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The Matrix is Reloading
smoondog writes "The Matrix Reloaded is the highly anticipated sequel to Wachowski's geek epic. Time.com has opened a new preview site with pics and interviews. Make sure you check out the pics on The Matrix homepage. Too bad 2003 is so far away...."
From the Time article:
...high-toned philosophy borrowed from sources as diverse as Plato, the Bible and Snow White.
Yeah, it's hard to beat the high-toned philosophy of Snow White. At any rate, I suspect they meant Alice In Wonderland, but hey: Carroll, Disney, what's the diff?
Face it people: the movies are a lot of fun, but they aren't especially deep. Most of the ideas are drawn directly from classic fantasy, Golden Age sci-fi and cyberpunk. For a different and in some ways superior treatment of the idea that the world we're living in is just a shadow of the real one, for example, I'd recommend Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber.
Why would people feel such a strong urge to offer up their opinions on a movie if they really, truly felt that it was mediocre? Lots of movies I'm sure they hate just as much are mentioned every day, and these people don't succumb to the temptation to compose a huge commentary on all the borrowed cliches in "Notting Hill." And yet, one need only mention "The Matrix", and even now, 3 years later, and people come out of the woodwork, trying to show off what little they know about classical mythology and contemporary filmmaking. I guess "Intro Filmmaking 101" makes experts out of you all, eh?
I particularly love the poseurs who say they think people are being modded down just because people resent those who rip on popular things. And yet, here on Slashdot, I see far more negative comments about "The Matrix" than positive ones. This little subculture does rip on popular things. The little teeny-bopper geeks-in-waiting have only been around a little over a decade, but they already (claim to) know more about programming than Microsoft, and more about filmmaking than the Wachowskis. They see a couple 60's kung-fu movies at a friend's sleepover and think that makes them film connoisseurs.
Face it - a lot of the kids on this site have been bred to hate popular things. And they don't even consider that it's because they're not popular, so one way to feel good about themselves is to embrace a culture that preaches "popular things are bad." Linux fits that bill nicely. And thus, you have your target audience for Slashdot. Unfortunately, you then have a truly groundbreaking movie like "The Matrix", and it gets shunned by people who think the makers were going for Shakespeare.
The Wachoswkis weren't trying to re-invent the world. Read some interviews with them. All along, all they wanted was to make a cool sci-fi, kung-fu movie. They're just a couple of kids who got their dream come true and were granted a budget by a major studio. Like children in a candy store, they made the movie they wanted to make, and it worked. The editing was bang-on, the effects were groundbreaking, and it was a box-office sleeper hit. They succeeded.
But, unfortunately, in the eyes of their target demographic (Slashdotters), they had crossed over to the dark side. They were (shudder) popular.
Oh well. You can't please everybody. There are so many movies out there that are content with working on just one level. They follow the standard formula of plausible plot, one or too big-name actors, maybe a couple effects, rush it through the grinder and get it up on the screen. I really liked that the Wachowskis bothered to put in so many clever references, even if they didn't rival Freud's greatest works. It's just something fun, something new to discover each time you watch the movie. I think that's all they were going for, and I think it's sad that so many people think they are the final authority on what the film should have been, or was trying to be, when the Wachowskis have clearly articulated their vision already.
Like woodworking? Build your own picture frames.
Precisely. Especially with all the movies that are "Matrix inspired" that do a pretty good job with good special effects. The whole 'bullet-time' bit is incredibly passe. Sure, it's cool, but it's not, "Whoa, shit... that was so cool I loaded my pants" cool, as it was the first time around. (Endless analogies can be applied here.)
I'd wager to say that half of what's cool about The Matrix is that it was introducing the 'world' that the Matrix is. And even that won't be new.
Hey, if the two brothers can make a prequel and a sequel that don't suck, I'd say the two of them are cinematic geniuses. Otherwise, they got a) incredibly lucky, or b) in the right place at the right time. Not denying that The Matrix is good, but I feel true genius would be able to make a decent sequel/prequel, even if the original is as good as The Matrix is/was.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers