The Matrix: Reloaded—Reviewed

Chad Lennon
June 2003
 

I am sure that there are as many reviews of The Matrix: Reloaded floating about the internet as there are fish in the sea, but I am writing one anyways. As an avid fan of the first installment, I was a little more than excited to see that new Matrix material was coming my way. No, I didn’t visit the site and I wasn’t aware of a sequel until a month or so before it’s release, but I made up for it with the sheer joy in my heart of seeing the next part.

Now to the movie: thankfully, since I moved to Dallas, getting tickets proved no problem at all and soon enough I was there. I specifically went for the latest “Sneak” showing I could get in order to prevent any contact with younger audiences that might so much as whisper during the movie forcing me to beat them, but I digress.

From the opening scene, the movie is action packed; the visuals are stunning if a bit overused in some scenes. The regulars are back, save for the puzzling absence of “Tank,” which last time I checked the first movie, he was ok. So now with the old operator gone is some new guy who is married to Tank and Dozer’s sister. Lawrence Fishburne is magnificent as usual and Carrie Anne Moss provides us with the thick-skinned Trinity. As for Keanu and his portrayal of Neo, he is still a little wooden but when I think about it, he would lose the cool exterior if he went too emotional. Also, and much to my elation, was the return of Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith.

The main gripe of most critics that I have come across is that the philosophical under current of the movie is over done and poorly at that. Well I am going to have to disagree. The one thing that critics have on the youth of America is that they have seen countless films dating back to before our parents even thought about getting married. So to always compare every movie that comes out to something in the past is generally unfair. When I last checked, the youth of the world are not exactly learning philosophy in school, so they need to get it somewhere. Even bad philosophy gets the mind thinking. So the elder generation should back off and leave it be, even though we may get all this from a sci-fi action flick. The theme of the illusion of choice may be old but it still holds to be an important aspect of humanity. It was well done and the only reason it seemed to drag in some parts is that many people are too impatient to bother with trying to take it all in.

As for the action, in some places it seemed almost too insane; the fight with Agent Smith and his doppelgangers was a bit too long for my tastes. The real gem of the film is the car chase that is so intense you will not breathe for its entirety. The effect was improved over the previous installment in the series thankfully due to the lack of visible wires for the fight scenes and over-the-top action sequences. The Wachowski brothers have taken a cue from George Lucas and used computer models for some of the action, which is a major improvement.

The end of the film leaves you hanging, and not to mention salivating, for the final part of the saga due—out in November. Once you see the mind bending twist at the end of Reloaded, I can assure you will not be able to wait.

Overall, I think the movie was well done and needed only minor tweaking in some areas. But even with an unapologetic leap right into the story line, with little to no back history, and a sharp drop at its end, The Matrix: Reloaded still shines bright in a new generation of films.

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