Review: The Matrix Reloaded

I’ve tried to keep the review relatively spoiler-free, but the discussion will probably get you more spoiled than a $5000 gift certificate to Mr. Bulky. Hey, why are you still reading this? Go see the movie already.

Cast and Crew


The full listing is on the
IMDB
. You saw the first one, you know most of these people already.
Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Lawrence Fishburne, Wachowski brothers, et
cetera.

Premise


Picking up where
The Matrix
left off, Neo is now more-or-less a superhero. Meanwhile, those adorable
squid robots are about to launch an attack on Zion, the last human city.

High Point


Predictably, the fight choreography. The twenty minutes or so of random
shooting, kung-fu, and a little “Shogun” on the highway pretty much rocks.

Low Point


The ending. No, really. Just like
The Empire Strikes Back,
The Matrix Reloaded has a squirrely ending that leaves our heroes
pretty much screwed, and the world about to go back to Hell in a
handbasket.

The Scores

It’s hard to be original when you’re following something as
original as The Matrix. The originality here comes mainly from
the impressive fusion of disparate elements. Zion has elements of
cyberpunk, steampunk, and tribal beliefs, and is still somewhat
believable. For pulling off an environment where I can buy into primitive
drumming and powered exoskeletons within ten minutes of each other, they
get 5 out of 6.

The effects were impressive, but we all saw the first movie, and
expected no less. There was lots and lots of that nifty bullet-time stuff,
obviously, but they didn’t seem to really break much new ground here.
“Bullet-Time” made everyone say “damn, that was cool;” nothing here really
stood out like that did a few years back. What they did, though, was of
course spectacular; I’ll give it a 4 out of 6.

Story? You mean there was a story mixed in with all the
ass-kicking?

Sorry, that was a bit flippant. Like the prequel (and I know there are a
lot of comparisons between this movie and The Matrix, but it’s
the best thing I can think of at one in the morning), the story isn’t
much. Philosophy Lite. All the moral dilemmas, now with 50% less Deep
Thought. 4 out of 6 for a good solid effort, though if The
Matrix Revolutions
lets me down I reserve the right to come back to
this and edit the score six months hence.

The acting score suffers, not because of Keanu Reeves (who has
actually improved a bit, or maybe it’s just that his role now mainly
consists of standing round in cool shades and fighting a whole lot), but
ironically because of Lawrence Fishburne. All the weird
pseudo-Shakespearean monologues just annoyed me. Apparently Morpheus’ job
before being pulled out was as a cult leader. Merely 3 points for
this one…


Emotional Response: Well, I had a strong urge to hunt down the
Wachowski brothers for their in media res ending…


All the Neo-and-Trinity kissy stuff felt a bit forced and heavy-handed.
“Look, we’re a happy couple even though we don’t have much on-screen
chemistry!” I know they’re trying to establish them as a couple, so
there’ll be some sort of response later on when they’re inevitably torn
from each other — which happens about a half-dozen times — but they got
entirely too heavy-handed. Fortunately, this is more than cancelled out by
the visceral bang-bang, which literally had the audience cheering in a
couple spots. 5 out of 6, because I’m being generous.

Production… um, what’d you expect out of what may very well be
the biggest action film of the summer? (I can’t say “of the year” because
there’s that third one due out near Christmas.) Good solid production,
though that’s almost mandatory in a film as effects-laden as this.
4 out of 6.

Overall, well, who are we kidding? 6 out of 6.


Total: That’s 31 out of 42.

34 replies on “Review: The Matrix Reloaded”

  1. Be sure to watch the WHOLE movie
    If you wait through the nine minutes of credits, there’s a
    “trailer” for The Matrix Revolutions.

    • Re: Be sure to watch the WHOLE movie

      If you wait through the nine minutes of credits, there’s a
      “trailer” for The Matrix Revolutions.

      Damn! Now you tell me?!?!? :(

      • Re: Be sure to watch the WHOLE movie
        IMO, the trailer was NOT worth waiting through those god damn long credits.

        • Re: Be sure to watch the WHOLE movie

          IMO, the trailer was NOT worth waiting through those god damn long credits.

          Totally agree.

          There were enough people working on this film to fill a football stadium, and the cast credits were hard to figure out (alphabetized by actor’s last name, instead of ordered by importance or order of appearance), not to mention the interminably slow speed.

