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The Matrix Re-Reloaded
derGoldstein writes "According to Keanu Reeves: ' Matrix 4 and 5 are coming.' At an event that took place at the London International School of Performing Arts, 'Reeves revealed that he met with the Wachowskis around Christmas. They told him that they completed script treatments for two more Matrix installments. They are planning to make the films in 3D and have already met with James Cameron to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the technology. Reeves added that he's excited to return as Neo and promised that the treatments will truly revolutionize the action genre like the first Matrix film did.'"
For the love of the great fire cactus.
Sad thing is, even though most people equate the two existing sequels to the experience of having a lightly chilled olive fork rammed into your eye this movie will get its audience. The first matrix was just that damn good that they can keep cranking out shitty sequels and people will watch them, knowing full well that they are going to suck.
Something bad happened two movies ago.
I've been waiting for two more Matrix movies ever since the last one came out in 1999!
Surprise, asshole! I bet you never saw this coming, did ya?
Computers were not exactly "new" a decade ago. Even as far as movie CG, it was about 25 years old. It was the use of new camera and filming technology and techniques that really set the first Matrix apart - aside from a really great story. What Matrix accomplished was doing something amazing in a post-Jurassic-Park time period, when special effects had finally reached the point where it could realistically accomplish anything and we should have otherwise not have been impressed by anything that we saw, anywhere.
I could go for more Keanu. I could go for more cyber-punk type of stuff. I just don't see the need to make it more Matrix stuff. Do two or three whole new movies independent of the franchise. They don't need to have anything to do with it. Sometimes it's good enough to just have one singular great self-contained story. Not sequels. Not game DLC. Not prequels. Just more good stories.
Also, I really just wanted to reply to this whole story with a single post that just said "Whoa....".
Mr Reeves is not a sequel whore; far from it. While he did Matrix 2 and 3 (as it was part of an intended trilogy). I actually can't think of a sequel he's done *except* for the Matrix series. He's notably turned down Constantine 2, Speed 2, a 3rd Bill & Ted movie... he's actually more brave with movie selections than many A list movie stars.
John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
Mr. Reeves is a sequel whore committed to leaching money off of success or even moderate success
If he was really doing anything to "leech money", why would he give millions to charity, take millions in pay cuts to allow other big budget actors to be cast when he thinks they'd really suit a certain part? What about when he gave £50,000,000 to the cast and crew of the Matrix movies. Give the guy some credit where it's due. If he's making a movie, it's most likely for other reasons than money.
Read up on the actual story of Sad Keanu and maybe you'll think differently of him. I only read all that last week. I've never thought of him as a douche, but now I think he's one of the nicest guys in show business, perhaps even the nicest guy.
which is totally what she said
....George Lucas is adopting the Wachowski brothers.
I don't see the sequels as bad or stupid.
;).
The idea that the machines want humans as batteries is just what Morpheus claimed. It may be true in the inner Matrix world, but may not be for the outer matrix worlds. Remember even in the first movie the question was asked: "What if when you woke up, you didn't know the difference between the dream world, and the real world?"
So my interpretation is the Oracle is trying to upgrade herself- she believes humans have something the machines don't. Think of the whole thing as a "hybrid/breeding program".
Neo is likely at least partly a machine[1] (and a special one). The Oracle gives Neo cookies to add features/upgrades at critical moments.
After each world iteration (you can see the previous Neos try and fail etc), Neo has a chance of becoming more human but crucially retaining the abilities of machines. Smith goes about merging with all the humans and other machines, including the Oracle (who still _somehow_ retains enough of herself to prompt Neo), and Neo merges with Smith.
If things go fine, the Oracle gets her upgrade... If things go wrong, as the Architect said, the Oracle is playing a dangerous game.
As you can see, there's still plenty of room for reasonable interpretations.
Of course the upcoming sequels could prove that it really was stupid
[1] FWIW, in the first movie the humans themselves mention "he's a machine" they weren't serious of course, but the film writers might be dropping hints.
I thought they only ever made 1 movie, and it was good.
Wouldn't this technically qualify as a second? I sure hope they don't dirty the concept with some crazy machine war, or an oddly pointless death of Neo's love interest.
-Matt
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Matrix 4: Scene: Suburbia
Neo and gang mow lawns and clean pools.
Hot chick with pushup bra babysits for Neo, Trinity looks disgusted.
More mall shopping.
Matrix 5: Scene: Rural Farm
Neo and gang plant corn.
Hot chick with pushup bra milks a cow, Trinity looks disgusted.
More square dancing.
IMO, the second two were better than the first.
