Hannah is crawling, growing teeth, and generally causing me to go prematurely grey :o) Oh, and I've...
Hannah is crawling, growing teeth, and generally causing me to go prematurely grey :o) Oh, and I've been made redundant. Hey ho.
Member since:23.05.2003
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The sequel to 1999’s blockbuster The Matrix sees the old favourites return with new challenges to face. It might be dressed up as a deep philosophical conundrum about choice and good versus evil, but in reality it’s nothing more than a souped-up action flick with pretensions. And I like it!
It’s still man against machines, but with 250,000 sentinels (the octopus-looking machines from the first film) closing in on Zion, it looks like the machines are winning this one and it’s only a matter of time before Zion is destroyed.
Keanu Reeves returns as Neo (The One), Carrie-Anne Moss features as Trinity, Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus, Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith gone rogue, and the Oracle is again played by the late Gloria Foster, who died before the movie was released.
New characters this time around include Captain Niobe, Morpheus’ ex, played by Jada Pinkett-Smith (wife of Will Smith), Persephone, played by Monica
Bellucci, and…remember the DIY-doing, drill-toting twins from ITV’s Better Homes? Well, they (Neil and Adrian Rayment) appear in their first feature film playing the evil dreadlocked albino twins, and do a very good job too - if I sound surprised, that’s because I was.
The film is classified as a 15, which I think is about right – there is mild nudity and a couple of sex scenes (Neo and Trinity get it on in Zion), plus some occasionally graphic violence that might disturb younger teenagers.
At 138 minutes, I think that the film is slightly too long. Some scenes could certainly be shortened without losing anything from the plot. The Zion party/dance scene, or the fight with the Agent Smiths, for example. The time saved here would be well spent on developing the characters of the Keymaker and the Merovingian for a start.
The opening sequence is a classic film device, with Neo seeing (or, as it turns out, dreaming of) Trinity’s death. On the whole, however, the start is slow. There is around half an hour of discussion and plot development, with very little action, car chases, things getting blown up, and so on. But after the initial plot building is complete, then the film lets rip.
Some elements are just too corny to be true. Between films, Neo has learnt how to fly, and does his Superman impression a number of times. At least this is recognised, though – one of the characters does remark “he’s doing his Superman thing again” when asked where he is. Some scenes flash past your eyes so quickly you’ll be hard pressed to understand them at a first viewing (Trinity blowing up the power station for example). Other scenes drag on for just too long.
There are plenty of philosophical questions raised throughout the film, and not all of them are answered. Neo frequently reflects on the nature of freedom and choice, and what they mean to humans. He is a Christ-like figure in many respects, especially when he brings someone back to life (within the Matrix, admittedly) and continuously doubts his abilities and his position – is he really The One?
Parts of the film are quite existential. Sartre said “Hell is other people” (or, “L’enfer, c’est les autres”), but here, it appears that hell is machines, and Neo agonises over humanity’s dependence on them for survival. How is depending on machines to provide air and water different from depending on the Matrix for survival? It is different, of course, but trying to quantify that difference is more difficult than it seems at first.
One weakness of this film is that it doesn’t really stand alone in its own right. It’s very much the sequel to the original Matrix and a precursor to Matrix Revolutions (due to hit screens in November).
If you go into the film expecting a rip-roaring action flick with nothing much to think about, you’ll be disappointed. Equally, if you expect a worthy, deeply philosophical film and Oscar-winning performances all round, you’ll be disappointed. But if you want a good action picture, no better or worse than other films of that genre, then you will have a great time, although be prepared to leave a little frustrated at having to wait until November for the final part of the trilogy.
Regards,
Xalala.
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Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Action/Adventure - Director: Gore Verbinski - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Bill Nighy, Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Chow Yun-Fat
The Matrix Reloadeddelivers added amounts of everything that the first film had, with the ... more
exception of surprises. We see more of the "real world" in the "last human city" of Zion and we go back to the 1999-look urban virtual reality of the Matrix for m...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
The Matrix Reloadeddelivers added amounts of everything that the first film had, with the ... more
exception of surprises. We see more of the "real world" in the "last human city" of Zion and we go back to the 1999-look urban virtual reality of the Matrix for m...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Neo and the leaders of the human resistance discover that Sentinels are burrowing their ... more
way towards Zion. Estimating they have perhaps just 72 hours until an all-out assault Neo must return back into the Matrix and find the keymaker to gain access to ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Sentinels swarm. Smith clones. Neo flies... but perhaps not even a Chosen One gifted with ... more
astonishing new powers can stop the advance of the Machines.Neo. Morpheus. Trinity. They're back for the powerful second chapter of The Matrix trilogy, and exciti...
Advantages: Some effects are stunning, action is breathtaking Disadvantages: Car chase over-rated, terrible orgy scene, comes close to turning into Star Trek at one point
![The Matrix Reloaded (Widescreen edition) [DVD] [2003]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78498566.jpg "The Matrix Reloaded (Widescreen edition) [DVD] [2003]")
May 27th, 2003
(Mar 22nd, 2005)
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