          Then, we get a trailer that somehow made me less interested in seeing the next film than I was before I saw it.

          My advice? Just go when the credits start rolling – you have a life to live, and they’ll have to make a better trailer than that one eventually!

        • Re: Be sure to watch the WHOLE movie

          IMO, the trailer was NOT worth waiting through those god damn long
          credits.

          The credits were nearly TEN MINUTES by themselves. Make sure to bring
          an eBook on your lighted Palm like I did.

      • Re: Be sure to watch the WHOLE movie

        If you wait through the nine minutes of credits, there’s a
        “trailer” for The Matrix Revolutions.

        Damn! Now you tell me?!?!? :(

        I didn’t know in advance either… I habitually wait through the credits, mostly to jot notes about the movie I’ve just seen (at least, when I’m watching a movie to review, instead of just to watch a cool movie). At my local theater, they didn’t bring the lights back up when the credits started rolling, like they usually do; that was a (subtle?) hint that there was something more.

    • Re: Be sure to watch the WHOLE movie

      If you wait through the nine minutes of credits, there’s a
      “trailer” for The Matrix Revolutions.

      I know, I watch the movies I like ’till the end. : )

  2. Like wiping youe a$$ with silk…

    I love it! ;p

    Seriously, how could you not mention the dialog with this guy? I’m going to have to go and watch the film again with somebody who speaks French just so that I find out what the hell he was saying.

    Well, that and to catch the trailer for Revolutions. 8p

    • Re: Like wiping your ass with silk…

      I love it! ;p

      Seriously, how could you not mention the dialog with this guy?

      Because I didn’t understand it. :-)

      There were a lot of cool moments. The “back doors” room, the deus ex machina with Neo and the truck, the guy in the white room at the end, of whom I shall not speak again for fear of spoiling the movie…

      I’m not sure why I’m worried about spoiling things, really, because this really is only half a movie. It’s pretty much intended to be seen with Revolutions, right down to the annoying ending. Thus, nothing can really spoil more than the first half of a movie that nobody has seen the last half of anyway.

      (Aside: You can say ‘ass’. We’re all adults here. :)

      • Re: Like wiping your ass with silk…

        (Aside: You can say ‘ass’. We’re all adults here. :)

        actually, from what I’ve seen stated in some of the buffy forums, we’re not. but quite frankly, ass isn’t that offensive. don’t know why I felt it necessary to post this, but I did…heh.

        • Re: Like wiping your ass with silk…

          (Aside: You can say ‘ass’. We’re all adults here. :)

          actually, from what I’ve seen stated in some of the buffy forums, we’re not. but quite frankly, ass isn’t that offensive. don’t know why I felt it necessary to post this, but I did…heh.

          AAAh my virgin ears! Dont worry next time i post ill have seen the movie and be able to make an actual comment.

      • Re: Like wiping your ass with silk…
        The silk line had me in stiches…we need more French bad guys :)

        I’m not sure why I’m worried about spoiling things, really, because this really is only half a movie. It’s pretty much intended to be seen with Revolutions, right down to the annoying ending. Thus, nothing can really spoil more than the first half of a movie that nobody has seen the last half of anyway.

        The ending reminded me of a good comic book or season-finale cliffhanger. We all knew it was coming, but it gives you somthing to think about for the next six months. I thought it was pretty good.

        A bunch of folks (including Harry at AICN, who was watching the same showing I was last night) have stated that the movie didn’t live up to the first one, and that it moved slowly. Seeing the first and the second films back to back enlightened me to a few things:

        1) The first movie started slow for the first half as well. Sure there were action scenes, but it wasn’t until after the meeting with the Oracle that things started taking off.

        2) Of course the second film didn’t live up to the first, it was a sequel :) Seriously, with minor exceptions like Wrath of Kahn and Empire Strikes Back, most sequels don’t live up the the original. Of course, I have only seen half of the sequel, so I reserve final judgement :)

        Another problem was that we knew< a lot more heading into the gate than we did with the first film. The first time almost anyone I know head about the first film was during the 1999 superbowl. We all watched, said "Woah (pun not intended), what was that?" and went to the website which almost nothing else. This time every newspaper and magazine on the planet had a feature. I know that spolied it for me a bit. br>
        Finally, it helps to see this movie with a good crowd. The first film I saw in Boston with a bunch of friends on opening night at the Prudential theater. That movie crowd rivals most concert crowds I’ve seen. It was an intense experience, and everyone went along for the ride. Sadly, the Austin showing I was at wasn’t as emotionally charged.

