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Matrix Reloaded Trailer Online
cheinonen writes "Trying to steal away the thunder from the opening of Star Wars, the trailer for The Matrix Reloaded is online now in Quicktime format. Must say I'm looking forward to this far more than I'm looking forward to Episode 3."
Is it at all possible to simply enjoy a movie without over analyzing it like you're some sort of Harvard educated sociologist?
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
The Matrix, much like Star Wars, is really a fantasy movie that's trying to tell a story that's almost wholly removed from science fiction (in the traditional "fiction with loads of science in it" sense). Trying to find scientific holes in the quick and easy explanations they give for complex technology is like complaining that lightsabers are "scientifically unsound" and that The Force "has no basis in reality". Star Wars is a story about Flash Gordon-esque fantastic adventures and The Matrix is a story about enslavement by a race completely removed from humans; neither is really about science, but both use science as a thin background for a story, much like fantasy novels use a twisted version of medieval Europe as their setting. Which, by the way, could also be called a historically ridiculous portrayal of medieval Europe.
...willing to push some boundaries.
It attacked Sci-Fi when Sci-Fi (with a few notable exceptions in Star Wars and Terminator) was not considered a viable genre.
It brought Hong Kong style action and anime inspired cinematography to the masses, when both were considered to be niche markets at best.
It pushed the limits of technology and special effects going so far as to invent proprietary techniques to better show off the ideas of the filmmakers (yes, Bullet time was invented for the Matrix and is a trademarked and patented technique. It was first seen in a Gap commercial as a sort of technology test to see how audiences would react, but was created entirely for and because of the Matrix).
It was willing to have a complex and highbrow storyline that was dark and brooding while still being fun and exciting.
It was also, and maybe most importantly, a test in trust from the studio to the filmmakers. They were given a lot of leeway in developing and making this movie. They were allowed to market it in the way they saw fit and rack up a huge expense bill to make sure that it was as good at they saw it in their heads. It led to other films being made under trust (decidedly rare in Hollywood), such as the filming of all three Lord of the Rings movies at once and letting Spiderman be directed by Sam Raimi of Evil Dead fame (kind of a contrast there) and played by Tobey McGuire who is more known as an arty actor than an audience drawing teen hunk.
Overall I trust these sequels because of how well The Matrix was done the first time around. I have confidence that it will be as esoteric and interesting as the first, while still kicking ass. I also appreciate them for the changes that the first brought about to the movie industry, and hope that these lead to more in the same direction. As a film major, I can only hope that there are more mass movies made to the same caliber as The Matrix, LOTR, and Spider-Man and hope to see these sequels as another catalyst for change. I also hope to be able to leave the theater with the same sense of awe and adrenaline that the first left me with.
Here's to hoping.