I'm always sceptical of films that claim 'stunning special effects'. The first Matrix film was sold on that principle - but it was also a neat, self-contained story that still left enough loose ends for potentially exciting sequels. It seemed convoluted at first, but the basic premise of the film was fantastic, and the concept - although complicated - was carefully explained through the narrative, so you could pick it up first time and go back to brush up on the details and intricacies.
So, after so much time, money and thought had gone into this movie - certain to become the benchmark for a new century of special effects and ever-evolving technology - I went to see the sequel with a certain sense of apprehension. I had seen various TV previews, and one of the 'Animatrix' animated trailers (the latter had a beautiful-Asian-lady-looses-clothes-in-knife-fight aspect which was very off-putting - luckily it is completely irrelevant to this story).
160 minutes later, I came out of the movie overwhelmed, exhilarated, but very, very confused.
The second 'Matrix' movie was filmed together with the third, to be released in December 2003, and it shows. Where the first 'Matrix' has obvious unexplored plot devices (Zion, for example), the second 'Matrix' weaves and meanders around a seemingly endless sequence of unfinished thoughts which may or may not sprout off into new plotlines in six months time. We have no idea which lines of thought will be carried over, which is where most of the confusion lies.
The idea of the Matrix as a virtual world is also explored a little more, so it's no longer a straightforward fact that it represents the world as it was in 1999 (or 2003, as the case may be). The concept of wormhole-like passageways is introduced - doors which
Neo can walk through and temporarily disappear from the system to re-emerge several thousand miles away - and there are other minor plot diversions, such as characters being exposed as mutated rogue programs. This introduces a potential misplaced trust in one main character - an interesting twist. This whole development of the central Matrix theory turns a 2-D idea into a 4-D idea, something new to get your head around, and that's definitely a good thing.
At the same time, key facts - such as Agent Smith's resurrection - are glossed over. We saw Neo destroy him in the first movie, so why the weak dialogue about his new power to resurrect and clone himself? "Something happened... something from you imprinted onto me" is really not good enough from a sci-fi movie of this calibre. The fact that he clones himself into a 'real' human is interesting, though, and reminiscent of Arthur C Clarke's later development of his Monolith.
Of course, the main development in the periphery is the relationship between Neo and Trinity. I'll be honest - I'm a girl who likes her sci-fi cold and inhuman. I don't like 4 minute orgy scenes set to bad industrial music. Neo & Trinity bumping uglies is cut with several hundred people in Zion grinding their hips and it goes on forever. The scene adds nothing to the story, and I can see no reason for including it, except to show girls from the neck down wearing thin, damp t-shirts.
However, the main thing my boyfriend and I agreed was that parts of the movie could have been heavily cut - especially the long section set in Zion where various Captains and Commanders argue about the imminent war and the best tactics to employ. The directors could have got the point across in half the time - in fact it seems they left it in so they could use their impressive CGI landscapes and epic crowd scenes. The fact that opinion is split over Neo's powers is well established at other points in the movie and watching Morpheus and his contemporaries wandering around in strange tunics was a bit too Star Trek for my liking.
So, enough of the bad. What of the good?
The storyline in itself is an adequate progression from the first movie. Many people might be frustrated at the lack of any conclusion but it didn't bother me as much as I expected (Had I not known, I might have been annoyed). There are some excellent new characters that really add light and shade to Neo, Trinity and Morpheus' factual, robotic dialogue.
The obvious selling point of the film is the CGI and special effects. Like the first movie, all action and fight scenes are heavily influenced by manga, Japanese cinema and animation, and the techniques mainly look new because they are in a new setting - in fact, a lot of the techniques (such as very wide camera angles during fight scenes) are very traditional.
Two close-up shots (Trinity first, then Neo) are shot very fast and very close to give superb, computer enhanced slow-motion close-ups. These were my absolute favourite moments. The clean lines were reminiscent of top-class anime, from the camera angles to the actors' facial expressions.
The scene where Neo fights swarms of Smith clones is also absolutely stunning, and breathtaking, and exhausting to watch. My boyfriend and I cut off the circulation to each others hands as our grip unconciously got tighter and tighter through the scene, and it accelerates to such a pace that computer animation and live action are blended in a truly original way. Yes, there are seams, where Neo's clothing looks very unnatural and his poise has the unnatural look of a character in a Playstation game. I doubt the audience would notice this, on the whole, but it's maybe a good reason why the scene would have been improved by cutting it down just a little bit.
Two minor points, also, worth mentioning -
Many of the lead characters are black, and many of the faces in the Zion crowd are black, Asian and mixed race. This was very refreshing. It was also refreshing to see black guys as good guys AND bad guys, not just disposable characters who got shot or maimed half-way through.
Also, it was nice to see the emphasis shifted even further away from guns in this movie. Yes, there are guns in the film, in moderation. The martial arts are far more engaging and it's a joy to see so much time and dedication put into re-thinking the typical Hollywood action scene formula and adding swords, spears and other weapons only usually seen in Eastern cinema or manga. The choreography and skill is truly stunning and it's a tribute to the main characters who put years of training into becoming extremely competent fighters in their own right.
In conclusion?
When you come out of a film, you usually can't help but discuss it and share ideas about favourite and least favourite parts. Of course, you also discuss if you liked it.
My boyfriend and I were silent for a good ten minutes after an initial chat. We knew we liked it; we knew we had enjoyed it. But it is more than a film with a beginning, middle and end - it has elements never seen before in cinema, and dumped so much plot on us at the same time, we didn't know what to pick up to talk about. There is so much not concluded, which makes it hard to remember everything you've seen - the fact that the movie plods along quite slowly does not really help.
In some ways, it's more than I ever thought it would be, or could be. In some ways I think the writers and directors made obvious, self-indulgent, glaring errors.
I fully recommend seeing 'The Matrix Reloaded'. I really did like it, and I'm sure the more I see it, the more I will like it. When I've seen the third movie, and everything has fallen into place, this trilogy may well replace Star Wars in the hearts of 21st Century teenagers.
I think I'll go back and see it again this weekend, and improve my op when I've done so.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
Production Year: 2008 - Action/Adventure - Director: Christopher Nolan - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine
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
What a great review! Loads of detail, I really enjoyed reading it. I didn't think that much of the first film, although the effects were good, but this one does sound worth a watch.... I'll let you know what I thought after it comes out on video, as I never have time to go the cinema, always working these days..... sob.... Lisa
KarenUK 07.06.2003 15:30
I didn't understand the first one & I doubt I'd understand this one either, LOL!
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...
![The Matrix Reloaded (Widescreen edition) [DVD] [2003]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78498566.jpg "The Matrix Reloaded (Widescreen edition) [DVD] [2003]")
Jun 5th, 2003
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