      • Re: Like wiping your ass with silk…

        I’m not sure why I’m worried about spoiling things, really, because this really is only half a movie.

        This brings up an interesting point: wouldn’t it have been infinitely cool if they would have had the guts to release both these movies at the same time? I know I know, no way in hell something like that happens in this day and age. Studio execs have to squeeze every drop of marketing money out of it they can. But damn, can you imagine what the experience would have been like?

        • Re: Like wiping your ass with silk…

          This brings up an interesting point: wouldn’t it have been infinitely cool if they would have had the guts to release both these movies at the same time? I know I know, no way in hell something like that happens in this day and age. Studio execs have to squeeze every drop of marketing money out of it they can. But damn, can you imagine what the experience would have been like?

          I don’t see them releasing sequels simultaneously, just because some people will get confused and see part 3 before part 2. The best we can expect from sequels is to have them a few weeks apart, like the special edition release of the original Star Wars trilogy.

          I like the idea of two related movies being released on the same day, but I’d reserve that treatment for, say, the movie adaptations of Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow. (Unfortunately, the last time I heard, the two were being combined into a single film, which should still be pretty cool.)

    • Most of what he said was simply restating what he said in English :)

      Seriously, how could you not mention the dialog with this guy? I’m going to have to go and watch the film again with somebody who speaks French just so that I find out what the hell he was saying.

      Well, that and to catch the trailer for Revolutions. 8p

      You missed rien, i.e. nothing. :)

      Anyways, back on topic, God that movie was fantastic. I must see it again. :)

      -Joe

    • Re: Like wiping youe a$$ with silk…

      I’m going to have to go and watch the film again with somebody who
      speaks French just so that I find out what the hell he was saying.

      He mostly swears, a lot. : )

  3. The only other thing that annoyed me…
    (minor spoiler for like the first half-hour of the movie, so I’m not spoiler-protecting it)

    When Neo and Trinity get off an elevator in Zion, Neo is mobbed by people that seem to think he’s a religious figure of some sort. It kinda reminded me of Captain Sisko in Deep Space Nine. I’m not quite sure why that scene annoyed me – I can’t consciously explain it – but it did.

    • Re: The only other thing that annoyed me…

      It kinda reminded me of Captain Sisko in Deep Space Nine.
      I’m not quite sure why that scene annoyed me – I can’t consciously
      explain it – but it did.

      Because Sisco is lame?
      Its annoying to be reminded of lame things
      while watching something cool…

  4. When you go see it….
    …make sure to sit far away from any little children. In fact, bring some pacifiers just in case you have my luck. I just saw the movie a few hours ago, and there was a little kid, like 4 or 5 years old sitting in the row in front of me, like 3 seats down. (maybe kinda spoiler) Right in the middle of the scene with the oracle where she explains the whole basis of the quest in the movie she starts crying at the top of her lungs. I had little idea of the plot for awhile, which was really annoying, and I’m gonna need to see it again just so I understand what was happening and who people were.

    UGH! It was even more annoying than a cellphone going off!

  5. Codes
    Can someone explain what the new codes posted on thematrix.com go to? I’m confused. I have a binary code and a hex code and no idea what to do with them… Neither code translates to printable ASCII, so I can’t put it in the code box from the first film. Hrm….

  6. Cult leader?
    I was thinking good ol’ Larry came across more like a WWE wrestler. During the Zion speech scene I was half expecting Commander Lock to come up behind Morpheus and whack him on the back with a folding chair. I mean, hell, they even have wrestler names already.

    • Re: Cult leader?

      I was thinking good ol’ Larry came across more like a WWE wrestler. During the Zion speech scene I was half expecting Commander Lock to come up behind Morpheus and whack him on the back with a folding chair. I mean, hell, they even have wrestler names already.

      I can see that. Neo is being booked like the Rock, who’s willing to put over the undercard (Neo put the squiddies over big-time until Jada Pinkett did a run-in, and the Architect cut that killer promo on Neo).

