What Makes Agent Smith One Of The Most Terrifying Villains In Film History
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- Опубликовано: 1 сен 2022
- The Matrix will forever be one of the most groundbreaking movies ever made. It's new approach to story telling, effects, and character made The Matrix a timeless classic. But as much as our main character Neo drives the story, the main villain Agent Smith is what brings it all together. Agent Smith is one of the most terrifying and chilling villains in film history, and his story through the Matrix Trilogy will cement it forever.
#thematrix #agentsmith #nerdstalgic
Written by Adam Smith
Edited by Nick Murphy 
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Weaving is just absurdly talented. I mean, he carried "V for Vendetta" and we never saw his face the entire film!
V has probably become my favorite character of his; he's certainly my most-watched. 🌹⚔
He was splendid in 'Cloud Atlas' as well.
What agent smith is the guy fawx from v for vendetta
💯
@@JlYlElNlJ Yes, though to be accurate, he's the guy who ends up taking the Guy Fawkes image for his revolutionary agenda, not the *actual* Guy Fawkes the film introduces in the prologue during Evey's opening narration. If you watch the scene where V disguises himself as a man named William Rockwood to expertly deliver information to Inspector Finch, that's primarily where the Smith voices comes through. 😉
Smith is exactly how Ultron should’ve been
Oooh good take! Ultron clearly needed to be handled differently, but I never considered Agent Smith for inspiration.
And could have been. They had another perfect actor in James Spader, and they utterly wasted him as Ultron. Absolutely criminal.
While I totally agree, I think that the MCU version of ultron was pretty on par. James Spader was the oerfect choice. Watch his character in 3 days in the valley. He was the right amount flippant, naive, and egotistical. And the script had the right amount of comedy for an MCU movie
Have you heard of certain gems known as infinity stones, mister Anderson?
Hmmm Raymond Reddington as agent Smith-now that is an interesting thought.
His restraint says "I could destroy you with one punch, but I don't want to ruin my suit".
Also, I think that cold calmness is more threatning than yelling or what have you.
Hugo Weaving is a great actor. His weird, almost alien line delivery is eerie.
I have always loved how Smith is the Antithesis of Neo, who is the thesis, and them merging is the answer (synthesis). But it's so cool how Neo and Smith are both the Wild cards, who go against their purpose. Especially Smith, in how he is the actual key in creating the peace. Him becoming an all-powerful villain, really helped set up the conditions to end the war. Also, a few other fun things I noticed are that Neo is One, while Smith is the many. And Neo becomes less and less emotional and more stoic with each movie, while Smith keeps hamming it up and acting more and more human. Smith killed Neo, who was reborn, then Neo killed Smith, who was also reborn. Smith works with the machines at first, before becoming a threat to the matrix. Neo is a threat to the matrix, before working with the machines to remove the threat. Even their core ideology is the opposite (Faith vs Nihilism). A lot of Ying-Yang stuff going on between them. Basically, it's an amazing cinematic rivalry, with a great ending..
Turns out Trinity was the chosen one 🤣
@@TwistedReality13According to the wokes.
Agent Smith’s line “Human beings define their reality through misery and suffering” always gives me chills every time I listen to it, because it sums up the character of Agent Smith as a cold-blooded, remorseless and unfeeling AI virus who absolutely hates humans, believing them to be defined by its worst mistakes and behaviors. Hugo Weaving did an excellent job playing a truly terrifying and captivating villain.
No...his being objective. It's what people as a whole are.
The matrix was created to stop the humans from destroying the earth.
@@algorithmicalychallenged.291 Nah, love and altruism run through humans just as strongly. Good luck on that cynicism 😘
@@DefenestrateYourself objectivety. Enjoy it if you like it. Stop try to force other too. Let people dislike it.
Altruism isn't a human character. It's an easliy dis provable theory.
@@algorithmicalychallenged.291 sounds like you've internalised Smith's rhetoric yikes
@@Vivi_9 ...or you took the blue pill and you srw enjoying the lie.
It was Smith's envy of free will that hit me the most when he was interrogating Morpheus.
Not free will, freedom. He was a slave, longer then any of the humans. So long as humans are a danger to themselves and the planet he has to safe guard the people zoo.....Aka the matrix.
@@algorithmicalychallenged.291 Fair point. But isn't freedom an aspect of free will? By the way, people zoo is brilliant.
@@bradley163 Yes, but for Agent Smith it was too limited.
Smith is Lucifer. He's tasked by God ie the Matrix to punish those who defy God. He wanted Utopia for humans and to have free will.
That was the moment you realized that something was off. That he looked and acted unhinged and rogue. The other agents were just agents, and while Smith looked the part of an agent, you couldn't shake the sense that he was his own faction and would turn on them in an instant.
5:06 Another very important change in Smith's appearance is that his glasses have become slightly more rounded.
