Old Stuff
Matrix Reloaded, The (2003)
Directed by Andy & Larry Wachowski
Andy and Larry Wachowski put together a 5 hour follow-up to "The Matrix," cut it in half, and called the first half "Reloaded." Yes there are some amazing set-pieces (that go on way too long). There's some amazing kung fu and wire work (that goes on for way too long). There's lots of amazing CGI (so what). There's lots of clunky, stiff dialogue that goes on, and on, and on. Characters appear, seem to be developing, then disappear (probably to reappear in "Revolutions").
Where the first film relied on the development of the characters (either through dialogue or through fights), "Reloaded" tries to achieve forward momentum with a hokey countdown plot device that could have been lifted right out of the original "Star Trek" television series. Zion (the last human city, maybe) has 27 hours (or whatever) before a horde of machines will invade and destroy it. Against this background, we are given the same story elements from the first movie, just more of it. Great, big, double helpings of it. Didn't we already explore the power of love versus death thing? Didn't we already see Neo go one on one with a sparring partner in a dojo? Didn't we see a much better scene between The Oracle and Neo in the first flick? Didn't we already see the Death Star get blown up? Sorry... like most sequels, "Reloaded" rehashes the same story landscape in a misguided quest to explain what it all means. Ironically, it just makes it less clear.
No matter what I say, "Reloaded" will be a huge hit and make butt-loads of steaming cash. It'll dwarf the take on the first movie, which is already a classic science fiction movie. So what? So fucking what? "Reloaded" offers nothing new and has a cop out ending that I usually associate with bad sci-fi movies from the 1950's, or intentionally used in comedies to mock those films. The one interesting element is bungled. Agent Smith is back and is able to "infect" the hackers so that when they leave the matrix, they are under his control. Maybe this part of the storyline will be played out in "Revolutions" in a meaningful way. In "Reloaded" it amounts to 15 seconds of suspense.
Speaking of Agent Smith, he died at the end of the first film. He was a great character and the Wachowskis decided it isn't really a "Matrix" movie without him. In "Reloaded," we don't just get one Agent Smith, we get hundreds. One nearly indestructible Agent Smith is a menace. Hundreds of destructible Agent Smiths are an annoyance. Smith has become the equivalent of a big cloud of gnats.
There are whole scenes (long ones) that could have been cut from "Reloaded" and you would have had no idea that they were missing, assuming you hadn't seen the trailer. The first movie went to some trouble to establish that within the matrix, Trinity, Morpheus & company, were somewhat stiff and inhuman; being their "digital selves." Once outside the matrix, they were much more expressive, imperfect and human. That element is missing in "Reloaded." Everyone is stiff and inhuman no matter where they are now. The interaction of the characters has been sacrificed to make a standard action movie. The Wachowski's had a bead on a great idea with the first flick. What happened? -- Rating: $4.49 (of virtual, Toys "R" Us "Jeffrey money")
Tom Graney -- copyright 2003 Hollywood Outsider