      The Architect is just Triple H with better mic skills. He’s not gonna lay down for anybody until he has no choice (Aitch needed a torn quad, and the Architect is probably gonna suffer a massive hardware failure).

  7. Whiners
    Look, It was a good movie, with good effects, without a rehashed plot. What more can you ask for? You don’t like the ending, go see the next one. They call them cliffhangers people. Yeah the acting was bad, but if you were going to the matrix for brilliant acting you deserve to be dissapointed. It’s friggen keanu reeves for crying out loud. It was a good movie. Not an awsome movie. But it was good. Well worth the 14 bucks (yay famous players canada)

    • Re: Whiners

      Well worth the 14 bucks (yay famous players canada)

      I actually consider that to be quite expensive for a movie. I spent $5.87 CAD at a Cineplex Odeon to see it last night (that’s their price all the time!). Quite frankly, I’m glad that’s all I spent – it was good, but it wasn’t worth $14 to see (I felt that the music didn’t mesh well with most of the fight scenes, and it detracted from them – I actually got kind of bored with a few).

  8. My Opinion – Heavy Spoilers
    I Summed It Elsewhere, But I Did Want To Share Here.

    I Saw It The first Time, And Left with A Sense Of ‘I Didn’t Get It’. I Thought About It, And Realized What They Were Trying to Tell You: Zion Is In The Matrix. No One Has ‘Woken Up’, They Just ‘Dreampt’ They Did.

    When You’re Writing A Program, And You Know That You’re Going To Get Invalid Data, YOu Write What’s Called An ‘Error Trap’. They Knew That 1% Of The Population Wouldn’t Accept the Reality Of The Matrix, So They Wrote Up Another Reality They Can Accept, Zion. Neo Is told This, At The End. The Machines Planned For It, And When They Reach A Certain Point, Whenever There Is A Serious Anomally, (Neo) They Put Together A Scheme, And End Up Tricking Him Into Following To The End Of a Prophecy. Once he Reaches The End, He Can Either Voluntarily Rebuild Zion (He’s The One Who could Re-Write The Matrix, And Woke The First Of The Resistance Up), Or He Could Just Go Back To The World As It Was. If He Did That, He’d Eventually Crash The Entire Matrix, And Kill Everyone In It. The Other ‘The One’s All Chose To Save humanity, Like The Machines Tried To Make Him Do. This Was Because He Had A General Love Of Everyone. Neo, However, Was In Love With One Person, So He Chose To Save Her, And Throws Off The Entire Balance.

    However, When He Goes Back To Zion, He Realizes That It’s Just Another Matrix. He Stops The Squidees, And Then Collapses. The Collapse Was Him ‘Waking Up’. We Have Yet To Learn Where He Wakes Up, Or What’s Really Going On Outside Of The Matrix.

    It Took Me Three Viewings This Weekend To catch All The Clues And Details. The Plot Was Complicated, But After Seeing It A Few Times, It Made Lots Of Sense, And Still Was A Nice Mind Fuck.

    All That, And The Soundtrack’s Great Too.

    • Re: My Opinion – Heavy Spoilers
      Crap. Forgot To Preview, And Forgot To Add The

      ‘s.

      Sorry Folks.

    • Re: My Opinion – Heavy Spoilers
      No, neo isn’t told ‘that’, he is told what he needs to hear in order to continue the illusion. He ‘figures out’ the rest before he collapses.

      I believe the rabbit hole goes further though, because I think they already accounted for the second choice, and his love was in the prohpecy that they created. So for some reason at 4:30am this morning it popped into my head – trinity is not human. I’ll let your noodles bake on that one. We’ll find out in 6 months.

    • Re: My Opinion – Heavy Spoilers

      I Summed It Elsewhere, But I Did Want To Share Here.

      I Saw It The first Time, And Left with A Sense Of ‘I Didn’t Get It’. I Thought About It, And Realized What They Were Trying to Tell You: Zion Is In The Matrix. No One Has ‘Woken Up’, They Just ‘Dreampt’ They Did.

