Because Christianity is the predominant religious tradition in the United States, it is only natural that Christian themes and interpretations of The Matrix will also be dominant in discussions about this film series. The presence of Christian ideas in the the Matrix films is simply undeniable, but does this allow us to conclude that The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded are Christian movies?
First, let's review some of the obvious Christian symbols that appear in the film. The main character, played by Keanu Reeves, is named Thomas Anderson: the first name Thomas may be an allusion to the Doubting Thomas of the gospels, while etymologically Anderson means "son of man," a title used by Jesus in reference to himself.
Another character, Choi, says to him "Hallelujah. You're my savior, man. My own personal Jesus Christ." A plate in Morpheus's ship Nebuchadnezzar bears the inscription "Mark III No. 11," a probable allusion to the Bible: Mark 3:11 reads, "Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, 'You are the Son of God!'"
Anderson's hacker alias Neo is an anagram for the One, a title which is used in the film to refer to Keanu Reeves' character. He is The One who is prophesied to liberate humanity from the chains that imprison them in their computer-generated illusion. First, however, he has to die - and he is killed in room 303. But, after 72 seconds (analogous to 3 days), Neo rises again. Soon thereafter, he also ascends up into the heavens. The first movie itself happened to be released on Easter weekend, 1999.
According to the Architect in The Matrix Reloaded, Neo isn't actually the first One; instead, he is really the sixth One. Numbers are not meaningless in these films and perhaps the first five are meant to symbolize t ...