X-Men (2000)
On one hand, X-Men followed in the predecessors of the previous Marvel movie released in theaters, 1998’s Blade. Blade beat The Matrix to theaters and had plenty of its own kung fu, black leather, and industrial music. But in The Matrix, the leather felt like a costume, part of the switch from the heroes’ regular dull selves and into superheroic identities.
Viewers revisiting X-Men from the perspective of the superhero boom may wonder why the movie team abandoned yellow spandex, but for viewers of the early 2000s, the black leather costumes felt very much like something a superhero should wear. Over the years, X-Men sequels would further borrow from The Matrix, using bullet time for the Nightcrawler opening in X2: X-Men United (2003) or Quicksilver’s set-piece in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).
Shrek (2001)
While it received more acclaim at the time, Shrek doesn’t have much more creative juice than Scary Movie. There’s more of a coherent narrative, sure, but Shrek‘s writers also pile on every pop culture reference they can fit into a very familiar story.
By the time Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) does her variation on the Trinity mid-air freeze kick, the gag feels obvious instead of surprising. Shrek does get a few extra points for adding the detail of Fiona fixing her hair while suspended in the sky, and the fight scene against the Merry Men is well-choreographed. Still, it’s sad to see a moment so revolutionary in The Matrix become banal so quickly in Shrek.
Kung-Pow! Enter the Fist (2002)
Another spoof movie, another Matrix reference. To its credit, Kung-Pow! Enter the Fist has a low budget goofiness that sets it apart from Scary Movie and Shrek. Furthermore, Kung-Pow! parodies Shaw Brothers kung fu pictures, and given the Wachowskis’ debt to the Hong Kong studio, the Matrix joke feels more earned.
But the real factor that sets Kung-Pow! above its predecessors is the fact it bothers to tell an actual joke. When, against all warnings, the Chosen One (writer, director, and star Steve Oedekerk) wanders into a meadow, he’s immediately challenged by a horrid looking CGI cow. The two have a full-on kung fu battle before they both do a Matrix-style jump kick. But the cow wins out, which is always a funny joke.