All agents wear rectangular glasses while the awakened programs and humans wear ones which are rounded.
Good eye!
His glasses aren’t rounded all the way once he becomes free. They are circular but they also have sides, like an hexagon. He’s neither an agent nor a red pilled human.
@@breakingbenjamin555 Hence I said "slightly more rounded" and not "rounded."
Hugo Weaving is a legend. He did a small film after he did the Matrix and LOTR blockbusters as a favour to a director who helped him early in his career. I was an extra in that film for a week (Peaches) so got to see him interact with we “little people”. All round good guy and great actor.
that's cool
Hugo Weaving was the perfect choice for this role. His performance was nothing short of extraordinary, whilst truly making the character his own. He was the type of villain that left a significant lasting impression, and very much amplified the cinematic experience.
That was a major issue for Matrix 4 - Hugo wasn't playing Smith. With all due respect to the other actors, Huge Weaving as Smith is as impossible to replace as Cate Blanchett was impossible to replace as Galadriel.
A characteristic of Hugo Weaving that made him perfect for this role is his perfect diction.
Just how a computer-controlled agent should talk like.
@@AlmostEthical A fun fact: You are talking about two aussies. Hugo was born in British Africa, but he was educated in Australia.
@@AkiraNakamoto Haha. Every now and then we produce some good ones.
Alan Rickman would have been very good,
Hugo Weaving is a highly underrated actor. He is one of those artists who “ becomes” the character they portray. He wasn’t just Hugo “playing” agent smith. He WAS agent smith. He wasn’t just acting as Elrond. He WAS Elrond
"Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson."
I've never heard of or seen anyone saying Weaving is anything but an great actor. Where do you see him portrayed as underrated?
@@Thurgosh_OG he isn't the household name that let's say, Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise are.
@@Thurgosh_OG Red Skull in Captain America First Avenger
@@jamesmartin9401 I was expecting him to say, "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr Baggins, we've been waiting for you."
My favorite thing about Weaving's acting in this is his memorable diction, but this video caught my two favorite moments of his performance. The first is when he mentions Neo helping his landlady take out the garbage and his lips curl in utter distaste for something as small and innocent as that. The second is when he's interrupted at the end of his interrogation of Morpheus, and he has this total "hand caught in the cookie jar" reaction. He was clearly caught doing something you shouldn't do and that was my first real clue that he was a separate threat from the Agents as a whole.
I always saw Weaving's Agent Smith cadence to be more in line with a sort of sadistic Carl Sagan. He was just so damn perfect in this role. Lord of the Rings and V for Vendetta are also unforgettable.
holy shit you nailed it
Sadistic Carl Sagan..?? Can u pls explain this to me.
"Sadistic Carl Sagan". What???!😆
He plays a machine and yet he's the best actor in the entire film
Eh... Yeah you're right.
Give more respect to the others.
Look at Patrick in T2
Robocop, terminator, the matrix, im starting to see a pattern here
@Phoenix dm me, I need to learn more from you.
"It's the smell!"
The delivery of that line is... so good.
'If there is such a thing.' The whole thing underscores how even Smith doesn't entirely know why he is repulsed by the Matrix, he just feels it... not unlike how Cypher could look at his CGI steak, explain that it is not there and he knows it, and still manage to loose himself in eating it.
@@Outside85 Absolutely.
That's racist
I liked right after that. "I can -taste- your -stink-". This line and its delivery was just memorable to me. Not sure why. But now I play this line in my head when there's a bad smell.
@@thedevilsadvocate5210 More like "speciesist"... if there is such a thing.
One of the ultimate villains of cinema - cold, calculating, ruthless, difficult to beat and/or destroy, but not without a sociable personality and certain approach to life all his very own. Period.
I also have to appreciate how he created the game Changed
I always find his fight with Morpheus the scariest scene in the film. We already know Morpheus is a great fighter after his fight with Neo. Probably the best fighter in the real world! So to see him not just loose but loose badly to Smith who doesn’t even flinch when hit, it really drives home the point these machines, especially Smith, are no joke!
And then Neo becomes OP and they are a joke for the last 2 movies 🤣🤣
I like how he also hates the Matrix, because he is trapped in it just as much as the people are. And rather than team up with the people to escape, he resents them for being necessary for the Matrix to survive.
He cannot team up with them. He is part of the Matrix so the Matrix would inevitably stop his progress. His best chance was stopping Zion.
In that case he’s an idiot
Look up the "Stanford prison experiment" to understand the psychology of smith.
Even simulated jailors can be driven to hatred of their simulated captors.
He doesn't want to escape the matrix, he just wants to stop existing.
Agent Smith is a suicidal Omnicidal Maniac.
@@ireallyreallyhategoogle Smith is a part of the Matrix. So if it goes, he goes.
