A worthy sequel and then some
Written: May 15 '03 (Updated May 15 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: - lives up to its predecessor
- lots of kicking
- sense of humor
Cons: - still a dorky sci-fi movie
The Bottom Line: "Will You See This Film Again?" didn't offer a "Yes, sometime this weekend," or I would have picked that instead.
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| TheKodiak's Full Review: The Matrix: Reloaded |
Overall, The Matrix Reloaded was an incredible piece of work. You have to accept that it set out with certain goals in mind - to be a sci-fi movie, to have lots of kung fu, and to showcase special effects. There was a plot, it was interesting and involving and not amazingly inconsistent, but the plot isn't by any means the main attraction. (By contrast, The Matrix had a fairly intriguing plot that snuck up on you after you had finished watching it. So very few people remember how they felt about The Matrix on opening night - but I know a lot of people who weren't impressed with anything but Bullet Time until they had time to chew on it for a while, and watch it a few more times.)
There are four Main Attractions from the get-go: continuation of the story, Zion, fighting, and explosions. Those are the reasons people bought tickets. There are two other reasons to watch The Matrix Reloaded, surprises that caught me totally off-guard: a sense of humor, and interesting characters. I'll take each of these elements in turn.
Story
The first movie was a kung fu story. The Matrix Reloaded is a sci-fi story. The difference is palpable - but the two stories do flow into each other very successfully. There's a lot to chew on, and I don't think I'll know until I watch both movies again just how consistent the two are. Regardless, the plot kept my attention, and left me eager to see how the third movie plays out.
One thing that really stood out was that they did decide to take this movie in a noticeably different direction than the first. That's very rare in sequels - most of them are either rehashes of the first movie, or obvious logical extensions. It was an excellent decision, and it turned out well.
Zion
We finally get to see Zion! Or a postcard of Zion, at least... Zion was visually interesting at times, but at other times it seemed like nothing more than the matte painting of Xanadu from Citizen Kane - simply flat and surreal, puffed up and designed to impress. It was interesting - but I was at no point concerned about its impending doom. I wanted to see Neo fight Agent Smith, because they're interesting. Zion could have been blown to smithereens at any point during the movie, and I wouldn't have missed it.
Fighting
Yeah, the fighting was gorgeous. It got kind of repetitive at times, but it was so well-put together, it was hard to object. If the movie had been nothing but the fight scenes, it would still have been worth the ticket price. There was a bit more of Neo than I would have preferred, but he was at least squaring off against some different styles. I would have loved for them to have really showcased some different styles, especially after the training room scene in The Matrix, but at some point it starts to all just look like more wire work. The scene with the white mezzanine railing was probably the most visually impressive.
Explosions (and other non-kung fu effects)
There was exactly one scene that really blew me away. It wasn't anything blowing up. The rest was professional, but unexceptional. I think perhaps we've reached a point where blowing things up just doesn't impress - everyone seems to be able to do it fairly competently, these days.
Humor
There were actually quite a few laughs, at least one of which was fairly subtle. I was surprised - I went into the movie expecting the same level of gravity as the first. It was really quite pleasant - they never really played for laughs, they just had a sense of humor. Having seen the "Computer Boy" spoof, there were a lot of scenes that had me laughing for totally different reasons, so maybe I was just in the mood to giggle. Still, it was fun.
Character
The characters in The Matrix were its real weak point, I now see. They just served to advance the plot - they were incidents made flesh. The Matrix Reloaded features some remarkably involving characters - relatively few of whom are flesh. I certainly didn't expect to be truly interested in the motivations and feelings of the characters, but I was. This was probably the best surprise of the movie for me.
One exception was Link. They developed his character fairly well in the beginning, but after that relegated him to the Token Black Guy role from Not Another Teen Movie. I'm not sure much more could have been done with him, but it was still disappointing.
Visuals
Overall (except for Zion, above), Reloaded had some real delights punctuated with bland mediocrity. There were a few shots that could have been crisper, but by and large the fantastic sets were fantastic, and the rest of the sets were just sets. On the plus side, we got to spend a lot of time with the fantastic sets. Some of the pure effects shots were bland, as well.
Audio
I thought the music was incredible, but I can be kind of a sucker for an over-the-top score. Some of the sound effects were a bit dorky, and the title sequence left me feeling the urge to destroy the MCP cone. Apart from the title sequence, though, I never found the sound distracting.
Overall
As I was leaving the theatre, the woman behind me complained that Reloaded failed to live up to the promise of The Matrix (quite possibly the best movie of all time, in her opinion.) She was upset that Reloaded seemed to have "been written by 12 year-old boys" and that it contained a "gratuitous sex scene." I think "gratuitous sex scene" is one of the tragic phrases of the English language; it's been repeated so often that people have mistakenly concluded that any sex scene must be gratuitous. The sex scene in Reloaded was not gratuitous at all, and it was handled tastefully.
The Matrix Reloaded set out to do some things, and it did them well. People who enjoy movies that do those things will enjoy Reloaded. I think anyone who ever enjoyed The Matrix will enjoy Reloaded. I'll be watching it again in the next few days.
I marked this as suitable for children 13 and older - obviously, the ratings board disagrees with me. There's a lot of violence, and a bare breast or two, but honestly I think anyone emotionally mature enough to watch the trailer or the first movie can handle this one.
Oh, yeah. I normally feel that when someone misses out on something cool after the credits, they get what they deserve, but this is too important to let go - there's a nice long trailer for the third movie after the credits are done. Sit through them. It's worth it, no matter how full your bladder may be.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
TheKodiak
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Member: Chris Koeberle
Location: Dallas, TX
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 3 members
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