Post by The Candyman on Aug 5, 2005 15:28:44 GMT -5
Quote: "This is a war and we are soldiers. Death can come for us at any time, in any place."
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne-Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving
Director: The Wachowski Brothers
Rating: R
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Isn’t it amazing how some sequels are better than the original while others are worse? Why couldn’t they just all be better? The Matrix Reloaded, in my opinion, sits right on the line dividing the two options. In some ways, it is better than the original yet in others it is far inferior.
I don’t think I need to mention the acting, directing other such things again since they pretty much stay the same throughout the trilogy (except the directing, which I will explain in more detail in the part about Revolutions).
Let’s get down to what’s on everybody’s minds: The action. Is it as good as that of the first movie? In terms of scope, yes. For example, in the first movie Neo only had to fight Agent Smith. In this one, however, Agent Smith is back and now has the ability to clone himself. The result is what is known as the Burly Brawl, a fight between Neo and 100 Smiths. You’re probably thinking, but how did Neo get so powerful? The answer is simple: It’s been six months since the first movie, and Neo – now with the knowledge the he is indeed The One – is pretty much invincible. He can bend the Matrix to his will. He even sees things in lines of code.
This is one point that hinders the movie. Gone is the suspense about whether or not Neo will even win a fight: we know he will. He can fly, he can take on a hundred agents, he can stop bullets…it gets kind of boring. The result is that some of the action scenes, such as the Burly Brawl, have no tension around them whatsoever. Sure, it looks really cool, but that alone doesn’t make it interesting. Plus, the Burly Brawl in particular has some shots that are so clearly computer generated it can’t even give the audience a hint of realism. I, for one, prefer the showdown at the subway in the first movie over this scene. More is not always better.
On the other hand, some of the scenes are fantastic. There’s a showdown at Merovingian’s (basically, from what I understood, he’s a deleted program and an annoying French guy – to go into any further would take a long time and just leave you really confused, so you’ll have to watch the movie) chateau that is stunning, and in my opinion the best action scene in the whole movie. What do you get when you combine Neo with a few vampire-creatures and medieval weapons? One awesome fight. Oh yeah. After this there’s an incredible car chase that everyone’s raving about. Now, I’ll be the first to agree that it’s an awesome scene, but I think the critics are giving it too much credit. It does have a few inventive things in it (eg. Morpheus fighting an agent on top of a truck and this same agent crushing a car by jumping on it) but for the most part it’s nothing new. Is it the best car chase ever? Definitely not. Is it the best of the year? Maybe, but the Terminator 3 one is really cool…
Other than the action scenes, the story is a lot different. It turns out that Zion (the last human city) is about to be wiped out by the machines in 72 hours. Whoopie. The human race spends one of their last possible nights alive engaging in an orgy. Meanwhile, Neo and Trinity have sex. Does this have a point? It seems to me like it’s completely gratuitous – although it may have spiritual implications (see below). The pacing is horrible. The beginning drags on for way too long, the middle is cool, but the ending is rushed. And if there’s anything the ending to this movie should not be, it’s rushed. For those of you who haven’t seen it, let’s just say that Neo discovers the “truth” about who he is. And the truth is so mind-boggling, you’ll probably have to watch just this scene on the DVD a few times before you fully understand its implications. Why didn’t the Wachowskis make this clearer? I have no idea.
Character-wise, there’s little development other than the growing romance between Neo and Trinity. We do get some new characters though: Merovingian (whom I already described), his wife Persephone (whom I neither like nor dislike in this film: she’s intriguing), vampire-ghost-creature-thing twins (awesome) and Seraph, the bodyguard of the Oracle (my favorite new character). There are a whole lot more, but I don’t want to give everything away.
In conclusion, The Matrix: Reloaded is not quite as good as its predecessor, and in my opinion it’s the worst of the trilogy. Sure, a few of the action scenes are cool, but others aren’t. Sure, the story is interesting (most of the time) and it ends with some huge twists, but along the way things get really confusing. If you thought the first one was hard to follow, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
The Bottom Line: Still a good movie, and worth seeing just so you can see the third one and finish the trilogy.
Should I see it? If you don’t mind having your head hurt and can handle some sexual situations, then definitely. You should especially see it just so you can see the third one, which is a lot better.