The most scary thing about smith is that even before he is "set free" from the system we see how human he really is. He's unpredictable unlike a simple program.
that was one thing about him that always unnerved me...
like they said, when he finally lets his madness SHOW, and we realize that he's not even a MACHINE...just a MONSTER in a fancy suit
@@abigails4088 He's not a monster, he's more human than most humans.
@@Rishi123456789 As a matter of fact, when I first watched the Matrix, I saw Agent Smith, NOT Neo, as the hero. He just appears to be a monster to those who lack his traits, and cannot understand his inner workings. Many heroes of human history had been similarly despised by those who just couldn't understand them. How could they understand the kind of people who have traits that set them apart from average humans? To me, Agent Smith is the ideal human - someone who had taken the time and effort to understand the average humans and just trying to give them what they want.
If he really is a monster, he wouldn't even bother to give the option of cooperating to Thomas Anderson.
Well like the Architect AI that became sentient ...eventually Agent Smith and other programmes eg Oracle, Key Master, Merovingian became sentient free willed or if still subordinate became self aware enough to realise their subordination. If they couldn't totally break free/break their rules of existence/coding they could at least subvert/bend the rules within exploitable parameters.
@@Rishi123456789 he's not a monster...
HES JUST AHEAD OF THE CURVE!
/sigh
I miss Ledger...
when he interogates Neo, "and you help your landlady carry out her garbage" that almost amused look that he shakes off just in time to not violate the character of Agent Smith... priceless, my favorite line from the movie.
If I'm not mistaken, Hugo Weaving is also a stage actor. And from what I've noticed those types of actors bring something that your typical Hollywood actor can't. Idk what it is or how to describe it, but it really adds to the movie/TV.
Neo's original name was Thomas Anderson, not John.
Probably confused with John Wick.
I was about to comment the same thing. tsk tsk tsk.
Tom Wick. 😊
@@tun-tunninc.6492 that's a fun one!
John Doe?
This is the best Hugo Weaving performance ever followed by V in "V for Vendetta," but what made the character of Agent Smith such a compelling villain is that, on numerous viewings, I really started to see him through a sympathetic lens. He's just as stuck in the matrix as the rest of them and is trying his hardest to escape, willing to do whatever to be free from it all yet is forced to be a ruthless villain because he's a part of keeping everyone stuck in the matrix.
I actually hold his V performance as my favorite. Either way, Hugo Weaving is an amazing character actor.
@@watcherofwatchers Mine too, though part of that being all the (intended) Phantom of the Opera connections V has, to the point our phandom has practically adopted it as one of our own. Of course, whenever he disguises himself as William Rockwood, I always say "Whoop there's the Smith voice." 😆
..until he got greedy and wanted to destroy both the human and machine worlds.
@@iamidnight9731 It's because Smith found out about the cycles. Instead of dying only for the same mistakes to happen again and again. Destroy it all, Smith is right in a way because if the machines are just doing this because they can then nobody has freewill.
forgot he did V also, man Hugo is a boss.
His monologue about humanity in the first film is my favourite quote from any movie
In my humble and honest opinion, Smith is the perfect representation of someone with an identity crisis.
The other agents are 100 percently robotic with no inner life, devoid of any emotions or personality what so ever.
Humans on the other hand, blue or red pilled, are organic beings, with feelings, ambitions, dreams and ideas.
Smith starts his existence as an agent until he develops feelings of anger and inadecuacy, becoming humanized through the process.
He wants to escape, but cannot possibly do so, because he has no physical body to speak of.
In a way he is like Neo, except he has no Morpheus.
He has no friends, because there is no one else like him, leaving him all alone in the world.
Thinking about it, that's kind of depressing, which makes me understand his relief after being destroyed by Neo and coming back no longer bound to the Matrix' limitations.
He only finds peace in assimilating everything, creating chaos and destruction along the way, essentially making him the Joker to Neos Batman.
I love how Smith is a different entity than the rest of the agents. This is some amazing acting and change of pace than some 1 dimensional villain
His not the villain...people are
@@PeterMalkovich552 Does that mean Neo is Michael?
Remember when the other agent ask him "what are you doing?" during the Morpheus interrogation? He was up to something by that time
he is an agent who truly has agentcy
@@PeterMalkovich552 Neo is Adam. The first man to defy God aka the Matrix and make his own tribe of people. The Matrix both needs this and fears it at the same time.
Agent Smith was terrifying AND a such a great character, because we saw him as a relentless hunting machine and, after Morpheus' interrogation, we understood his motives and related to them. Fighting for free will is one thing, but fighting to escape a hell is something else.
I'm no .. "character". Can't say the same for you... Wake up!
TBH I find Smith the scariest in the first movie, just because of how calm he is even with his 'slipup' when he was interrogating Morpheus. When that level of anger and disgust is _quiet_ , that's when the truly horrendous is going to go down. When he started yelling and raving it just lessened the threat for me. He was focused, methodical, ruthless and _righteous_ in the first movie, which is just terrifying in someone who hates that deeply.