      When You’re Writing A Program, And You Know That You’re Going To Get Invalid Data, YOu Write What’s Called An ‘Error Trap’. They Knew That 1% Of The Population Wouldn’t Accept the Reality Of The Matrix, So They Wrote Up Another Reality They Can Accept, Zion. Neo Is told This, At The End. The Machines Planned For It, And When They Reach A Certain Point, Whenever There Is A Serious Anomally, (Neo) They Put Together A Scheme, And End Up Tricking Him Into Following To The End Of a Prophecy. Once he Reaches The End, He Can Either Voluntarily Rebuild Zion (He’s The One Who could Re-Write The Matrix, And Woke The First Of The Resistance Up), Or He Could Just Go Back To The World As It Was. If He Did That, He’d Eventually Crash The Entire Matrix, And Kill Everyone In It. The Other ‘The One’s All Chose To Save humanity, Like The Machines Tried To Make Him Do. This Was Because He Had A General Love Of Everyone. Neo, However, Was In Love With One Person, So He Chose To Save Her, And Throws Off The Entire Balance.

      However, When He Goes Back To Zion, He Realizes That It’s Just Another Matrix. He Stops The Squidees, And Then Collapses. The Collapse Was Him ‘Waking Up’. We Have Yet To Learn Where He Wakes Up, Or What’s Really Going On Outside Of The Matrix.

      It Took Me Three Viewings This Weekend To catch All The Clues And Details. The Plot Was Complicated, But After Seeing It A Few Times, It Made Lots Of Sense, And Still Was A Nice Mind Fuck.

      All That, And The Soundtrack’s Great Too.

      But the idea of a Matrix outside of the Matrix doesn’t make much sense either. Although it accounts for Neo’s ability to shut down the Sentinels, why is it that Neo’s mind rejects one code, but accepts the other? Wouldn’t the Machines just integrate the outer Matrix’s code into the inner Matrix, thus negating the need for any of this ‘The One’ nonsense? Also, what is the point in destroying a ‘virtual’ Zion? Killing 250,000 people who are still plugged into the Matrix and thus still providing the machines with power would only cause a reduction in power yields (albeit a temporary one). A virtual zion poses absolutely no threat, as none of the actions of the people who believe themselves to be free would affect the Machines in the real world, after all, once everyone was freed from this proposed ‘inner Matrix’, the humans would be convinced that the machines were defeated and they could get back to life, and nothing else would need to be changed. Programming 250,000 different sentinels, all to destroy a non-existant city and reduce power yields doesn’t fit the logic of the machines at all.

      • Re: My Opinion – Heavy Spoilers

        Also, what is the point in destroying a ‘virtual’ Zion? Killing 250,000 people who are still plugged into the Matrix and thus still providing the machines with power would only cause a reduction in power yields (albeit a temporary one). A virtual zion poses absolutely no threat, as none of the actions of the people who believe themselves to be free would affect the Machines in the real world,

        Attacking that Zion is an effective red herring. As long as the machines try to fight back, the people believe they are in the real world. Wiping them out is like a reboot; they’ve found that people only accept a certain period in human history as their environment. If that era lasted only, say, 30 years, then every 30 years the Matrix would need a reboot to go back to the start of that period. That’s what the periodic restarts are for, which neatly plugs up a plot hole I was wondering about since the first movie.

        • Re: My Opinion – Heavy Spoilers

          Also, what is the point in destroying a ‘virtual’ Zion? Killing 250,000 people who are still plugged into the Matrix and thus still providing the machines with power would only cause a reduction in power yields (albeit a temporary one). A virtual zion poses absolutely no threat, as none of the actions of the people who believe themselves to be free would affect the Machines in the real world,

          Attacking that Zion is an effective red herring. As long as the machines try to fight back, the people believe they are in the real world. Wiping them out is like a reboot; they’ve found that people only accept a certain period in human history as their environment. If that era lasted only, say, 30 years, then every 30 years the Matrix would need a reboot to go back to the start of that period. That’s what the periodic restarts are for, which neatly plugs up a plot hole I was wondering about since the first movie.

          That still makes almost no sense, though. You’re right that if Zion were fake, they would need to make it seem like the machines were really concerned with it’s existance, however, they wouldn’t need to destroy it, or even really attack it, since the humans in Zion are already aware of pressure from the machines, and of course are already convinced of their presence in ‘reality’.

