Nah, I'm glad he did WWW instead. I'm just not seeing him in The Matrix, but as someone who grew up watching WWW, Will nailed James West, and I thank him for that.
Unpopular Opinion Time: WWW is a better movie than The Matrix, because it doesn't try to be more than it is - a goofy, silly, wild west meets new technology time... Just like the TV show was. The Matrix tried too hard, took itself too seriously and instead delivered tropes as if they were messages from beyond. I cringed when I saw it. The action was fun, but oof, that story. At least WWW could laugh at itself.
Most definitely an unpopular opinion. When the Matrix originally released it was a technical marvel, that moment Neo is dodging the bullets in slow motion was incredible. I think as the years have gone on the story has lost some of its charm because the wachowskis have been butchering the franchise to try and protect it in some strange way. As a standalone movie The Matrix story and technical implementation were phenomenal, as soon as they made sequels, and other movies started to copycat, it began to lose that magic
I walked into it totally blind, to a an almost empty theater on a weekday afternoon. I had no idea about the plot, but I was bored, and liked Johnny Mnemonic, and sci-fi in general, so.. fuck it, let's watch a movie.
One on the most enjoyable and pleasant surprises of my life.
Yesh, the first 15 mins is all action and then suspense as Neo gets the message about following the rabbit. Other than stylish execution, standard action movie stuff.
The Matrix didn't take itself too seriously in my opinion. You didn't see the Wachowski's flaunting their film as if it were some auteur bullshit like you might see Zack Snyder do today. They did something new and they did it well. So well that it permanently left a mark on the genre.
It was for movie goers who may not read sci-fi. I remember many colleages and some family members freaking out a bit "Like what if we are just in a simulation/hologram existance?" a bit of existential dread/anxiety from it.