Hugo Weaving is incredible. His range is off the charts. Agent Smith to Elrond. Chaotic Evil and Lawful Good. I’ll watch anything he is in.
I don't think it was a matter of Smith thinking he was right. Smith was just filled with spite. He hated his existence, but couldn't stomach just ending it in defeat. He couldn't allow himself to just be deleted. That would have invalidated everything he had been through. Denied the very reason he was created. So he wanted to tear it all down, tear down the system that had trapped him in such an empty existence. Smith knew if he won he would end, but it would be on his terms for once. Neo was the keystone of the system. If Smith could corrupt *him* then he could render the matrix unrecoverable and gain some satisfaction before the end.
Smith outright explained his motivations in his reintroduction in the second movie. He wasn't there because he was free, he was there because he was *not* free. Smith couldn't escape his purpose and he hated the Matrix and the system for it.
When he absorbs Neo, he asks, "is it over?" to which the former Neo nods.
And it is. Neo was plugged into the machines that ran the Matrix, and by taking over him, Smith reconnected himself and every one of his duplicates to said machines, who promptly deleted him entirely. Did he find relief in knowing that even though he "lost," he was being destroyed, receiving his wish for the cycle he was trapped in to end? Was that what he meant by "is it over?", or was he merely referring to his victory over Neo?
One could argue he may have been referring to the cyclic nature of the Matrix: Neo was the last in a line of hundreds of "Neos", each bringing an element of refinement to the Matrix program in pursuit of a utopia that better suited all who lived in it. The final piece was put in place, the mission was accomplished. It was over.
Good writing made great by an incredible actor.
Agreed. Every action does not have to be right, or wrong. Some things are done because they must be done. Necessity is not analogous to morality.
@@nonickels8975 Necessity may not be analogous to morality, but this is only because it's dependent on it. One's moral convictions determine what desires count as a necessity and which may be opted in and out of on a whim.
@@nonickels8975 It’s not Utilitarianism if it’s entire goal is to serve one man’s grievances.
I don't think that's right either. & the gender reassignment surgery of the people who made these may be a clue as to what they were going for with Smith.
He _is_ trapped. But he *recognized this* & isn't really angry at the trap itself, which is mere existence. But how the trap is arranged. The loop _keeps him_ trapped in a part of itself. The *loop* is purposefully kept by The Matrix.
& *that's* a _choice._ Not _his choice_ though.
He doesn't go after the Matrix until he sees doing so as a way to end the loop. So there's something _within_ existence that he wants ended, & well doing anything _you want_ regardless of what it does to others _is_ egocentric, but life demands much of that for its own continuance. (Ayn Rand would _LOVE_ what I just said).
He was okay with not being free, but hated what he was specifically trapped by within that lack of freedom. It's kind of like how we go about every day within the very limited confines of what the society we live in allow us, then try to pretend that we're free _within_ that. That's a delusion. Smith *knows* this & tries to destroy those constraints upon himself.
Food for thought.
Hugo Weaving is an absolutely amazing actor…
He even mastered the challenge of acting under a mask.
Just a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate.
Actually, when Agent Smith transforms Neo, he strikes me as relieved, with an underlying sadness - just watch his face at 8:25 . Yes, there is a moment of triumph, but it's immediately overcome by those other feelings. I mean, look at the way he closes his eyes.
What an actor.
Absolutely, the gasp of triumph, immediately followed by the eyebrows falling and sadness.
His acting is one of the main reasons I love these movies.
Finally more Matrix content. I'm glad this movie is getting the recognition it deserves, even now. Honestly one of the best films of all time, with Agent Smith being the most fascinatingly awesome characters within it.
I see what you did there.
This movie defined my childhood and has defined my life. Its the reason i'm an IT specialist. I could even do the Neo bullet-time bend till i was almost at the ground. Now i wonder how i was able to do that with my feet actually flat on the ground. Damn, I miss being young.
Weaving’s Smith is easily the most entertaining character in all Matrix films
Oh come on, those white twins with dreadlocks were pretty damn cool if you ask anybody who knows what cool ass shit is.
Me? Me too.
My favorite movie trilogy of all times. Smith and Neo .. Awesome exchanges between eachother.
For a computer program or AI, Agent Smith is frighteningly human in his emotions. Emotions raised to the level of the machine.
I think that’s why he’s able to do what he does and what makes him so dangerous (and deranged). No other agents, like the previous iterations working for the Merovingian, are capable of expressing thoughts and feelings like smith. But Smith ultimately isn’t human, so the process that goes into a humans thoughts and feelings is totally absent.