          I highly suggest you all go pick up ‘Enter the Matrix’ if you want to know for sure, the game explains many of the circumstances at the end of Reloaded. Most importantly: The Matrix-in-a-Matrix theory is incorrect. It is honestly a ridiculously simple concept that goes against _everything_ the Architect says at the end of the movie, and if you’ve been paying attention, ridiculously simple is not the way they intend for it to be. ;)

          At the end of Enter The Matrix (after playing as Niobe) you learn that upon entering the Source and talking with the Architect, Neo has left at least some part of his consciousness in the Matrix, and is now caught between both worlds. And since the Matrix is linked to all machines as a source of power, he can now use that against them. This is why he is able to ‘feel’ them, and knows that they were planning on using a bomb.

          • Re: My Opinion – Heavy Spoilers
            I have played enter the matrix, I have seen nothing to this effect. Not to mention it breaks the ‘rules of reality’ Neo is human correct? How is his conciousness somewhere else? These are now ‘worlds’? There is only computer simulation and the real world. What you say COULD happen IF both the matrix and zion were both simulations thus neo could still be inside the matrix while being unplugged from their broadcast point, but not if zion is real. Which effectively nullifies your argument.

            Not to mention explaining how agent smith downloaded into a ‘real’ human.

            It is a game that is played to find control and destroy the anomaly. The architect is LYING, to his own ends. In fact, I don’t think you could take anything anyone says as the ‘truth’. Most of all, the citizens of zion. They are completely in the dark.

            • Re: My Opinion – Heavy Spoilers

              I have played enter the matrix, I have seen nothing to this effect. Not to mention it breaks the ‘rules of reality’ Neo is human correct? How is his conciousness somewhere else? These are now ‘worlds’? There is only computer simulation and the real world. What you say COULD happen IF both the matrix and zion were both simulations thus neo could still be inside the matrix while being unplugged from their broadcast point, but not if zion is real. Which effectively nullifies your argument.

              Not to mention explaining how agent smith downloaded into a ‘real’ human.

              It is a game that is played to find control and destroy the anomaly. The architect is LYING, to his own ends. In fact, I don’t think you could take anything anyone says as the ‘truth’. Most of all, the citizens of zion. They are completely in the dark.

              Have you played as Niobe? Her discussion with the Oracle at the end is the key piece of information you should look for. Then you’ll see what I’m talking about. ;)

              The Matrix is full of plot holes as it is. If humans can somehow produce enough power to not only sustain their own lives but also the lives of the machines, while at the same time requiring a portion of that power to maintain a virtual world, why aren’t we using that power? :P

              You seem to forget that Smith is a program, just like all the training programs Neo has downloaded into his memory. If you download all the information of Smith (his personality, is memories, his thoughts, etc…) I’m sure it would be powerful enough to override Bane’s mind, just like the Kung Fu programming is powerful enough to give Neo a mastery of the techniques of that particular form of combat.

              Yes, the Architect is lying, I have no argument there. ;)

              • Re: My Opinion – Heavy Spoilers
                Well the zion realm being also inside a ‘matrix’ solves your thermodynamics violations. Humans are not being used for power. It’s a myth, just like the myth of the one, just like all the other myths they believe. All a form of control. Take those who would not believe their reality, give them a reality they would except. Thus they become trapped in the same prison of their mind, although they think they are awakened/enlightened. I believe the matrix has some other deeper yet/never to be revealed purpose.

                It’s very well thought out philosophically. Any plot holes one might see are probably things just not explained or things assumed from watching other scifi… You must also realize that they are really telling this story from one side, and if you watched the animatrix you got a taste of just how one-sided it is. So we get to hear all the human myths and propaganda, but there are at least two sides to every story.

                I played both characters, I wish there was a way to play back the videos without playing the game again (They don’t include sound if you just load them in wmp), I uninstalled it because it was taking up 3.5GB :)

          • Re: My Opinion – Heavy Spoilers

            I highly suggest you all go pick up ‘Enter the Matrix’ if you want to know for sure, the game explains many of the circumstances at the end of Reloaded.

            You know, I don’t mind movies which need to be watched with their sequels in order for them to be fully understood, but I’m going to be angry if I have to play Enter the Matrix (which my computer is nowhere near fast enough to run) in order to understand Reloaded and Revolutions. There is a point at which I draw the line, and that would most definately be on the other side of it.

Comments are closed.