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Review: Matrix: Reloaded
PsndCsrV writes:
Due to some fortunate circumstances, I was able to partake of the Matrix goodness ahead of the release. Overall, I thought the movie was excellent, but there were some issues (for me, at least) that kept it from being spectacular. It's definitely worth seeing, and if you're worried about it not being that good, go see a matinee screening and skip the popcorn. ;-) It is a blatant cliffhanger, though, so if that drives you nuts, you better just wait until November. Keep reading for a more in depth look, and I'll try not to let any spoilers slip.
The special effects were great. I personally didn't see anything totally revolutionary in them... it seems like most of it was simply "bullet time", but more refined, utilizing CG where cameras don't make it. Only a couple of times did I feel that the CG wasn't quite right, and even then it wasn't due to the impossibility of the action. It was mostly due to a character's arms/legs/hair/clothes that didn't move 100% naturally during a stunt, which is definitely difficult to get right. There was only a couple instances in 1 scene that come to mind immediately, so the effects people did an excellent job.
One of the main criticisms of the first Matrix was the lack of character development. Well, I won't lie to you... there's not a whole lot of character development in this one either. There was more, but not for any of the main characters really. A little more insight into Morpheus's life, a new take on the Oracle, the introduction of some new characters, and the whole thing going on with Agent Smith. But there are still a lot of gaps in the characters, but Reloaded does make you feel like you're starting to understand things better, and that the next movie will be very enlightening.
One of the best after-effects of the first Matrix was the way it made you question your own take on reality. It really made you wonder what's real, and what's not. What's important to me, and what's not. Or maybe I was just being overly philosophical about it. Reloaded really does a good job of leaving you questioning, but this time, you're speculating about the movie and where it will head... how things will be resolved. Reloaded ends with many loose ends, and many questions unanswered, but at the same time, it's an excellent opportunity to speculate. I definitely want to see Revolutions now, and it's a good thing I only have to wait 6 months.
The movie also flowed well. I didn't ever feel like a scene was put in "just because", except once. I personally felt that the love scene between Neo and Trinity was a little overboard, and that a lot more could have been said with a much more subtle approach. Intermixed with this, were shots of the people of Zion having a wild dance party/orgy. Ok, so the orgy was implied with the whole sexual nature of the dance scene. I couldn't help but relate it to Herbert's Fremen spice orgy in Dune, except without the spice. It struck me as the same type of situation.
To sum it up, I really enjoyed it. My only big complaint was the love scene, but I am a conservative person. Other people will undoubtedly love the movie just for that scene. The rest of the movies was great, and definitely sets up Revolutions as a must see.
Though I think the bullet time was part of what made it suck. They used that shit in every goddamn fight scene, of which there were at least a dozen, nearly all of them the same. It goes from "neat special effect" to "okay, we know you can fucking do that effect, now show something else already."
So it ended up basically being one of those plotless martial arts movies, only Keanu Reaves can't do wire-fu worth a damn. Go watch a Jackie Chan movie or something instead.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the writing on Slate! Fucking hilarious review:
"a Fellini-esque slow-motion orgy intercut with Neo and Trinity making the beast with two backs. That sound you hear is Cecil B. DeMille whacking off in his grave."
We can neither love nor pity nor forgive. If you make a slip in handling us you die!
how is this garbage "stuff that matters"???
The point is that listening to you fanboys talking about the Matrix as if it's some kind of amazing metaphysical revelation is really annoying to a person like me that's actually read Plato's fucking allegory of the cave, which was written 2000+ years ago and is more interesting and concise and comprehensible than the Matrix and has been retold eight hundred million times in the interim. If that makes me elitist, then it also makes you a pus-nuts dumbshit.
...but your rhetorical question champions the ignorant by characterizing those in the know as elitists. Let's put it this way: If I unilaterally, spontaneously attacked Matrix fanboys for being dumbshits, then, yes, I'd be an elitist. But, after hearing the umpteenth, longwinded attempt to discern the Matrix's metaphysical message (which inevitably concludes with the most primitive, pre-Platonic revelation, such as "how do we know that perceived reality is real?"), I've fucking had it. Someone has to tell these people how silly they sound, and I'm not too proud to be that guy.
Attention Matrix fanboys: Be forewarned that your lip-flapping attempts to fill in the Matrix's metaphysical gaps will put the thinking world on notice that you slept through life's lessons on basic metaphysics.
You and I are saying the same thing, but approaching it from different angles. I have been saying all along that the Matrix is a story that was told (IMO, in a superior way) in the past, many times over. My point all along has been that the fanboys act as if the Matrix is the first instance of that revelation, just because it's the first time that they've experienced it. This would be excusably, really, except that any 20+ year old person that needs the Matrix to challenge the truth of their 'reality' is painfully late in the game.
Funny how some people will repeatedly read and nearly commit to memory Lord Of The Rings (or devote so much thought into The Matrix storyline) but never even consider reading The Bible.
That's because LotR is a better book.
Having a coherent/consistent story and being written by a single (very talented) author makes the world of difference.
Honestly, how can one expect intelligent people to dote on that load of contradictory, moralistic, badly-composed anthology of ancient hunter-gatherer fables?
Now, if you'd asked if people'd prefer to read the Dune series or the bible, I think the "Good Book" would win out.
Maybe. Are we including "Chapterhouse Dune"?