Matrix Reloaded REVIEW

Matrix Reloaded: C

I must admit before starting that I never was a big fan of the first movie ... I suppose that this comment is more in relation to time ... I had only saw the first movie from beginning to end about a week before this new movie was released

So, I do not have the benefit of multiple viewings of the first ... nor do I have any pretense about remotely possessing expert knowledge on anything related to the film

After watching the first film, I think I graded it out probably a B+/A- ... It was a very nice, tightly paced movie with what seemed to be a promising concept ... and of course very good kung fu and special effects (including the now passe bullet time)

Well, I cannot say that I entered this film with a ton of expectations sitting in a nice egg crate waiting to be sat on by the elephant of disappointments ... I just expected more of the same ... more of the nice, well paced movie probably this time with expansion on the concepts and hopefully more cool kung fu, special effects, and maybe something I never saw before ... I can hope, can't I?

What did I get? ... What is the Matrix, and how was it reloaded?

I must concur with the vast majority of reviews that say that this movie is just chock full of visual eyecandy which is very cool and has ideas that are pretty interesting .... and more on the ideas, well --- the ideas would be cool if they didn't half step it

In other words, it's not enough to show a cool idea ... you should push it ... that is the difference I believe in movie one and two ... Movie one had cool ideas, and maybe we never had seen such things before so there was wonder and coolness about them

Movie #2, cool ideas, but no execution in the sense of pushing the envelope ... someone should tell the Wack Bros. that fiction means made up ... hell, let it loose ... make up something, push it, make the thing go further as Garbage once sung

Critique #2 about Movie #2 is that there was a lot of window dressing that could have been easily cut ... one of the scenes or shall I say the opening plays the deja vu card in the sense that the scene repeats later in the film ... I say save some film leave it out ... we are no better off knowing or not knowing that piece of information --- simply because it doesn't really amount to a hill of consequences even when it comes true --- so tell the story linearly maybe is my point here ... or maybe us viewing apes needed an EXPLOSION ... sheesh

The other window dressing are elements such as the "speech", the "rave", and basically Zion itself ... never more humdrum was humanity in its final hours is my conclusion ... canned cheers, canned slomo "sensual/emotive" dancing, the Keanu-Carrie Ann oof scene BLEECH ... save some film ... better to keep Zion a remote concept still? maybe so ... we do have one more movie, do we not? ... not even mentioning the film's indifference to the fate of Zion

Critique #3: kung fu ... samey kung fu ... now I think that at the end of the first movie Neo does a monologue over the ending of the movie which indicates that he is awakening to his power and will free others ... then he does the Superman and movie ends ... well, ok movie #2 ... don't look like we've moved further in the kung fu or powers aspect of Neo, someone hasn't been practicing ... or maybe you shouldn't oof before fighting ... ha

Some of the uneveness of the film is best felt by the Oracle character ... she has really been rock solid in both movies ... and every time she talks it seems like you learn something, and more importantly the movie gets some grounding ... and well, you get your interest piqued or tweaked into other directions ... you get an expansion of your imagination from this character, yet the Wack Bros. don't run with it in this one ... disappointing because the movie is otherwise quite cold

If this movie carried through, we have a movie with people with superpowers ... am I not correct? ... its not about red and blue poppers ... its not about jumping from building to building ... its an awareness that anything in the Matrix --- well, its as real as the deed I just gave you for the Brooklyn Bridge ... thus, there's no getting hurt, no injuries, no power behind guns, swords, explosions ... kung fu worthless ... you get me? ... but the Wack Bros. limit the powers of our aware heroes --- its almost like when DC decided Superman's powers were bound by the rules of this Earth ... when Neo said his enlightenment monologue well, I think all the action could have been rendered moot bc there was no need for standard fighting

I wanted total blow my mind, I never thought of that kind of fighting ... not the standard crap ... because #1 we saw it in Movie #1 ... number #2, our boy "The One" is supposedly beyond that ... so push it

