Opening Sequence Analysis - The Matrix

In the opening 2 minutes of The Matrix, a clue of the genre is given to the audience. The Warner Bros advert is unusually in green and the music has quite a scary tone which hints at an action or horror film. As the opening title starts rolling, codes and numbers appear on the screen, the music matches this as it sounds as if someone is typing trying to figure out a code.

40 seconds into the opening a man and women start having a phone conversation, the codes are still in the picture and numbers begin scrolling which may suggest that someone is trying to hack into the line. The codes and the secretive way the man and women speak, already suggests to the audience that this film will be an action film because someone is trying to find what seems to be the two main characters. Another hint to the genre is when the man talks about finding and killing someone named Morphious. The women asks the man if the line is clear. This suggests to the audience that the conversation is meant to be a secret, which would also explain why someone is trying to hack into the phone line.
As the conversation ends, the camera zooms into what seems to be a light. As is continues to zoom a bright lamp is pictured. As the camera pans, you see a group of policemen in a dark building holding guns and torches. The torches are the only source of light which shows it is night time. This is effective because the audience can only see what the policemen can see when they shine the torch in a particular place.
An old policeman kicks down an apartment door and finds what looks like a man sitting against a wall. The room is empty which suggests to the audience that the man sat down is weird and creepy. The audience immediately believe that this person is a villain because they are being chased by the police.
The camera cuts to the person sitting at the computers face and it is revealed to be a women. This shocks the audience because having a women enemy or hero breaks the conventions of an action film because you would expect a male to be playing a lead role in this genre of film.

Overall this film has an effective opening because it reveals what the genre is but it doesn't reveal to much about this plot. This makes the audience want to watch more because it confuses them that a women would be a villain or hero in the film.