Giving opinions for several years and showing like a fine vintage
Giving opinions for several years and showing like a fine vintage
Member since:11.07.2000
Reviews:625
Members who trust:55
In the summer of 1999 i remember going to a advanced preview screening of the matrix. two hours later I emerged into the light having seen something completely different from the usual big bang hollywood affairs. the matrix had an interesting story, mindblowing effects and moments that just defied belief. needless to say the film was a big hit both on the big and small screen, this made the sequels a foregone conclusion.
Now in a wave of hype and anticipation we have the first of the two sequels, matrix reloaded comes with a bigger budget, bigger scale and bigger expectation. the last time i saw hype as big as this was had phantom menace and look how that turned out. reviews so far have been mixed to say the least. what you have to remember is that this film can't possibly live up to the standards set by the first one. that's because it's world is now nothing new and the effects have been copied and made fun of in the three years that have passed.
reloaded
begins with some eye popping special effects that you've seen in the opening to the latest trailer. we join neo, trinity and morpheus in the matrix where the machines are close to taking over. morpheus still believes neo is 'the one'. the man in the prophecy who will save zion, other's don't believe it and this causes conflict. meanwhile agent smith (hugo weaving) is back on the scene is more ways than one-literally. somehow he's found a way to duplicate himself and may be the biggest threat to zion. neo's also contending with his new god-like status and it doesn't help when he keeps having visions of trinity's death. there's a lot more going on in this film than i can write about, needless to say you really need to have seen the first one to have an understanding of what is happening.
straight up let it be said that reloaded does have some flaws. some of the film is quite boring, the film starts with a bang but quickly moves into a tonne of exposition. Most of it involves political and command wranglings inside Zion. At this point I was getting Deja Vu as the same dull plot points have ruined the new Star Wars films. This is intertwined with a pointless, overlong and slightly cringeworthy rave/sex scene sequence that serves no purpose at all. However thing pick up once Neo goes into the Matrix and has to employ his kung fu skills by taking on 50+ agent smiths. This sequence is mind boggling but also a bit un-neccesary when you consider that Neo can now fly and simply doesn't have to fight to escape Smith's clutches. However this scene is pulled off brilliantly despite some obvious CGI work.
The biggest sequence in the film is the freeway chase and it's reputed multi million dollar cost seems to be money well spent. There are moments where you wonder how they pulled stuff as the camera seamlessly flys under the speeding wheels of trucks and through tight gaps between cars as Trinity and Morpheus are persued at high speeds in cars and on motorbikes. There are countless explosions, moments of sheer excitement and the whole thing is just awesome.
In the quieter moments we have some new characters. Jada Pinkett Smith plays a former love of Morpheus but has little to do. Tank from the first film seems to have been replaced by a guy named Link who has nothing more to do than be the 'token black guy' of the Matrix series with witty inane commments at certain intervals. The best moments come from Monica Belluci and her french husband who bicker back and forth but have the best scenes in the movie. The returning cast are all 'carry on as normal' with Fishburne again the commanding prescence, Ann-Moss the sultry women in PVC and Reeves as the wooden actor who'd better at doing stuff rather than saying words.
The action and direction are again well staged by the Wachowski brothers with the aid of asian stunt choreography. People say that it's new and exciting but The Matrix simply brought to a western audience what asian cinema has been doing for years. The only problem is that you feel this is film is a little disjointed and more of a pre-cursor to Revolutions which is due later in the year. This is still an entertaining film if a little long but it's still worth seeing but the element of surprise is no longer there which makes this a decent sequel if not a mindblowing one.
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Good writing. From what you say though I think I'll wait for the vid. I saw The Matrix and I thought that was good but I've never been one for special effects. Especially if it's a long film.
jmb300 11.06.2003 12:18
Want to see it, but will probably wait for the video after the less than great reviews.
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: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
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: More arse kicking kung foo shenanigans. Awesome!!! Disadvantages: More arse kicking kung foo shenanigans.Hang on, didn't we see that in '99?
Advantages: Dazzling special effects, great acting, Keanu Reeves Disadvantages: Philosophy - why?, poor script, drags on for the first hour, quite a long film
![The Matrix Reloaded (Widescreen edition) [DVD] [2003]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78498566.jpg "The Matrix Reloaded (Widescreen edition) [DVD] [2003]")
May 29th, 2003
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