Kung Fu) could extend to the Matrix, if one would feel inclined that a legit genuine Asian martial arts expert would have fitted better for the role of Neo.
Bad Boys 2 (2003); A really, really, really fun and grandiose movie. It has car chases and car stunts that rival that of Matrix Reloaded in the same year. This is probably one of the most effective and fun Miachael Bay movies ever made. Highly cleanly shot, you see the never ending barrage of slow motion. Shitjustgotreal.gif
Ong-Bak (2003) rarely do we get a film that launches a film industry in a country. Ong-Bak put Thai film on the map, but Tony Jaa has not lived up to the expectations after the Protector. Ong-Bak 2 and 3 are regarded as trash.
Kill Bill Vol. 1(2003) There is not much to say. This is Tarantinos ode to the things he love. There is an angle of cultural appropriation here. And like Matrix, a deep blend of western/eastern influence. Samurai Swords, flashy martial arts. Kill Bill is super effective, fun and fast for its simple revenge setup. It just works well.
Man on Fire (2004) Tony Scotts last great movie. He found a style here that was terrific. The editing is controversial, but the slow mo is straight up matrix. It works pretty well. In his unrelated followup projects Domino and Déjà vu the editing is completely fucked, and those films dont work. But Man of Fire is a great film. Not Sicario great, but still a great Mexican-Kidnapping film. Denzel is denzel, and its very Hollywood-ish with little white girl needs to be saved. This was the first time we saw a broken Mickey Rourke reamerge after so long. And I am still blown away by Mark Anthony (the popsingers) acting ability. He is legit good as the business man father.
Kung Fu Hustle (2004) It's just as incredible as Shaolin Soccer. Very fun, very good use of CGI for good comedic effect. Absolutely brilliant.
Kill Bill Vol 2 (2004) Second part of the trilogy. Still waiting for the fucking the Whole Bloody Affair. Supposed to have a anime segment connecting the films into one, but people doubt it will ever happen. David Carradine and Michael Madsen rocks the socks. The film is slower, and it propelled into some disappointments initially, but this is an even better film than the first, even though its action pieces are a lot less Matrixy.
Collateral (2004) ; Michael Mann is one of the all time greats, and this film shows how in tune he is with getting the vibe out of his surroundings. Like with the city of Miami in Miami Vice, Mann has a knack for mixing emotional shots and a sound stage the reflects the vibe.
Like HEAT before it, Collateral is loaded with a fantastic soundscape. No other film has gun sound effects like this. Yo, homie briefcase scene directly went into the history books. Tom Cruise displays a level of brutality that is horrifying for intentional and unintional reasons. He portrays a sociopath with an assassin code of conduct rationalized in some clinical arbitrary belief system. If Sam Harris was an assassin, this is how I would picture his world view. (No offense).
House of Flying Daggers (2004) Its not as good as Hero, and you can argue its more of the same, but I disagree. You got a complicated three way love story with the same acrobatic martial arts displays and Li Tan soundtrack.
Unlike Hero which was highly critizied in china for Yimou being a propaganda stooge of the government, there is less subliminal messaging in Flying Daggers. Its a simple romance story with twists and turns. I love the way this is shot. It feels authentically Chinese. Not as much as Crouching Tiger, but enough to make it feel it different from the western counterparts of historical action movies.
District 13 (2004) is one of the most influential French films since Amalie and Taxi. This is the film that put parkour on the map. Its a film with a story that serves no function other than to set up impossible rooftop chases, but there is a strong Matrix inspiration here in the impressive stunts. This is a really fun movie and on that holds up. Its a pleasure seeing a French gangsta film.
Fearless (2005) Woo-Ping Yuen returns. This time as action director. A landmark film for Jet Li. You have to understand that Jet Li had been involved in questionable American projects with DMX supplying the soundtrack. Romeo Must Die, the One, Kiss of the Dragon. Films where Jet Li was not very good acting wise and the directing not solid. The action set was just not there. People were disappointed in Jet Li.
Bruce Lee had been king in the 70s, Jackie Chain in the 80s, and Jet Li had some impressive but not very exposed films in the 90s. When he was brought over for the incredible lackluster Lethal Weapon 4, he was tooled as a one-dimensional villain. A pathetic timid excuse for a bad guy who could throw some kicks but ends up getting shotgunned by a chinese firecracker. Its so fucking dumb it makes my blood boil.
But what was more was that these Hollywood jet li films showed Jet Li with no charisma that Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee. Talented sure, but not exactly the new token martial arts home boy Hollywood could wave around.
Fearless is that movie where people really, really got into him again. Ive said it before and I will say it again; Fearless is vastly superior to Ip Man. Will all due respect to Donnie Yen, Fearless is a fantastic movie. The two films are comparable in that they both feature profound chinese martial arts hero who overcome invasive evil Japanese men. Fearless is less on the nationalistic circlejerk. There are some great legit slow motion shot.
V for Vendetta (2005) Well, the Wachowskis only produced, but it was marketed like they were the directors, and I remember there was a lot of confusion when it came out they were not the directors. Matrix influences are abundant in this. Again with the slow mo, but also a hugo weaving who is as always engrossing. He does a terrific job acting with his voice and micro expressions. It is known that acting with a mask is one of the most difficult things an actor can do as a lot of their tools are restricted and because it makes harder to convey characters feelings with masks on. V for Vendetta hasnt aged that well in my opinion. I still have friends who sit and watch this film on the 5th of november, but these days V has become more of a symbol for anonymous than for the film.
Mr and Mrs. Smith (2005) This came out in a great summer block alongside Batman Begins, Tom Cruise Oprah couch dancing, War of the Worlds (meh). Smith is most def one of the stand out action comedies of the last 15 years. I can only think of Rush Hour 2 and perhaps Scott Pilgrim as stronger action comedies? Its very well shot, high tech gadgets and quite silly, but also loveable. Action romcom. Underrated in my mind.
Sin City (2005) If you want to talk about a film that really takes a comic book and delivers it directly to the screen, youd be hard pressed to find a better film suited than Sin City. This is a classic. Marv. Fucking Marv.
Kingdom of Heaven (2005) Loved by all in GAF. We know the deal, but we can thank a shitty marketing campaign and nervous producers cutting 50 minutes of playtime from the theater cut. Alexander had been thebiggest joke the year before, and with Troy being so-so the year before that. Yeah. Fortunately we have the Directors Cut. A brilliant film. Liam Nesson, Glesson, Edward Norton, Jeremy Irons, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Eva Green, Michal Sheen. The list of talent is amazing, but the stand out is Ghassan Massoud portraying Saladin.
Ridley Scott displays a fair portrayal of the crusaders and the muslims and doesnt paint the muslims as bad guys. Saladin is a legit enlightened character and one that shows restrain and wisdom while the crusaders are more often than not displayed as fanatics. This fair portrayal is what makes Scotts comments regarding Exodus so puzzling (and disappointing).
