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THE MATRIX: RELOADED
Directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski
During the summer of 1999, when I had recently seen THE MATRIX and it was my favorite film, I was lucky enough to catch a small tidbit on an entertainment TV show announcing that there were two planned sequels. Since then I have been counting down until these films would be released, and after nearly four years the wait was over. I was, however, afraid that I had over-hyped the film to myself.
RELOADED picks up where THE MATRIX leaves off. Neo and Trinity are still in love, living together in Zion, the human’s underground city, which is beautifully realized on screen. Morpheus still commands his ship, the Nebuchadnezzar. Rather than facing deletion when Neo destroyed him, Agent Smith has become a rogue program, constantly cloning himself through other human vessels. We are also introduced to a host of new characters, such as Niobe and one of Zion’s counselors, although these new characters do not add up to much.
The plot revolves around the continuing war to save Zion and free all of humanity. An army of Sentinels are drilling through the ground to attack the last human city. When Neo talks to The Oracle again, he learns of a back door in the matrix that leads to its source. Only "The One" can enter this room, and when he does, the matrix will be destroyed. But Neo needs a key to enter this room, which he can only get from the Keymaker, a program within the matrix that creates access keys to all of its programs.
When I went into this film, I went in for one reason. Not to see a deeply symbolic, philosophical story. The one reason I went was to see things go "boom," and I got that in spades. The Wachowski brothers had a difficult task ahead of them. In the original film, we learn that Neo is virtually invincible when inside the matrix. Knowing this, how is it possible to create action scenes that are genuinely exciting? There are two ways. In once extended fight scene, Neo is pitted against literally one hundred Agent Smith clones, which give him a lot of trouble. The other way is to put the supporting cast in danger. The film’s action centerpiece is a chase scene through a freeway, where Morpheus, Trinity, and the Keymaker are chased by agents and twin ghosts, which are actually rogue programs. This scene is nearly thirty minutes of sheer exhilaration. I have not seen an action scene this satisfying since any of the great action sequences in TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY.
The most bizarre scene in the film occurs when Neo enters the source of the matrix and meets its creator. I do not want to spoil anything, but that speech, coupled with a neat trick Neo pulls off near the end with a few Sentinels, made me question whether or not the real world Neo and company lives in is actually real. But I try not to analyze this film too much. It is much more fun if you just enjoy it for what it is on the surface. I did, and it left me smiling for a long time afterwards.
My Rating: ***1/2
Review by Jared Mills
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