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Quote of the Moment
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"I believe there's a hero in all of us, gives us strength, makes us noble, even though sometimes we have to give up the thing we want the most."
- Aunt May, Spider-Man 2
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Rating:   out of five
Written By: Kelvin Hui
The Matrix has finally been reloaded in this film, and boy is it ever! It has been four long years since the original was released and it’s good to know that this picture will blow all moviegoers who will undoubtedly watch it far away. Easily one of the most anticipated movies of the 2003-year, (along with X2, The Hulk, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, its own sequel The Matrix Revolutions, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) it has been expected to be one of the most astonishing films ever created to date. Now that’s a lot of pressure placed upon the writers and directors of the trilogy, the Wachowski brothers, but they deliver. Yet, the film has its own problems that keep it from being great, these will be discussed later on in the review. Although it has its setbacks, the movie will no doubt provide an amazing cinematic experience for any moviegoer, whether fan or not. All you have to do to watch this movie is to prepare to Free Your Mind?
In The Matrix, we discover a world where almost every living person has been enslaved by machines, a fate that is brought upon by humankind itself. Now there is a war being fought between the two, which has been ongoing for a century. The main character that is introduced in the first film is Neo (Keanu Reeves); he is prophesized to be The One. He is destined to save humankind and destroy the Matrix thus freeing every person who is still being controlled. He is aided by the legendary Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and the formidable Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) who help him believe that he is indeed The One. Together, in the original film, Neo and Trinity defeat the most powerful programs, Agents to free their mentor Morpheus from them when he is captured. In the sequel, The Matrix Reloaded, the trio returns and continues their battle against the machine army. Neo and Trinity are now openly in love and strengthen each other when both need support. Neo assumes greater command of his extraordinary powers as he now accepts them and understands that he is the all-powerful one. When the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar returns to Zion, they discover that it has fallen under siege to the Machine Army. Only a matter of hours separates the last human city on Earth from 250,000 Sentinels programmed to destroy mankind. But the citizens of Zion, emboldened by Morpheus' certainty that the One will fulfill the Oracle's (Gloria Foster) Prophecy and end the war with the Machines, rest all manner of hope and expectation on Neo. But he finds himself stalled by disturbing visions as he searches for a course of action. “What if I can't?" he asks. “What if I fail?"
(Damn, that’s it! I am going to buy those sunglasses and coat.)
This film must be one of the most-hyped up ones in a long time, and deservedly so. After the original changed the science fiction genre forever not to mention influencing other films as well, it was just a matter of time before more Matrix pictures would be made. This movie offers more of the same from the first one; in short it absolutely kicks some serious butt…literally! It has absolutely amazing special affects, epic action sequences, totally cool-looking characters both new and old, writing with wit, cleverness, and intelligence, and of course good directing. To begin, the effects are incredible! Utterly incredible, there is no argument that can be placed about it. There are over 1000 F/X shots in this film alone, the most in any movie ever to be released yet! A film like this needs the special effects what with the gravity-defying battles, the sentinels, and the massive structural city of Zion. When Neo flies he completely reminds me of Superman, I love when he’s flying that must be one of my favourite effects. If they ever get the new Superman film off the ground that’s how he should fly except with his arms outstretched. The special effects simply astonish me; it’s amazing what computers can do nowadays and the imagination of the people who worked on this film.
Now this is the one aspect of the movie that was prominent, the action scenes are very entertaining; they make the film worth watching! From the opening sequence to the very last one, this picture delivers what I went to see it for and that’s the action. Neo and Trinity both get plenty of action throughout the film. There are many sequences in this movie and they’re all good but here are several that stood out in my mind. When Trinity drives her motorcycle and does a back flip so that her bike can crash into a building that’s just explosive. She proceeds to beat up every security guard that comes at her. Then we see her flying out of a window in slow motion firing away with her guns at an Agent who is chasing her. This is vintage Matrix style as the now classic bullet time is once again used. But this is only the beginning of what must be a collection of the best action sequences I have ever seen. Then there’s the fight sequence between Neo and Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), which is just simply incredible. The Agent is now in exile because he has decided to disobey the system that has called for his deletion. He can also clone himself by merely touching another person in the Matrix. At first there’s only one of the agents and then two, then dozens come to fight before finally climaxing to around one hundred of him! The scene is not only very entertaining but it’s also funny, they just keep coming and coming! Neo can apparently hold his own even against 100 Agent Smiths. At one point when the Agents pile on top of The One, he just uses his strength and pushes all of them off of him! Then he proceeds to kneel down onto the floor and raise his hand (it’s like he’s posing for a picture) before flying off. As I said before anytime Neo is flying, it’s a good action sequence, there’s just something about being able to fly that’s compelling. Last but certainly not least is the infamous car/motorcycle/truck chase sequence, which is nice and long clocking in at 14 minutes! To be honest this scene is absolutely insane! There are no other words to describe it it’s just crazy! The individuals shoot with plenty of guns, fight in and out of cars, on top of trucks, and even race against traffic! The part where Trinity does this is incredibly dangerous and death defying, how can Carrie-Anne Moss keep a straight face and not be scared? I was so afraid for her, there could easily have been a mistake made on the set and that’s all it takes. She only trained for a month for this stunt, which doesn’t seem like a lot of time at all. And it is a stunt folks there are no special effects when she’s riding on that motorcycle…simply insane. Maybe I won’t be getting a bike of my own anytime soon…Anyhow the sequence is dizzying, intense, exciting, eye-catching, and it will blow you away. This film is very much worth the admission price just to see the actors and actresses do this, it’s just such a demanding scene both physically and mentally.
(“Whoa! I know how to fly! Neo may be able to soar but he’s still no Superman in my mind...)
