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The Matrix
Reloaded
When The
Matrix hit theaters four years ago, nobody knew what hit
them, least of all Warner Brothers. A fresh (to some) melding
of science fiction, kung fu, and philosophy, the film was
so good that not even the presence of Keanu Reeves could dampen
its power. Just before "trilogy" became the hottest word in
Hollywood, The Wachowski Brothers admitted that they had just
such a plan for the new world they had created.
And so
we get The Matrix Reloaded. It's bigger, louder, deeper,
wider and cooler than the first, which is to say it's more
of the same. Few film titles have been more apt. For some
of it, that works. But The Matrix franchise has already
become a victim of its own success. The bigger you make it,
the bigger the holes become, too.
It's
almost not fair to judge this film, as its main reason to
exist is to set up themes and ideas meant to wrap up in the
fall with The Matrix Revolutions. Have no fear of the
hype; though it does end on a cliffhanger, it also wraps up
enough of its story to be satisfying. And comic book fans,
at least, are used to waiting more than six months for the
next part of the story anyway.
But judge
we must. Or take the blue pill and forget the whole thing
ever happened.
Set roughly
six months after the events of the first film, and just after
The Final Flight of
the Osiris, The Matrix Reloaded certainly grabs
our attention from the outset. As in the first, Trinity (Carrie-Anne
Moss) performs an amazing stunt that proves just what a bad-ass
she is, only this time it looks to end in certain death. Is
it just a nightmare, a prophecy, or, as will mystically be
bandied about throughout the film, simply fate brought about
by choices made long ago?
Though
Neo (Reeves) spends a lot of time looking like he's pondering
that question, it feels more likely that he merely marks time
between pointless martial arts battles. In tune with the very
coding of The Matrix itself, Neo appears to just be riding
the waves of it rather than reaching any conclusions.
For a
guy who is essentially Superman (with more than one visual
nod to that idea), Neo hasn't used the intervening months
to start living up to that role. In fact, he seems even less
accepting of who he is than he was at the end of the first
film, except in a few isolated instances.
Now he
can sense the approach of Agents, a useful skill when they
come calling on a clandestine meeting of rebel captains. While
Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) counsels the fleet to disregard
the orders of Commander Lock (Harry Lennix) and wait for word
from The Oracle (the late Gloria Foster), Neo does some slow-motion
code-kicking.
But "The
One" isn't the only one who has changed. The reconstituted
Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) has somehow survived being unwritten,
and now exists independent of The Matrix, a virus that no
longer has the good of the mainframe in mind. Among other
things, he can now replicate himself, an ability that may
or may not extend into the purely biological realm.
In the
"real" world of Zion, humanity remains blissfully unaware
of this threat. Instead, their chief concern are the 250,000
sentinels drilling through the Earth's crust, one for each
citizen. Lock wants to defend the city with every ship in
the fleet; Morpheus (and many others) believes that the prophecy
must come true, and that humanity's fate will be decided within
The Matrix itself.
Unfortunately
after an interestingly kinetic opening, The Wachowski Brothers
fail to make this human clash of philosophies very interesting
to watch. The movie consistently lurches through slow (though
deep) spoutings of theory that gives way to highly exciting
but often pointless fight scenes.
The brothers
are great plotters, but not yet really great storytellers,
or the imbalance wouldn't be so obvious. At points, the dialogue
becomes agonizingly expository, but thankfully not heavily
loaded onto Reeves' limited acting chops.
If anything
saves the quieter scenes, it's the nice choices made by the
supporting actors. Fishburne, playing a man who takes his
role as a new John The Baptist quite seriously, consistently
speaks as if dictating scripture. In her last role, Foster
brings a charm and mystique, while also upending everything
we thought we knew. A few smaller roles (and to explain them
would be to spoil it) are played note perfectly. And then
there's Weaving as Mr. Smith. Like Fishburne, he's making
choices; he's acting. All of them almost make you forget that
Reeves is just sort of …there.
But the
man can fight. Never mind that most of the fight scenes actually
have no point and stop the movie as cold as the philosophy
does; at least they kick ass. Never mind that Neo can stop
bullets but can still be cut by a sword; the fight scenes
kick ass. And kick. And kick, to the point of almost getting
boring.
Only
the climactic freeway chase scene has a point, and it is as
eye-popping and thrilling as it was hyped up to be. Lasting
fourteen minutes, it keeps topping itself and keeps you guessing.
If you're a fan of the franchise strictly for its action,
you won't be disappointed.
If you're
here for the ideas, they're not really that disappointing,
either. If you thought you understood The Matrix, you're wrong.
And for upending that expectation, The Wachowskis deserve
kudos. It's fair to say that by the end of this film, no character
is actually right about what's going on, and even though we
have the benefit of having seen it all, we're probably wrong,
too. Another viewing may be necessary. That's not hypocrisy
on my part; it's just part of the overall ambivalence this
film inspired.
The two
sides of the equation just don't quite meet. And even taking
into consideration that there's still another movie for payoff,
a lot of plot possibilities raised within The Matrix Reloaded
are frustratingly left unexplored. In particular, The Oracle's
explanation of anomalies in The Matrix are left for …well,
probably a novel series. Or more animated shorts.
While
that may be cool and groundbreaking, it's also not unreasonable
to want such things within the single package, not spread
out over a variety of media. But it may just take Revolutions
for the revelations.
In the
end, Reloaded is actually a lot of different things,
with the whole not yet greater than the sum of its parts.
Add Superman: The Movie, The Holy Bible, The Tao Te
Ching, and C++ For Dummies together and you get something
close.
It's
just occasionally hard to shake the feeling that you're watching
a really expensive remake of Tron.
What's
It Worth? $6.50
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