The Matrix Reloaded Movie Review

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

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Written by: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)
Directed by: Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett Smith, Monica Bellucci, Gloria Foster
Rated: R
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Plot
Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, and the freedom fighters must protect Zion and the human race from extinction while Neo learns of his pivotal role in humanity's fate and the construct of the The Matrix.

Verdict
As sequels go this aims for more. It's obvious the budget is bigger and thus we get more action and effects, but the story becomes unwieldy. The more the Matrix is explained, the more information is needed. We're nearing the limit of too many characters and the action is linked with lots of exposition. The movie is bloated. While the action is really the only draw, no doubt it's impressive, it's also indulgent.
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Review
The Matrix (read my review) is awesome. It was perfect from concept to execution to the ending where Neo flies away. There was just no way for a sequel to top it. While Reloaded goes for bigger and over the top action, it just isn't as good.

This starts with a dream sequence, which I rarely like that trope. It's over the top from the jump which doesn't help the trick. The point is to convey the bond between Neo and Trinity.

With how powerful we just saw Neo in the previous movie, Reloaded seems like a regression. Why is he still fist fighting? We saw such an amazing progression, and while this movie attempts a similar leap in ability, I didn't like it as much. It seems the movie doesn't know what to do with Neo. He can't be too good at destruction or else we won't have action scenes, but he's ridiculously more powerful than anyone else. At one point he's transported to the middle of nowhere.

Everything is bigger in this movie, but there is nothing driving the story. This movie is bloated. We can see the budget is bigger with better and more CGI. There are a lot more characters, though most don't really matter. So much of this movie is exposition. While the first movie got away with it since it was explaining major questions, here characters ruminate about machines. There is just so much rambling. The story has gotten too big to handle well. We're also introduced to even more programs in the Matrix. I like the idea that rogue programs are vampires, aliens, and other myths, but they also feel like a way just to stretch the story.

 

We also see renderings of the Matrix a lot more which is a scene rendered in green with code overlaid. That's not what that Matrix looks like, code doesn't form an image. It's just another example of since the movie can it does.

The early fight between Neo and the many Smiths is cool, but it's much longer than anything in the first movie. This movie has more leeway due to the success of the first and a budget that's more than doubled, but the length and quantity doesn't make it better. It's indulgent. So is the dialog. This movie complicates a simple concept. While choice and fate are mentioned, it's not as tidy as the first. Action and exposition don't flow into each other. This movie is big action set pieces, breaks for dialog and that sequence repeats.

The movie is big spectacle and thin on story. The highway sequence is fun, but there are just so many characters. The phasing twins are neat, sure, but it's a lot less grounded than what we've seen previously.

The architect is interesting. He created the Matrix, and we learn that Neo is the sixth "the one." Why does every 'one' look like Neo? The story keeps giving us more, but it raises two questions for each new piece of information. If each one is Neo, is the Matrix just a repetition? How many iterations does a person experience in one lifetime?
The architect indicates Zion resets with twenty some people every time the one reaches this point, so does the Matrix. Could the Matrix be six hundred years old? How else would no one remember the last savior? Does it reboot every thirty years instead and wipe people's memoreis? How does this work? It's a question that's never fully resolved.
I get the Oracle, her purpose is to help humans. Does the architect just sit in a room waiting for Neo? He designed the Matrix, but why is he still there? Is he taking notes waiting for the next time? Do all programs need a physical manifestation in the Matrix? The architect seems like a needless complication, other than his exposition for the audience.
Neo is the personification of choice that maintains a balance in the Matrix, but how often does he appear in the Matrix? He looks the same in the Matrix as he does in real life, which seems like 'the One' shouldn't look like Neo every time as this movie shows us.
The architect will let Zion reboot, but why and how will Zion reboot? The machines want to destroy Zion, so will they just let Zion start over? If Zion starts with twenty people and right now they have thousands, lets assume each new Zion generation doubles from the previous, that's six generations to reach a thousand people. Why would the machines wait to try and destroy them? Have they never tried before?

The ending is underwhelming as we're left with a to be continued screen. One important note is that Neo's powers now extend to the real world. How does that work?
Neo has an interesting dichotomy that is never explored. In the real world he's normal, vulnerable. In the Matrix he's overpowered. He has to be drawn to the Matrix and that feeling of power. He may want to save humanity, but he probably doesn't want to destroy the Matrix. Most of the population is in the Matrix anyway. Since that's powered by machines, he has to want some kind of arrangement so he can maintain that power. Focusing on the characters we have, especially since we have this enigma that is Neo just seems cleaner.

I wasn't planning to watch the third, but I feel pushed into it now. The first movie tells a complete story, and a sequel should not get a pass on that. Reloaded doesn't even try to stand alone. The action carries the movie while the story is thin and disjointed.