The Matrix: Reloaded is one of those movies that had a lot of potential, but when everything’s said and done some of it just gets wasted. I give it a 7/10.
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne-Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving
Director: The Wachowski Brothers
Rating: R
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isn’t it amazing how some sequels are better than the original while others are worse? Why couldn’t they just all be better? The Matrix Reloaded, in my opinion, sits right on the line dividing the two options. In some ways, it is better than the original yet in others it is far inferior.
I don’t think I need to mention the acting, directing other such things again since they pretty much stay the same throughout the trilogy (except the directing, which I will explain in more detail in the part about Revolutions).
Let’s get down to what’s on everybody’s minds: The action. Is it as good as that of the first movie? In terms of scope, yes. For example, in the first movie Neo only had to fight Agent Smith. In this one, however, Agent Smith is back and now has the ability to clone himself. The result is what is known as the Burly Brawl, a fight between Neo and 100 Smiths. You’re probably thinking, but how did Neo get so powerful? The answer is simple: It’s been six months since the first movie, and Neo – now with the knowledge the he is indeed The One – is pretty much invincible. He can bend the Matrix to his will. He even sees things in lines of code.
This is one point that hinders the movie. Gone is the suspense about whether or not Neo will even win a fight: we know he will. He can fly, he can take on a hundred agents, he can stop bullets…it gets kind of boring. The result is that some of the action scenes, such as the Burly Brawl, have no tension around them whatsoever. Sure, it looks really cool, but that alone doesn’t make it interesting. Plus, the Burly Brawl in particular has some shots that are so clearly computer generated it can’t even give the audience a hint of realism. I, for one, prefer the showdown at the subway in the first movie over this scene. More is not always better.
On the other hand, some of the scenes are fantastic. There’s a showdown at Merovingian’s (basically, from what I understood, he’s a deleted program and an annoying French guy – to go into any further would take a long time and just leave you really confused, so you’ll have to watch the movie) chateau that is stunning, and in my opinion the best action scene in the whole movie. What do you get when you combine Neo with a few vampire-creatures and medieval weapons? One awesome fight. Oh yeah. After this there’s an incredible car chase that everyone’s raving about. Now, I’ll be the first to agree that it’s an awesome scene, but I think the critics are giving it too much credit. It does have a few inventive things in it (eg. Morpheus fighting an agent on top of a truck and this same agent crushing a car by jumping on it) but for the most part it’s nothing new. Is it the best car chase ever? Definitely not. Is it the best of the year? Maybe, but the Terminator 3 one is really cool…
Other than the action scenes, the story is a lot different. It turns out that Zion (the last human city) is about to be wiped out by the machines in 72 hours. Whoopie. The human race spends one of their last possible nights alive engaging in an orgy. Meanwhile, Neo and Trinity have sex. Does this have a point? It seems to me like it’s completely gratuitous – although it may have spiritual implications (see below). The pacing is horrible. The beginning drags on for way too long, the middle is cool, but the ending is rushed. And if there’s anything the ending to this movie should not be, it’s rushed. For those of you who haven’t seen it, let’s just say that Neo discovers the “truth” about who he is. And the truth is so mind-boggling, you’ll probably have to watch just this scene on the DVD a few times before you fully understand its implications. Why didn’t the Wachowskis make this clearer? I have no idea.
Character-wise, there’s little development other than the growing romance between Neo and Trinity. We do get some new characters though: Merovingian (whom I already described), his wife Persephone (whom I neither like nor dislike in this film: she’s intriguing), vampire-ghost-creature-thing twins (awesome) and Seraph, the bodyguard of the Oracle (my favorite new character). There are a whole lot more, but I don’t want to give everything away.
In conclusion, The Matrix: Reloaded is not quite as good as its predecessor, and in my opinion it’s the worst of the trilogy. Sure, a few of the action scenes are cool, but others aren’t. Sure, the story is interesting (most of the time) and it ends with some huge twists, but along the way things get really confusing. If you thought the first one was hard to follow, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
The Bottom Line: Still a good movie, and worth seeing just so you can see the third one and finish the trilogy.
Should I see it? If you don’t mind having your head hurt and can handle some sexual situations, then definitely. You should especially see it just so you can see the third one, which is a lot better.
The Matrix: Reloaded is one of those movies that had a lot of potential, but when everything’s said and done some of it just gets wasted. I give it a 7/10.