I don't know what people were expecting and didn't get from them. I find it as puzzling as the people who complained about Transformers 2. What did they expect from that? It was two hours of robots kicking the crap out of each other.
Matrix 2 and 3 were what you expected -- special effects, Keanu saying "woah" and pop-philosophy.
I think the problem is people read way too much into the first one.
I'm rooting for Pastafarian.
Matrix 4: Spaghetti Code.
Mr. Reeves is a sequel whore committed to leaching money off of success or even moderate success
Keanu Reeves has been in 49 movies in his career so far and the only sequels I see that he's been in are Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey and the Matrix sequels. I think that hardly qualifies him as a "sequel whore".
If you want to talk sequel whores there are others that are worse such as Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop 1-3. Dr. Doolitle 1&2, The Nutty Professor 1&2, 48 Hours 1&2), Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon 1-4, Mad Max 1-3), Sylvester Stallone (Rocky 1-6, Rambo 1-4) the main cast of Harry Potter and most of the cast of the Police Academy movies (#8 is in development, even Guttenberg stopped after 4).
Some of what I say is fact, some is conjecture, the rest I'm just blowing out my ass...you guess.
You are an idiot. The stuff he's doing obviously hasn't been publicised much, or everyone would know about it and eldavojohn wouldn't have been being such a dick.
He gives away lots of money to cancer charities as his sister has leukemia. You could make the case that that's vaguely self serving, but it's still a good thing to do.
From the Sad Keanu page:
In his career, Keanu turns down big roles if he believes the character he would portray is too violent. He took a 90 percent pay cut on The Replacements just so Gene Hackman could be cast. Previously, he had deferred 2 million of his salary so that Al Pacino could be cast on The Devil’s Advocate. Even then, he gives most of his earnings to charity and the backstage crew/people who help on the set.
Emphasis mine. He consistently gives away his earnings despite no need to do so, and no need for more publicity. The guy is nothing like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, he is not about the limelight and appearances. As others have said, he turned down big movies like Speed 2 and Constantine 2 (that would have made him a metric fuck-ton of money and publicity), just so he could work on smaller movies that he thought were more worth making.
In TFA he also says he's doing The Matrix 4 and 5 "to give the fans the sequels he feels they deserve", so hopefully they'll be a lot more like the first movie. Likewise I doubt he'd be doing B&T 3 unless it's going to be a great movie. From what I've read he often used to wish that people would forget he was in Bill & Ted and take note of his more serious work!
You can continue being cynical if you wish, but from all the stuff I read last week and today, he sounds like a very humble, admirable and down to earth (as much as it's possible to be when you're that famous) guy.
which is totally what she said
I wouldn't count the Harry potter kids since it's a series of books. It would be like saying Elijah Wood was a sequel whore because of LotR.
Matrix 4: Morpheus comes to Neo and Trinity, must take them to the future, something has to be done about their kids.
Matrix 5: Nebuchadnezzar struck by lightening, taken back to 1885, Neo must travel back in time to rescue Morpheus
I know the plot: Star Wars, Star Trek, LotR, HHGTTG and Battlestar Galactica worlds are all instances of the matrix, like dimensions. A hero from each dimension will come wearing a diferent colored costume, and together will form The Matrix Rangers.
Neo will be the Blue Ranger, Adama the Black, Kirk the Pink, Frodo the Yellow and Arthur Dent the Red. They will ride a big Cylon mecha called Sauron.
They will find out that the Matrix true purpose is not energy generation, but to discover the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
In the end, we all die of boredom.
Am I eval()? - http://www.monst3r.com.br
The matrix left high concept Sci Fi and became more comic gothic and set piece action oriented as it went along. The reason people hated it was because people who like physics based sci-fi are not comfortable with meta-physics and fantasy sci-fi or at least don't like it when expecting one and get served the other.
The original compelling mystery and challenge were exposed so new meta physical plots and myth had to be injected. Perhaps the problem was they invented these in a way that tried to hold the patinia of hard core physical sci-fi but was utterly transparent and ill fitting. For example I like Larry Niven and I liked watching Lord of the RIngs. But I'd not like both in the same soup.
People had similar complaints about the evolution of Battelstar gallactica, though there it the conversion was not so complete.
But if you stand back and just look at these gloriously filmed movies all you can say is Wow. No matter how the story morphed the results were just screen filling action mayhem. And I want to see more for sure. I'll still complain the Reeves is a wooden pole of an actor, though to be fair he's hamstrung now by the deification. We all liked him better when he was less of a god and more of a confused apprentice. But he's just a prop. I don't have to like him to like the movie.
These will be fantastic in 3D.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Christopher Walken as the Architect. win.