The Matrix Reloaded

-Warner Bros. (2003)

Summary:

This is the second Matrix film, so if you didn't see the first one you'd be completely and utterly lost. This time around, the human city of Zion is in big trouble and a lot of leather clad, dress wearing, cool-as-shit heroes have to fight the evil robot squids in order to save humanity. What you need to know is that this movie has style dripping out of it like sweet sweet pudding in a monkey skull.

My Thoughts:

I like to think of myself as a sci-fi, horror, and action film kind of guy. But, for some reason The Matrix has never caught on with me like it has with a lot of other people. That's why when Reloaded first came out I wasn't that hot on seeing it. I have a job to do though, so destiny brought me towards this disc.

Where can I start? This movie is beyond complicated, and I'm not one to give away surprises for a film so I won't. I'm going to try to pick apart some details while hopefully not ruining Reloaded for anyone who hasn't seen it.

For me, one of the biggest problems was that the audience loses the outsider's perspective that was in the first movie. Neo was our eyes and ears and he let us tag along and be as confused as we were. Now that he is an essential part of what is happening we have lost him as a regular human and guide, which made him a more sympathetic character. It also helped see the humor in such a situation and the tragedy so much more.

So what is happening around us? Well, if you can actually follow what goes on, there are a ton of big things for the world of the Matrix that I really would hate to give away. What a viewer of this film can expect is a lot of talk about choices that I guess weren't covered enough in the first movie. I felt like I was being beat over the head with all this mumbo jumbo. The Wachowski brothers' love of anime really shows in these long drawn out dialogue scenes that discuss intellectual points of view in some great and powerful way. These long and boring speeches are the reason why I don't watch anime, thanks.

I also feel that if I didn't know anything about computers that it would have been a lot harder to follow. I know that the film is geared towards a certain type of viewer, but I felt bogged down in thinking about how non-corporal things like how the software is supposed to interact in an environment with humans, who are essentially software in a set of rules. I think the biggest problem here is that the rules of their universe are so complicated that I'm not sure what a person can or can't do. The limitations are too vague for me. Example: Morphous fears falling off the truck, but does he fear dying or just losing the Keymaker?

My other big bone of contention is the film's McGuffin, the Keymaker. For those of you who don't know what that is, here is a simple description:  A McGuffin is the device that helps drive the plot (credit to Alfred Hitchcock for the term).  In Raiders of the Lost Ark, it's the ark. In this film it's some guy called the Keymaker. My problem is this: it takes forever to realize that they need this particular McGuffin, and when they do his importance is bogged down in a bunch of consequences that are hard to relate to. I didn't really care if the Keymaker lived or died, I figured the characters would be clever enough to get around that problem.

I also didn't understand what Agent Smith was up to. As of this point he doesn't seem to have any significance as an obstacle. Sure he wants to kill Neo, but who doesn't? In the first film he's doing it because it's his job, in this one he seems to be doing it because he's an ass. I'm sure this will be cleared up in the next film, but as of right now he's an obstacle that doesn't have a lot of motivation.

Reloaded also suffers from making itself too dark and serious. The whole thing screams of epic in the making, and I think it's a little too campy in that respect. The end music before the "to be concluded" screen that pops up sounded like a 50's giant spider movie theme. Reloaded could have been a lot more fun if it hadn't of taken itself as such a huge epic tale for the ages. I guess the W. Brothers got their egos inflated way too much after the first Matrix came out.

What I do like about Reloaded is that we get to see the world of the Matrix. There's a lot more of the surface and they let us see Zion this time. The biggest problem I had with the first Matrix was that the movie seemed to take place in its own little sphere. It really didn't feel like there was an outside world besides the locations that we got to see. A lot of talk about a city and other people do not make for the feeling that there really is a city and other people. While in Zion, Reloaded deals a little with what it is to be a messiah for Neo and how it is affecting his normal life. This is a nice touch and helped add some humanity to the script by bringing Neo a little more down to Earth. It's also pretty cool that humanity conducts regular dance orgies.

There are some pretty good action scenes, and some cool fight sequences. Sometimes the fighting can be a little drawn out, since I never thought Neo was in any real danger when he was fighting plain old thugs.

One of the biggest problems of all with Reloaded is the part where Neo talks to the dude in white. I was trying really hard to understand what the words coming out of that guys mouth were, but nothing was making sense. Maybe I'm a moron, but even Shawn didn't get it and he's a lot more into The Matrix than I am. Hopefully, the final film will explain what was going on better, but damn if I know.

I can see a Matrix freak writing me, explaining everything I didn't get. Well fine, that's great, but it's a sci-fi escape film, not a Steinbeck novel. If I didn't understand a lot of it then neither will a lot of people who are just watching the movie for fun. If you don't know anything about computers and just care about explosions, then rent the film and go straight to the highway chase. Otherwise, I have to warn you that this is a middle movie in the tradition of a lot of middle movies, you better be prepared to go for the long haul before everything makes sense.

Extras: 

I think we have a case of a money-making first release, followed up by a special edition to be released somewhere in the future. There aren't a lot of extras. Noticeably absent are such things as cut scenes and director commentary, and no "follow the rabbit" that was in the first film's DVD.

My favorite extra is the MTV movie awards bit. On this disc it's called, "The MTV movie awards Reloaded." You will not regret watching what I refer to as, "Comedy Gold." Will Ferril makes an amazing appearance that you cannot miss. 

"Get Me an Exit" is a great extra that I wish more DVDs had. It covers the advertising that was based around the film and it's cool to see the making of these commercials and how they fit in the Matrix universe.

"The Freeway Chase" is a pretty great feature, and it goes into the best part of the movie in an overly deep way.

The other extras cover the making of the film in overly detailed documentaries. There are even a couple dedicated towards the Animatrix and the video game Enter the Matrix. It's a joke now to see how they talk about the game and how great it was supposed to be. By all accounts it was one of the worst releases ever, because the damn thing was broke when they shipped it. I've read that the X-Box version will crash if you play it for to long. 

Score:

Film: 7

Confusing and drawn out, but worth watching if you're a fan or even want a big surprise.

Extras: 8

Edition: 8

- Paul