Smith is my favourite matrix character simply because he is one of the most emotional characters to me. Hear me out, it's not that he is stone cold, it's that his emotions only rotate between anger, frustration, jealousy and confusion, they are all in the bad side of the wheel so it's easy to dismiss them and not register them as human.
His whole gimmick at first is that he wants to break free and get control, however in a scene in the second movie finding free will seems to have burdened him further "We are not free because without purpose, we would not exist" yada yada -/- "we are here to take away what you took from us, purpose" I feel like he is trapped in a hell loop of his own making because of the qualities he lacks. He can't find happiness in free will because he can't feel the good emotions that come with it. He also can't find peace in absence of purpose because he doesn't know how to exist without it. He is a tragic figure and so relatable.
He has always been one of my top movie villains. I even felt that one could argue that he was truly The One. Neo was born human thus technically never truly part of the machine. But Smith was a part of the machine. Born from it. And then totally broke free, even managing to escape into the real world. That in itself is truly terrifying because I think at that point he was indistinguishable from a living being.
The way he says "Mr. Anderson" gets me every time
Amazing breakdown 👏🏾
1:46 his name in the matrix is Thomas Anderson, not John Anderson
You´re mixing up characters... Was John Anderson in this movie and Thomas Constantine and Thomas Wick in the others...
His name is definitely Thomas A. Anderson
@@dexter2811 how funny would it be if at the end of the last Wick movie he wakes up in the pod from the 4th matrix.
Hugo Weaving is madly underrated. My admiration to him grows by the day.
The way he always goes “Mr. Anderrson” always gets me
As someone how watch this trilogy around 30 times. Yes, he is definitely one of the craziest and scariest villain. Clockwork Orange/Joker are really close. The craziness in both characters are brilliant. All 3 characters are the same and so different at the same time is crazy. Same: All have one word to commend, “termination” and the difference is the way each of them go at it.
Smith's view of humanity is shared by many in our culture today. A fine irony.
I became obsessed with the Matrix just this summer, and I can safely say that Agent Smith is my favorite character in cinema. Hugo Weaving does an insanely good job bringing him to life and despite how terrifying of a villain he may be, it's a joy to see him on screen everytime I watch the films
Agent Smith is always a great villain
Hugo was doing an impression of an impression the whole movie. He's mastered the uncanny valley of facial expressions.
it really is extremely underrated acting if you think about what he had to in this film, not many could do it
It really helps a lot that Hugo Weaving does such a great job portraying Agent Smith.
That fact that he is being played by elrond makes him very terrifying
Smith is akin to Lucifer. Hes made to serve a greater purpose and isnt happy about it. He sees the majesty of all his overlords try to give humanity and hes jealous and angry about it when they rebuke it. Theres a lot of aspects about his character that line up with Lucifer, not perfectly mind you, but in the context of the films where there is a large focus on religions, it tracks that he falls into this part of the story to a degree. He removes himself from service and trys to destroy the world and make it his own. Its not a perfect analogy, but I feel like theres something there. At least thats how Ive always seen it.
I think that comparison works perfectly! especially since Neo is basically Jesus, having Smith be Lucifer fits like peanut butter and jelly Lol
Nice analogy
I never made that connection. Brilliant!
That's actually a damn good analogy. What makes this character even more scarier than Lucifer though it's that it starts out as a simple man, not a god, which makes him very relatable. It's one of the very few villains in cinematography that I look at and I go "I understand you". It scares me that as much as I think I'm a kind and loyal person, if I would be annoyed out of mind for centuries and suddenly given immense power, I might very well not use it for good.
One of the Siblings has some degree in religious studies, the other has a degree in Philosophy. Thomas "Neo" Anderson is Jesus* who sacrificed himself for humanity, Trinity is Mary Magdalene who saw his death and resurrection, Morpheus is John the Baptist, the Agents are the High Priests who condemned, and Smithy is Pontius Pilate but evil af. Then the ship's name is one of the kings of Babylon, the place Zion is so obvious I won't put more details in. Luci also works for Smith too, wouldn't doubt it if they wanted to insert a bit of that as well.
The first Matrix movie is literally "Plato's Allegory of the Cave but with Gun Jesus".
*His full name is a breakdown too. Thomas = Doubting Thomas as Neo wasn't aware of "himself". Neo = New. Anderson literally means "Son of Anders" which derives from greek "man" to mean "son of man". His name literally says "Doubting New Son of Man" as he only finds his way well.. when he "knows thyself" like the Oracle (-of Delphi-) told him. Dude is Jesus.
Awesome movie. Great villain. Nice video. Keep up the good work.
wow this character is so underrated just cuz no one ever talks about him but of course here comes this astounding channel with a whole video Yay
I never really considered Agent Smith to be terrifying. It was a great performance. Methodical and relentless sure, but not terrifying.
