Skip to main content

In the Matrix, why didn't the agent "Dodge This" bullet?


In the Matrix movie, Neo shoots several rounds at an agent, only to see the agent flex and twist to dodge every bullet. When Neo runs out of bullets, the agent tries to shoot him, only to be stopped when Trinity points a gun at his head and says, "Dodge this."






By estimating the distance the bullets travel when Neo tries to shoot him (about 40 to 50 feet), and knowing the speed of the bullets (A typical 9mm projectile moves near 1400 feet per second.), and the number of bullets fired (I counted 20 shots from Neo's 2 handguns.), you can calculate the agent's reaction time at around 0.028 to .035 seconds.


The math to calculate his reaction time is simple. (50 feet / 1400 fps = .0357 seconds) The bullet took .0357 seconds to cross the distance between Neo and the agent, so the agent's reaction time must be even faster. That reaction time must include the time to perceive bullet coming, time to make a decision on how to dodge, and then actually move. If he dodged just one bullet, you can call that lucky or maybe just fast enough. He dodges 20 in rapid succession, so he must have a really fast reaction time.


The math to calculate how much time he did have is simple too. Let's say half a second for Trinity to say the "D" in "Dodge this." .500 seconds / .035 seconds is 14.3. He could have dodged her bullet 14 times before she even finished the letter "D". If you consider the entire sentence as two seconds, then he could have dodged 30 to 40 bullets in that time.


He could have waltzed around the rooftop, killed her with a single hand chop to her neck, killed Neo the same way, and still have time left over to ponder the meaning of life as the bullet left the barrel.


The agent didn't dodge Trinity's bullet. He doesn't do a thing except stand there and take a single bullet.


Why didn't the agent "dodge this"?


Edit to add sources of information.





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Do the Kwikspell courses work?

In Harry Potter we are introduced to Kwikspell course in The Chamber of Secrets (and never hear about it again). We see Filch taking courses, presumably by mail. The descriptions of Kwikspell make me think it is for people who are weak in magic (kind of like how Neville was supposed to be when he was younger), but had magic in them nonetheless. However, Ron's comments later in the chapter make it sound like it is mainly for Squibs to learn magic. However, it is strongly implied through out all the books that Squibs are essentially Muggles, and will never be able to do magic. How then is a Kwikspell course supposed to work? Do we have any information to know if it works at all? Is it a scam? An answer from any level of canon is welcome. Answer Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs. The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials. Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: ‘I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke...

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

languages - Do we ever see written English in the Star Wars films?

In Empire Strikes Back , we see a transcription of what R2's beeps and bloops mean, but it's not English (sorry for the low quality, it's from the 2004 DVDs): I'd assume it's what Basic looks like when written, but is there some point in the the Star Wars films we see written English instead? (This sort of spun off from a discussion in How do people understand astromech droids? .) Answer At one point there was English but it has been phased out in subsequent versions of the films. Chris Gould at DVD Active did a comparison of all versions of each of the Star Wars films, and in his comparison of Episode 4 , there are a couple of screenshots showing how the power gauge for the Death Star tractor beam was changed. I imagine there are probably more to be found in his other comparisons but I haven't got around to reading those yet.

Was the "pure soul" of Harry's what had really hurt Voldemort?

In the Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort possesses Harry, and it hurts. Greatly. I think that Dumbledore explained that it was because Voldemort's rotten soul was incapable of assimilating Harry's pure soul, that Voldemort didn't understand the love and friendship etc that Harry has in his heart. But, I think it was a lie. Remember that in Deathly Hallows, while looking for information regarding Horcruxes, it is discovered that it is in fact possible to merge a soul fragment back, but that the process was extremely painful. Now then, if Voldemort tried to possess Harry, and Harry had a fragment of Voldemort's soul, I think that it could have been the true cause of Voldemort's pain: the fact of having his soul so close of another fragment. I think that Dumbledore knew that fact, but had to lie to Harry because it was inappropriate to let him know that he had one of Voldemort's soul fragments at the moment. Is that right? Or was it truly the pure soul of Harry's...