After waiting four long years, the sequel to the phenomenally successful film The Matrix by the Wachowski brothers has finally been released. After a 270 day shoot (some movies are filmed within a month) and helped by a huge amount of hype, a Cannes launch party reputed to have cost over £1 million, and enough press coverage to have helped pulp several rain forests, the film has taken a quite astonishing £180 million in under 4 weeks since its premiere in the middle of May. That?s bigger than the GDP of several small countries, yet the film is only just beginning to break even, as it is reported to have cost Warner Brothers over $300 million (£180 million) to put together.
But the big question is, despite all this money and time, is the film any good?
Well, that's a heck of a question to answer and not as simple as may first appear.
First, a brief recap. The original Matrix film in 1999 introduced us to Neo, later known as ?The One? played by Keanu Reeves. He was a humble office clerk by day, expert computer hacker and follower of rabbits by night. He is introduced by the sombre Morpheous (Laurence
Fishburne) to the 'reality' that the life he is living is not in any way real, but a computer simulation designed to pacify a human race used by machines to provide raw power and nutrients in a bizarre alternate future. Sort of Terminator meets Microsoft in 200 years time. Morpheous and his band of misfits, including the rather wonderfully PVC clad Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) are aware of this subterfuge, and work to fight the machines, both inside the Matrix against superhuman 'agents' and in the 'real world' where humans survive in the one free city still left, deep underground in Zion.
Confused, just you wait till I explain the sequel!
In The Matrix Reloaded, all the original characters return to the fray, continuing the fight, against both the machines outside the Matrix and agents within it. Those dastardly machines have discovered the location of Zion and are sending a few of their kind (well, 250,000 to be precise) to dig down to Zion and destroy the last of the free men, women and children. A fleet of ships is assembled to meet this enemy and attempt to defeat them in reality, whilst our heroes Morpheous, Trinity, Neo and a new character, Link, once more hack into the Matrix in an attempt to find the Oracle, discover the future and the ultimate destiny of mankind.
This being the Matrix, this is done without a fight or two. The original Matrix film introduced us to a revolutionary special effects technique known as 'bullet-time', where still cameras are placed around a set and take a rapid series of pictures, which when played back give a super slow-mo panoramic effect which in 1999 was innovative and extremely impressive. This effect makes a return in the sequel and is used in several of the fight scenes. The only problem is the wow factor present in 1999 just isn't there any more. Despite the obvious effort and technical skill in these scenes, they are the least impressive part of these action sequences, and rather than augment the action act as an annoying slow-mo interruption in the flow of the scene.
Yet despite this failing, the action sequences are simply awesome, a complete adrenaline rush with one chase scene along the freeways of the Matrix lasting an astonishing 22 minutes of breakneck action. There are some superb martial arts sequences, made all the more impressive by the liberal use of the flexible laws of the Matrix, allowing superhuman speeds and abilities to be displayed by the fighters.
But a good movie cannot rely on action sequences alone (see Star Wars I and II for examples of movies that rely too much on action over substance) and The Matrix Reloaded is choc full of East meets West philosophising and attempts to make you look deep into yourself to discover the meaning of life and thoughts of why we are here and the concept of free will. Unfortunately these attempts are not very convincing and just serve to further confuse the moviegoer about what the heck is actually going on. Any why oh why do we have to have a sex scene. What is it with Hollywood movies that there has to be at least one sequence with characters making love, with the music in the background building to a climax as out screen stars do the same? In most films it is annoying, in The Matrix Reloaded it is a completely unnecessary and gratuitous scene and to be honest it is a relief to get back to the action sequences.
Despite the failings in dialogue and to a certain extent lack of acting skill (Keanu Reeves, prospective Oscar winner or the original wooden man, you decide) I came out without the sense of disappointment and anticlimax I usually get from seeing the latest Hollywood blockbuster. The films is thoroughly confusing, full of unnecessary pseudo-philosophy and weak dialogue, yet the 138 minutes of action fairly whip by. A complete adrenaline rush, with simply awesome special effects and martial arts. A flawed but thoroughly watchable and worthy successor to The Matrix. Roll on November and The Matrix Revolutions for more of the same.
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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 theMatrix for mo...
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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
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 theMatrix for mo...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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 11th, 2003
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