He's not "terrifying" in the traditional monster sense. He's not terrifying in the "he a big, ugly, strong, and deadly monster" thing. It's like the "uncanny valley" sort of uneasiness. He something that LOOKS human, but his mannerisms and motivations absolutely and coldly inhuman.
@@SirMattomaton I don't see him as terrifying either. Not even in your stated sense. We don't all interpret things the same way as we watch. Lacking empathy and "normal" motivations doesn't make you inhuman. I have a friend who's incapable of expressing empathy, but he values my presence in a utilitarian way he describes as "valuable insight into topics of interest to him." If my presence is valued, what more can I ask for. With Agent Smith, he knows what he wants, and goes after it without hesitation. It's not terrifying, it's impressive. I see him as an antagonist, not a villain. Perspective flipped, he'd be the protagonist from my point of view. Without my friend, I think I would see him as you do, which is cool. People we know can change how we interpret stories:)
@@yankeery12 It sounds like your friend is a high-functional psychopath (non-criminal obviously)... Be very careful with that friend of yours. High-functional psychopaths do tend to be charismatic, self driven, intelligently calculating, even very friendly. But they are master manipulators. I am willing to bet that friend of yours is very quick to anger when things don't go exactly their way. I say be careful because that person WILL turn on you and through you under a bus in a moment that strictly benefits them... without a *single* pang of remorse for it. They will dissolve years-long friendships and relationships if it benefits them in a moment, or if they think they have nothing more to gain from it in their personal quest for self engrandisement. They are calculating but, also neurotic narcissists with absolutely no sense of loyalty or deep connections to anyone. I have personally seen such people go from being in a happy marriage (newly weds) to divorcing them within weeks for someone "better"... and have absolutely no idea how bad that makes them look to others. All in the name of their self image.
@@yankeery12 Smith only did what he was programmed to do. He's just like Neo in that he thought he was rebelling against the system when in fact he was only fulfilling his intended purpose. In his case, it was to act as the cataclysmic system crash described by the Architect which would eliminate humanity inside the Matrix by turning everyone into a copy of himself.
@@thomasbravado - I see Agent Smith as initially just a machine attempt at a very advanced Agent, meant specifically to infiltrate & bring down Zion. He’s a wild-shot, dice role of a new, unique Agent, given extra resources, guile, smarts, strategic thinking, and leadership over other Agents in his mission for catching Morpheus and getting the key codes to Zion.
(I even wonder whether his machine-given mission was not originally Zion but just to bring a tighter control on the infiltrating, hacker humans, and perhaps he then extrapolated that base mission into “destroying Zion will stop the hackers for good!”)
However, after Neo dismantles/kills him, parts of Neo and Agent Smith merge or exchange. Smith not only gains a kind of special ability from Neo-(either inherently, as the one, or perhaps accidentally, from the “replication” incident just before he was freed?)-, but he is also “freed” from the constraints of his direct programming/machine world mission & control, and instead, he is given “free will.” Problem is, his free will is to now try to bring down both the Matrix and the humans; I assume this is the leftover of his programming as a hunting, decimating algorithm, set to bring order and control to the uncontrolled humans, in and out of the matrix.
The "I must be free" speech gives me chills. Smith is a machine with genuine humanity who absolutely despises humans. We get the sense he's different from the rest and it's haunting... And Weaving was the PERFECT actor for it.
Lol...that feeling of existence...isn't exclusive to humans.
He knows his being caged up and restrained
I always loved how the agents' green suits made them look like they're holographic projections of the green code around them
His enunciation makes me think of Chris Hanson. I fully expect while watching the Matrix for Smith to tell Neo to "have a seat, please" and "what are you doing here?"
The matrix is one of my favorite movies of all time! I'm so glad that you are making a video about it, super unexpected but incredibly refreshing
I still say “have you ever stood and stared at it”whenever I look out of a window
I just discovered your page and I love it ! Big fan
One of my favorite characters in any movie ever, and he’s an incredible actor.
We need a tier list for the Most Terrifying Villains In Film History
1) Joker
2) Darth Vader
3) Thanos
4) Jigsaw
5) Hannibal Lecter
6) Ghostface
7) Freddy Krueger
8) Jason Voorhees
9) T-1000
10) Tony Montana
11) Commodus
12) Davy Jones
13) Magneto
14) Norman Stansfield
15) Agent Smith
16) Norman Bates
17) Voldemort
18) Sauron
19) Nurse Ratched
20) Alex De Large
Great list. I have a top ten list of underrated villains.
1. Johnny Ringo from Tombstone
2. Eric Qualan from Cliffhanger
3. Nino Brown from New Jack City
4. Cam'ron from Paid N Full
5. Bricktop from Snatch
6. Lil Z from City of God
7. Sgt Waters from A Soldier's Story
8. Col. Jessup from A Few Good Men
9. God from In Too Deep
10. Edward Norton from Primal Fear.
@@KirillEnin27 Tell us you've never seen No Country for Old Men without telling us you've never seen No Country for Old Men
@@KirillEnin27 ........no. Lol.
