The sibling directorial pairing of Lana and Andy Wachowski teamed up with Tom Tykwer to create the powerful and inspiring epic Cloud Atlas, based on the best-selling novel by David Mitchell. To celebrate the film’s release on 22 February we are going to take a look at the Wachowski’s best work to date, including The Matrix and V for Vendetta.
THE MATRIX
In 1999 the Wachowski’s brought us the ground-breaking and genre-defining Sci-fi film, The Matrix, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving. The film blew audiences away with its ground-breaking introduction of a visual effect now known as ‘bullet time’, which allows a shot to progress in slow-motion while the camera appears to move through the scene at normal speed. The Wachowski’s both wrote and directed this visual masterpiece which grossed over $450 million at the worldwide box-office. The film spawned two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, bringing in a whopping $1.6 billion total box-office for the franchise.
THE MATRIX RELOADED
The Wachowski’s returned in May 2003 to bring audiences The Matrix Reloaded, the second instalment in The Matrix trilogy. In the second film Neo and the rebel leaders learn that they have only 72 hours before Zion is destroyed by 250,000 sentinel machines. Neo must try to save Zion while also saving Trinity from the dark fate which plagues his dreams. This second instalment in the franchise grossed a box-office of over $740 million worldwide.
THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS
The Matrix trilogy ended in November 2003 with the release of The Matrix Revolutions. The final film in the trilogy follows Neo as he fights to end the war between the machines and humans. Neo must finally defeat the rogue Agent Smith while the human city of Zion defends itself against invasion by the machines. The Matrix Revolutions made over $425 million at the box-office worldwide and provided audiences with an explosive ending to the franchise, packed with ground-breaking CGI and an epic one-on-one battle between Neo and Agent Smith.
V FOR VENDETTA
The Wachowski’s wrote the 2006 thriller V for Vendetta, based on the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and David Lloyd and starring Hugo Weaving, John Hurt and Natalie Portman and was directed by James McTeigue. The film followed a shadowy freedom-fighter known only as ‘V’ who uses terrorist tactics to bring down the totalitarian society in which he lives. Caught in between the government and ‘V’ is Evey (Portman), who must decide whose side she is on before the explosive finale.
CLOUD ATLAS
The Wachowski’s latest release is the epic Cloud Atlas, based on the best-selling novel by David Mitchell and stars an award-winning cast including: Tom Hanks, Jim Broadbent, Ben Wishaw, Jim Sturgess, Hugh Grant, David Gyasi and Susan Surrandon. This powerful film is full of drama, mystery, action and enduring love, thread through a single story that unfolds in multiple timelines over the span of 500 years. Characters meet and reunite from one life to the next. As the consequences of their actions and choices impact one another through the past, the present and the distant future, one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.
Cloud Atlas is in cinemas this Friday 22nd February.
