Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski's 'The Matrix Reloaded' (2003)
Before I begin, I must say that I am not a lover of action movies. However, I consider The Matrix to be one of the best films I saw in 1999. Along with movies like Minority Report, The Matrix manages to be much more than an action movie.
The original film provides enough fodder for philosophical discussions to last for years, but sadly I cannot say the same of The Matrix Reloaded.
Due to the success of the first film, I assume the sequel probably had a much larger budget. But it is obvious that the money was spent toward special effects and action scenes rather than developing a script as thought-provoking as the first. The minor philosophical issues raised by characters like the Architect and Merovingian are painfully boring to sit through. These scenes attempt to cram as much philosophical discussion in the shortest amount of time so that the film might move on to the next action sequence. And while some of these action sequences are stunning – as most people have mentioned, the car chase is brilliant – many of them fail to blend CGI effects into live action footage very successfully. Therefore, several times I felt as I though I was watching someone play a video game rather than watching a film. The Wachowskis also put themselves in a difficult position because of Neo's seeming invincibility in the Matrix. Since Neo can manipulate the Matrix any way he chooses, the action sequences involving Neo have the most possibility of being spectacular. But since Neo can manipulate the Matrix any way he chooses, the audience feels safe that he will not die and, therefore, little dramatic tension is created. Fights involving Morpheus and Trinity have dramatic tension because they do not have the same control of the Matrix as Neo does, but those action sequences will not be as spectacular as Neo's.
As far as the plot is concerned, the film doesn't seem to follow through with it. At the beginning of the film, the machines are going to attack Zion and at the end of the film, the machines have still yet to attack Zion. The Matrix Reloaded felt like the first two and half hours of a five hour film, which will be continued when Revolutions comes out. The script also fails to provide any real character development, especially for the new characters.
The original film provides enough fodder for philosophical discussions to last for years, but sadly I cannot say the same of The Matrix Reloaded.Due to the success of the first film, I assume the sequel probably had a much larger budget. But it is obvious that the money was spent toward special effects and action scenes rather than developing a script as thought-provoking as the first. The minor philosophical issues raised by characters like the Architect and Merovingian are painfully boring to sit through. These scenes attempt to cram as much philosophical discussion in the shortest amount of time so that the film might move on to the next action sequence. And while some of these action sequences are stunning – as most people have mentioned, the car chase is brilliant – many of them fail to blend CGI effects into live action footage very successfully. Therefore, several times I felt as I though I was watching someone play a video game rather than watching a film. The Wachowskis also put themselves in a difficult position because of Neo's seeming invincibility in the Matrix. Since Neo can manipulate the Matrix any way he chooses, the action sequences involving Neo have the most possibility of being spectacular. But since Neo can manipulate the Matrix any way he chooses, the audience feels safe that he will not die and, therefore, little dramatic tension is created. Fights involving Morpheus and Trinity have dramatic tension because they do not have the same control of the Matrix as Neo does, but those action sequences will not be as spectacular as Neo's.
As far as the plot is concerned, the film doesn't seem to follow through with it. At the beginning of the film, the machines are going to attack Zion and at the end of the film, the machines have still yet to attack Zion. The Matrix Reloaded felt like the first two and half hours of a five hour film, which will be continued when Revolutions comes out. The script also fails to provide any real character development, especially for the new characters.
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This blog contains what I think about movies, TV, short stories and crap like that. This blog is chock-full o' spoilers, so be warned. Though I don't tend to write about anything current, so I doubt there's much here to spoil anybody.