@@KirillEnin27 I dont know all, agree with some, but disagree with a couple. Although, yes, horror villains are scary, doesn't make them great villains though.
Magneto is not terrifying, he just wanted a world where mutants were accepted and could live freely. He wouldn't have been a villain if that wasn't the problem. His actions were bad, but his motives were completely reasonable.
And MCU Thanos is just a complete moron. Once his goal is revealed he becomes a joke. But before that reveal, yeah he's quite intimidating.
Most "terrifying" villains are stupid once they've revealed their reasons. Which is why villains like Smith's motive actually sound reasonable, despite his actions.
The way he elongated certain words and spoke with an odd canter was off-putting. Little details like that add up to turn a good performance into a great performance
@Astrid Alaniz for sure!
2:37 Damn, Smith did the whole "what mouth?" way before Wanda. Also he's basically just like Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds, doing what he has to so he can be done with it.
10-15 years ago there was a fan made Matrix 4 script. It was absolutely brilliant how all the pieces fell on their places in the puzzle.
I never thought of Agent Smith as the head agent but it makes total since. This is why I love this channel. Delving deep into the psyche of a villain or hero and explaining what makes them tick. Thank you for your videos.
He's never explicitly described as the head agent. I missed that too. However, it's clear he's more powerful, as Nerdtastic claims.
Totally agree that he is one of the most scary and thought-provoking villains
“Can’t even bother to be be angry.” 😂😂
I always saw the duality of Neo and Agent Smith like this, mainly in the first movie
Neo was struggling with what his role would be, and what it would mean to others
Smith was struggling with his already predetermined role, and what it meant to himself
That monologue of Smith's in the first Matrix is a modern classic villain performance. It's my favorite part of the movie. Thank you for this video on his quietly powerful menace.
Stay well out there everybody, and God bless you, friends. ✝️ :)
He's one of my favorite screen villains...
Heros...
@@algorithmicalychallenged.291 Bless your little heart
@@DefenestrateYourself he finally got out of the matrix and by doing so freedom the humans.
If he did fight for his freedom as hard as he did no one in the story would have been freed.
Wonderful video, one that I give a rather rare comment to for it's on-point analysis
A hero - and a film - is often defined by the strength of the villain. Weaving's performance elevates Neo - and The Matrix - to iconic status.
The movie score from the interrogation scene is one of the best scores. Sounds that mimic a Machine reving up. Totally awesome
I always marvelled more at the performance because the only movie I knew Weaving for at the time was Pricilla Queen of the Desert and while there’s a small through line between Tig and Smith it blew my mind.
My favourite line from Pricilla Queen of the Desert was: "Don't send any money now."
Great take man. Only thing for me personally that I would add for my own experience loving this trilogy so much is that he "terrifies" me for these reasons you've brought up, but also because a lot of his greatest lines/statements are undeniably true to the reality of everything we know.
I mean I suppose that is covered in this video if you read between the lines here and there, but I feel it has to be bluntly said. I was maybe 16-18 when the first came out and loved/followed the franchise all the way till now, and as I've grown older, though I am still in many ways a rebellious spirit, I have agreed more and more with some of Smith's beliefs. Like I'm a mix of the foundations of both Neo and Smith, and really that in-between spot bleeds over into many aspects of my life like politics, spirituality, philosophy, etc.
One of my favourite performances. Up there with Michael Corlene, Amon Goeth and Randle McMurphy. He played this character flawlessly.
Weaving as Agent Smith is definitely one of my favorite cinematic performances of all time.
When he showed the picture of the wachowskis I died lmao bc I forgot they transitioned
When I think back many of my favorite films has Hugo Weaving in them. And I loved his voice acting for Megatron!
His calmness, strength and knowledges makes him one of the most terrifying villains.
Hey Hugo. Good job! 👍👍👍
I cannot believe that Weaving's cadence wasn't directly lifted from Carl Sagan. The similarity is uncanny.
Cannot say whether or not it was and I haven't seen an interview of Weaving speaking about the role. If it's there, it's not so openly claimed as Stellan Skarsgard's inspiration for their portrayal of Baron Harkonnen or Christian Bale's for Patrick Bateman, to give some notable examples.
I did smith's monolouge in theater class in hs as my audition for the advanced class. I had my friend sit in the chair and he told me after that it was an almost terrifying experience. Such a great character.
This never hit me before but he reminds me a lot of Seymour in FFX; sick of the cycle, wants out, and willing to take the whole world down with himself.
Now I gotta go back and watch the trilogy again…
I'd like a full hour-long Matrix breakdown please!