Instead, we get ooh, credible villain, pushed Neo ... crap, what is that ... this guy can fly like Supes and tear a tornado in the Matrix in his wake ... do you think he should be getting hard rubs from anyone in this movie ... it is an example of how the Wack Bros. didn't trust that the audience would appreciate it (or think it plausible perhaps?), or they just didn't think of it ... but unfortunately, the character and the movie suffers because of it, in my opinion ... um there is no spoon ... am I correct? ... so why is everyone from Trinity to Morpheus to Neo having to swing it like pre-modern combatants

Oh wait, Neo can do the cool stop the bullets trick ... oh yeah, we saw that one before ... ok so he does it again ... ho hum

You know when I think about it ... does it really matter that Neo donks 100 Agent Smiths ... didn't he "kill" him in Movie #1 ... so what does donking 100 of them do? especially when the finish of this sequence smacks of DRAW ... empty eyecandy ... more SFX for us apes, I guess ... apes need images of defy physics flying agents from Neo maypole bicycle kick action

Moreso unfortunate is the fact that somehow between movies Agent Smith has become more fleshed out than the K-dude ... do we see now how halfbaked this Wack Bros. joint is ... is there a movie out there that cares to flesh out good guys anymore --- I like villains probably more than the average sane person, but sheesh, this make the villain cool stuff should never come at the expense of developing the main man

Rogue programs ... good and bad ... good because its a great idea ... the idea of nonaffiliated programs in the otherwise controlled Matrix, fantastic... bad because they didn't push it with it ... werewolves and vampires ... hey you got a horror freak here, show me ... instead we get the ultra-mod dreadlocked today Wraiths ... COOL yes, but I mean, is that what you meant? ... oh you probably meant the real subtle SILVER BULLETs to dispose of ratboy and werefool, Persephone's bodyguards

Merrill Lynchian ... yes that's how it sounds to me the first time ... subliminally, is it time for me to check on my mutual funds ... it turns out the word is Merovingian ... another rogue program

Honestly between him and the Oracle, they carry the weight of all the rest of the kind of Blah-Dull-Bland new characters introd in the film ... here's where I had an interesting idea: given what is said later in the movie, could this figure be a Neo himself --- perhaps from an earlier time

Uhhh, his monologue about French is quite nice, snappy ... one of the great things of the film ... the part where he goes Descartes Baudrillaire philosofart on our viewing ass is just the worst use of the English language in a scifi flick ever ... oh yeah did I mention that the Wack Bros. have been reading their fanboy press and decide that we can really go deep with the pseudoreligiosity ... just use sentences with big words that make no sense ... wow the apes with awe

After which the movie goes hell bent for leather on giving us the action goods ... yeah so movie #1 we learned that master of kung fu keanu had pretty good kung fu and could make others kung fu look lousy ... um yeah, no real marble pillars and sculptures were harmed in the filming of this movie ... but the car chase scene ... jeezlouise, that was amazing (although when I think about it later, still could have pushed some physics around ... envelope, push, get it?)

Ok, so you want revelations before revolutions.... well, you got em when Neo meets the Architect ... whats the big secret ... oh 6th grade math ... or what happens when you divide 35 by 6 ... sheesh

So what happened here? lemme see, mankind is now down to a few, prophecies don't mean a hell hill of beans, Matrix is probably down --- its been unMatrixed like my buddy ... yeah they just cut the whole fROCken rug out from under this movie

And no, I haven't seen it twice ... and I stand firm against the popular idea that seeing it twice makes it sooo much more understandable ... please

So, yeah, I'm not seeing the movie about CHOICES twice or three times for that matter ... basically because it didn't make the choice to push out from beyond the boundaries of the first with new ideas and just plain old fashioned execution

I think that it is possible to enjoy this film if you just ride it through ... unfortunately for the rest of us thinking simians ... its just unsatisfying in its unwillingness to jump in the deep end of the pool and stir sh-- up