Summer Cinema: ‘The Matrix Reloaded’
Well it has been a four-year wait, but it was worth it. Perhaps the most anticipated movie after the original Star Wars prequel, “The Matrix Reloaded” hit theatres earlier this month running full throttle, and has never slowed down to catch its breath.
Unlike the original, the second installment rode into theaters at the height of a crazed media frenzy of plot speculation and ads spoofing “bullet time” effects. Like the first movie, it dazzles the audience with high-tech effects and mind-numbing fight sequences. It also ends up giving the viewer more new questions to mull over than it answers. That just seems to be par for the course when you are a part of the Matrix.
“Reloaded” begins with Neo (Keanu Reeves) seeing visions of his lover, Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), falling to her death from the top of a shadowed building. Unnerved by his growing powers as “the One,” he follows Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) as they wait for a message from the Oracle. Morpheus meanwhile is disobeying a direct order from Commander Lock (Harry Lennix) who is trying to prepare the defenses of Zion (the last human city) from an army of sentinel machines set on destroying it in order to heed the Oracle’s call.
Neo is told by the Oracle to find the Keymaker who will grant him access to the core of the Matrix. There he will find his destiny. The only catch is that the Keymaker is being held by the Merovingian, a rogue program, and his gang of thugs which includes a pair of twins who can faze their bodies in and out of the Matrix’s reality. Neo must also deal with the reincarnated Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) who has discovered a technique for cloning himself.
Everything is based on choice, but Neo must deal with the fact that he has already made the choice. He just has to understand why he made it.
This film has by far the best visuals of any film since “The Two Towers.” The fight scenes are stunning, and the car chase scene on the highway will leave you gripping the arms of your seat. The Wachowski brothers (writers and directors) said they wanted to make effects that couldn’t be duplicated by every other film to follow their new movies. This is perfectly understandable after the number of films who attempted to copy the bullet-time effects the first “Matrix” film introduced.
The plot however didn’t compare to the first film. The story progressed sluggishly, and new mysteries were introduced for the audience to ponder and argue over. But the characters were not developed in any way. They continued to function within the parameters set for them in the first movie like programs filling their intended purpose. The dialogue also left much to be desired. Instead of the snappy writing of the first film, we were left with a shadow of the comebacks and explanations that made the first film so edgy and mysterious.
Overall though, “Reloaded” is a great summer film. It has lots of explosions (a must for any summer film), and certainly satisfies the void left by that four-year wait. Thank goodness we only have to wait until November for the third film.
Grade: B+