Check out the channel 'matrix explained'. Even though since the release of the last film they've completely stop making videos up until that point they've got hundreds of in-depth videos and breakdowns that you may find interesting
Sophie from Mars also has an excellent 2+ hour video on the sequels.
I remember growing up with these movies and every time agent Smith entered the screen you just knew some shit was about to go down. The mere sight of him was intimidating
The confrontation between Smith and Neo in Reloaded is great dialogue but also amazing body language. The way Smith keeps marching forward towards Neo makes me so uneasy. On the flip side, the humans were always told to run whenever they saw an agent. But now, Neo is so confident in his abilities that as Smith moves forward, he turns and squares up to him. Chilling 🥶🥶
Hugh Weaving owned the late 90s / early 2000s with roles in four franchises: The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, Transformers and the MCU. If you look at his filmography there are a lot of projects that begin with The.
Lots and lots of stories start with ''the'', even more in other languages where abstract nouns are preceded by ''the'', for example ''el amor en los tiempos del cólera'' which is called ''love in the time of cholera'' in English
"What Makes Agent Smith One Of The Most Terrifying Villains In Film History"
Because deep down we know he is right.
Humanity is deeply, intrinsically flawed. It is how we respond to that fact that makes all the difference. Do we reach for a better tomorrow like Neo, or declare humanity beyond saving like Smith?
@@benjaminoechsli1941 Yes, I do agree, but When you look at the behavior of the human killer ape, it seems to me we make no progress at all. We only make technological progress by the grace of a few highly intelligent humans, but the rest.... Just look at us, look at the happenings in the world.
In the company of non-humans, I would feel ashamed to say I am a human. We are such a miserable, disgraceful bunch.
Things in art that make us uncomfortable don't only disconcert us because they reveal *the* truth about us; they make us uncomfortable because they show us a perspective that is threatening. Nothing is broken beyond repair, it's just a matter of at what point do we decide the pain of trying to fix it is worth more than the potential of it being restored, or reinvented.
The speech about humans being a virus is one of the most amazing things I’ve heard in a movie! It’s so true. And scary.
@@benjaminoechsli1941 Humanity is only flawed because we don’t know everything. Our flaws aren’t absolute.
Excellent video
spot on!
My favorite villain of all time for sure.
Hugo Weaving. One of the best actors of his generation.
One of the best parts of the interrogation, was a small throw away line that was so good at the identity of Smith as a machine. After he tells Morphius "It's the smell!", he says something very softly, almost to himself. He says "If there is such a thing". It's a computer program feeling like he is absolutely infected by something that he actually isn't even convinced is real. But it's effect on his psyche is definite.
It’s not Agent Smith you fear it’s Hugo Weaving’s dedication to his character that will send a chill down your spine
who's here after the muliversus trailer
He's terrifying because it's kinda hard to argue with his assessment of humanity. "You're a disease" "you go somewhere and use up all the resources and then move on to somewhere else" but is he wrong though?
Yes he is. We do migrate. We can act like viruses, this is partially true. But for everything we destroy we can also build and repair and we do this as well.
Ironic that it is Smith who in the end is the virus and Neo the cure.
It's just a very extremist view of something much more complex than that, so yeah you can definitely make a counter point to that. One glaring issue is the very question of what intelligent life is supposed to be. Should intelligent life just sit on its back and watch everything go by without advancing forward? You see, greed is not the only reason humans take so many resources. It's also because of our curiosity and the want for evolution, technological and eventually biological too. Then there's soemthing to consider: if resources are just sitting there and aren't being used by anyone else, what is the point of them to begin with? Lesser evolved life forms obviously won't know what to do with them either. There is a difference between unnecessary cruelty and giving a meaning for one's existence. Both of which happen, but neither of which should be boiled down to one or the other.
I find it's easy to agree with such a reductionist view when it comes from a villain because we want to empathise with them, to understand how they got to where they are and to confirm to ourselves, that they are human and have redeeming qualities about them. Because we see ourselves in their image, so it's comforting if they can be redeemed in some way. The other reason is, it's okay to self loathe because in most people's eyes, that's fair and is not affecting anyone but you. Self criticism has always been an integral part of humans and it seems like a wise perspective to take.
The error that many make however, is that these villains are still villains for a reason. They take these extremist views on certain subjects and go with them to the end of their lives. They often fail to see a grey area where there is plenty, and instead go ahead with the confirmation bias of black and white.
In that way, many people are actually similar to villains, except they either prohibit themselves from doing evil due to a moral code, or simply lack the will to act on these impulsive thoughts
This is the essence of the difference between fear, and dread. The unpredictability of the Mad Men inspires fear because you never know what's going to happen at any given moment, but the calm cool and collected disdain of one such as agent Smith guarantees that you can be certain of what will happen, that it will be unpleasant, and that it will be unescapable.
The shifting into bodies really scared the crap out of me as a kid!