2003 / 138 Minutes / R
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

Neo is back and he’s kicking ass…. but I’m no longer sure why. Having seen the newest installment in the “Matrix” franchise (every successful motion picture now spawns a franchise, whether it needs one or not- I submit to you “Legally Blonde 2″: the continuing saga of a young woman clad in pink) I have a hell of a lot of questions. The biggest one weighing on my mind being: Huh?

Everyone remembers what happened in the first film, so I won’t go into exhaustive detail on it. And if you’ve never seen the first film or were confused by it then, shit, don’t even bother with this one, pal. This ain’t gonna be your cup of tea. Just wander into “Daddy Day Care” and enjoy yourself. I understood the first film and I think I have a handle on this one, but I’m still not entirely sure. I guess that the sentinels are tunneling down to Zion (which looks like it’s composed entirely of Bob Marley groupies) to extinguish the last vestiges of free humans. Neo is now a Christ-like figure wielding authority and respect, yet he’s still waiting to hear from the Oracle to tell him what he’s supposed to be doing next.

So the Oracle shows up and then (Ahem, SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER, can’t say I’m not warning you, if you keep reading then its your own damn fault) she says that Neo has to meet up with this other guy (or program, no, I think he’s a guy…maybe) named Morovignian who is holding captive a guy named the Keymaker who has the keys to open all the doors in the matrix (even in the Mainframe) and so he can go through this certain door and make a choice that will possibly save the human race. At least, this was my interpretation of the events of this film. Yours might be different. If so, email me and I’ll give them a gander. If they make more sense than what I thought, I’ll gladly buy you a beer (a Heineken, the only beer endorsed by “The Matrix”). And then he gets through this door and meets some guy calling himself the Architect, and that was what really baked my noodle.

Frankly, I’m not sure I understood the plot all that well and, frankly, I’m not sure that was all that important. If all these other critics can enjoy “Mulholland Drive” despite the fact that it makes as much logical sense as a poorly edited French porno then I can enjoy “The Matrix Reloaded” despite the fact that the plot is derivative and highly inconsequential. I’m not sure what all the speeches and plotifying was meant to amount to in “Matrix Reloaded”, but I had a fantastic time watching it anyway. The visual effects are a lot of fun, though few of them are all that mind-blowing. Many of the digital actors look like just that: digital actors. You can still tell the difference. Sorry, Gaeta (John Gaeta, self-loving digital effects maestro behind these films) but you only occasionally knocked my socks off with this one. There are parts where Neo looks no better than the player’s avatar in a PS2 role-playing game. Yet I still noticed that I had to release a good gasp of breath after most every fight scene. I know the movie isn’t all that great, deep down I know. The plot is nothing more than a shaky contrivance, no less silly than the plot of the average Bond movie and there to serve much the same purpose: to get from one action sequence to the next. Nothing more. This is the ultimate disappointment in a film that is the sequel to “The Matrix”. “The Matrix” could have been nothing more than seem neat special effects, but it wasn’t. “The Matrix” had a point and, for the most part, it made sense. It was simple, direct and to the point. It was relatively easy to follow and it provided the framework for some excellent action, but never at the expense of its philosophy or its story. The story is the shaky aspect of this one. I like my action films to have well-defined goals, so that you can understand what the hero is trying to do and know how to root for him to do it. This one, I sort of understand Neo’s goals, but I think they’re shaky, at best.

But the action sequences kick ass. The fight with a hundred Agent Smiths is my personal favorite (just seeing Agent Smith and Neo interact again at the beginning of this scene brought more of a smile to my face than anything else the movie had to offer) but the freeway sequence is astounding, as well. It’s not as astounding as “Raiders of the Lost Ark” or the first “Matrix” or most of “The Transporter”, but it’s a lot of fun nonetheless. And I did get a kick out of seeing Neo fly. It was more visceral fun to watch him fly in this movie than it has been to watch Superman fly in any Superman movie thus far.

However, there are endless contrivances and questions in this film. And has it got problems? Shit! Firstly, I love Agent Smith. No one is happier than I am to have Hugo Weaving back, to have a hundred of him running around, no less. But…why? All I need is a compelling reason. There isn’t one. The movie doesn’t really bother. It has him make a speech, but it’s all a magic show. The Wachowski Brothers do something really unique here, something I’ve never seen in another movie. Other movies haven’t got a point, but they don’t even try to address the fact. “The Matrix Reloaded” doesn’t have a hell of a point, but at occasional intervals, certain characters in this film will make big, long speeches full of two-dollar words and you nod and pretend that you heard them actually say something. But when you really analyze these explanations, you come to a startling realization: you don’t really know anything more than you did when they started. You just think you do, because so many big words have been thrown at you and it sounded like an explanation. Yes, it certainly sounded as though something were being explained and at great length. But, really, it wasn’t. And don’t tell me that I don’t get it. I think I got it, I just didn’t see that it was necessary. Go ahead. Email me your opinion of what the plot was. I’m sure it’s the same one I arrived at. I just didn’t think it was that great. I mean, come on here! He’s supposed to go to the Mainframe to fulfill this prophecy and then…he sees an old guy who tells him a big speech and reveals that the Matrix is old and has been through many versions (much like Windows) and that each time there was the fundamental glitch of The One. They never figured out how to correct this glitch, so they build a mythos around it and used certain programs (The Oracle, for example) to make it work for them and cause a loop to lead them to the freed humans so that they could destroy them and then restart the matrix (glitch and all) and begin all over again. See. I get it. I just think it’s kinda lame.

But I still like this movie! Even I don’t understand why! I was entertained. I sincerely was. I was on the edge of my seat, I was having fun, I was happy. I know its problems. (Another glitch in the matrix of this film: after Zion realizes it has only a couple days left before being attacked by machines and annihilated what do they do? They throw a rave, complete with what looks like the band STOMP. I mean, if Zion itself can’t take this threat seriously, how are we as an audience supposed to? Oh, and the grit of the first film has been replaced with the sort of glossy, digital epic flair that we have gotten from the newest installments in the “Star Wars” franchise. Kill me, but I sorta miss the grit.) I like The Marovignian character. I like watching Hugo Weaving act. I like the fight atop the semi. I like how Neo flies around. I like the fights, even though most of them are highly pointless. I like it all. I was amused and entertained and I even liked the dialogue and the attempts to have a story, because at least it was making an effort of some kind at a plot. But I just want to know that it’s not the greatest. It’s not as good as the first film. It’s fun, but it’s not mentally stimulating, except in the way that certain riddles are. You work to figure it out, but once you have…you aren’t sure why you bothered.

Still a good time, though, for what that’s worth. I like “The Matrix” more every time I watch it. I suspect that, with this movie, it will be the opposite effect.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2003 at 8:45 pm and is filed under Dale's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.