The important key players from the first film return and they are simply just cool. There’s nothing more to say, Neo is extremely cool, Trinity is attractively cool, and Morpheus is any adjective cool. Well, I think you get the idea. As with any sequel, there are now a few new characters in this movie. The first mention must go to Persephone (Italian Monica Bellucci) who is absolutely gorgeous and seductive, mamma mia! She provides one of the best scenes in the movie where she demands a kiss from Neo because she wants to feel the passion he has for his girlfriend. Not only is the scene sexy but it’s also humourous, pure fun for everyone…well not so much for Trinity. Then there’s her husband Merovingian (Lambert Wilson). He’s funny because of the way that he speaks with his accent and he provides some great lines. For example, after Neo stops and drops dozens of bullets shot at him merely by raising his hand at the beginning of another awesome action sequence, Merovingian says, “Okay, you have some skill.?No kidding, Neo is now faster, stronger, and even more powerful. The only question that I have for Merovingian who is cheating on Persephone is what is wrong with you?! The man has quite a few henchmen but the Terrible Twins (Neil and Adrian Rayment) stand out with their dreadlock hair and albino skin. The duo can heal their bodies instantly by morphing into ghostlike shadows of themselves, which also allows them to go from place to place. It basically means that nothing can really hurt the pair since fists, swords, and bullets go right through them when they are in this state.
The writing is one of the things that many people like about these films although when I watched the original I did not appreciate it fully. Now that I’m a little older and wiser I see that the story is very creative and in-depth. The concept of man vs. machines is not new but the way in which the Wachowski brothers brought about the whole story was revolutionary. Once again in this film they continue their writing styles, there are a few examples of this. First there’s Link (Harold Perrineau) who controls the Nebuchadnezzar and is the new link that connects the trio to the Matrix and out of it. Then there’s Persephone and Niobe (Jade Pinkett Smith), which continues the Greek Mythology references. Merovingian, the Key Maker (Randall Duk Kim), and the Architect (Helmut Bakaitis) are some other examples. The brothers even explain why there are creatures like werewolves and vampires in the Matrix. The different “To Be Concluded?which shows at the end of the movie is also smart; I’ve never seen that before. You can really learn very much from these movies; there are so many biblical, mythological, and general references. It’s more edutainment than many other movies that are playing nowadays, which is good. You can really learn some new vocabulary from this film; they speak properly with no slang. Yet it is the text of this story that is one of the things that hold this film back from being great, but this will be discussed soon in the next section. Of course, the geniuses behind the writing of the trilogy are the Wachowski brothers. They are also the directors so they decide what ends up on the screen; they did a great job especially with the action sequences.
(“That’s a neat trick." You’re darn right it is Trinity!)
Finally, we have reached the negative section of the movie and there are a couple of things that I have to discuss. First of all the largest problem is the same one that was also in the original and that is the talking. The film is plagued by discussions between characters that are purposely long-winded and complicated. I tried my best to understand what the heck certain individuals were speaking about but seriously it’s difficult. It must be some of the most confusing dialogue that has ever been put onto film, not only is the vocabulary extremely advanced but they speak quickly too. In my opinion this really does take away from the film, both Merovingian and The Architect’s speeches were boring and never-ending. This is especially true for the latter who was not entertaining at all only frustrating. I know that these scenes are there to balance out the action, which may give you a sensory overload. A perfect example of this is when Link says, “I can’t take this anymore!?and it’s true the action is a bit overwhelming. But the dialogue is repetitive, boring, and tedious, how many times can you say control and choice? These scenes may be important to the story but that doesn’t matter for many people sitting in the theatre including me. The only two lines that were constantly in my mind while certain individuals were chatting was please stop speaking and what is he/she talking about? Another problem with the film is the fact that it’s a sequel and if that’s not enough it’s also the middle chapter of a trilogy. The second installment of a series can never be as original as well…the original, that’s a problem that all follow-ups have to face. There’s also the trouble that none of the conflicts can be resolved since the story cannot end yet as there is a third and final chapter, which may annoy people. I know that the cliffhanger is worrying many moviegoers but don’t worry it’s not brutal at all, I actually thought that the film could’ve ended earlier and had better cliffhangers. That leads to one more problem and that’s the time, the movie comes in at approximately 149 minutes, not exactly short. They could have cut out a few scenes that seemed kind of unnecessary to me. A few other small things were that there should have been more of Persephone and the Terrible Twins. Hopefully their characters will have larger roles in the upcoming Matrix Revolutions.
To conclude The Matrix Reloaded was quite good. Unfortunately it is brought down by it’s unnecessarily long dialogue that is not really interesting, only frustrating and difficult to comprehend. Overall though, the film is very much worth seeing and it’s still a good fun time at the movies, which is all that matters. The cast and crew spent over a staggering 22 months shooting the two films back to back and you have to appreciate their efforts. That’s almost two years away from their friends and family; I take my hat off to them, simply a great job done by all. The movie has broken box-office records already including opening-day earnings at 42.5 million dollars, it came in second place of all time opening weekends with 93.3 million, and it’s the best opening ever for an R-rated film. Impressive to say the least although it didn’t beat Spider-Man, hopefully that movie will hold the title for best opening weekend forever. Just as a reminder stay after the credits to see a teaser trailer of The Matrix Revolutions. Keep in mind though that the credits are incredibly long and the clip is a true teaser, but it’s still worth watching. From what I’ve seen in the first two installments of the Matrix trilogy, the third one looks to be one of the most visually astounding films ever created. Which saying will be true? ‘The original is always the best.' or ‘Save the best for last?' We’ll just have to wait and see.
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