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The Matrix Reloaded (Widescreen Edition)

The Matrix Reloaded (Widescreen Edition)

List Price: $19.96
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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Matrix Downloads
Review: After seeing THE MATRIX RELOADED, I am still enamored with Carrie-Anne Moss' "Trinity". More good news, many of the films set pieces are cool 'upgrades' from what was seen in the first film in the trilogy. From there, unfortunately, the good news begins to pale. Now, when the first MATRIX hit theatres, I missed the excitement, only catching it later on DVD. And with that first viewing I was hooked. After a few years, the first of 2 sequels is released. We are again reminded that we moviegoers live in the 'Matrix' and there are people out in the real world attempting to save us. (If you see one of our saviors on the street they will be wearing either form-fitting latex or floor length overcoats.)

That original film not only gave us great eye candy and technical advancements worth shouting about, but also left us intellectually stimulated as the story was 'revealed' rather than just told. What appeared to be a pot pourri of illogic and plot inconsistencies fell together into a cleverly cohesive event. But it appears the intellectual satisfaction ended with the first films credits. That's not to say there isn't a lot to think about, now you are forced to think about 'plot' contrivances rather then conceptual ideas. And those ideas are sorely missed, especially as RELOADED goes overboard in setting up the conflict that doesn't actually occur in the film. A large percentage involves the hidden city of "Zion" as it prepares for a big attack from the 'Sentinels.' And yet, the film ends before that attack begins. On a certain level, that is acceptable since we have the knowledge the filmmakers want to make the 2 sequels appear to be one long movie, it's just the many 'preparations' and 'discussions' about the battle are redundant, clichéd, boring and unnecessary to follow this particular film. Then again, the same people who hide behind the "it's one half of a longer movie" maligned the PHANTOM MENACE for pulling the same thing.

Zion itself starts out extremely promising as we see inside a stark white control room with extremely futuristic cognitive controls. But, we quickly learn that Zion is yet another Mad-Max world of decay and destruction seen in hundreds of Science Fiction Films from WATERWORLD back to PLANET OF THE APES. Reloaded's Zion society even seems to be in contrast with the crew we met in the first film. Instead of a rag-tag air force pooling their resources to protect the world, Zion resembles groupies at a love-fest.

Keanu Reeves is back as Neo and is thankfully limited to less acting. He works best as a man of actions, and that is where the film delivers. Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss are also back. She carries much larger stakes in this film while he has to deliver some of the hokiest dialogue this side of the Rabbit Hole. Beautiful Monica Bellucci is also in the film wearing a tight white dress. Bad Guy Smith (Hugo Weaving) is back but this time he is a rogue... no longer an Agent. This fact also seems irrelevant to this particular story, so the rogue references don't lead to a payoff. Hopefully, his status will have a bigger effect on the third film. The filmmakers successfully raise the stakes by duplicating Smith, which leads to some of the best moments in the film as Neo takes on the creepy army. There are a couple of scenes that are terrific including the pipe fight between Neo and the Smith army as well as portions of a car chase that takes place on a crowded highway where the camera takes you where no camera could possible be. But, when the fists are done flying, it feels like its unfortunately time to get back to the story.

I had a conversation with a friend two weeks before this movie came out when he said he thinks THE MATRIX trilogy is the most important, most influential film series ever. My initial reaction was thinking he suffered from fan-boy-it is. Now, I am sure of it. THE MATRIX RELOADED is sure a big, fun film - the volume goes to eleven - but it is by no means an important or even very effective film. Fortunately, we are only a few months before we find out if any of the hype was worth it. I give the film three stars because I really want to like it, but it's the low end of three stars.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Matrix Reloaded, a microsoft product
Review: 1) The fight scenes, the car chase and other sundry effects where just OUT OF THIS WORLD. Watch the movie for them!
2) That being said...er...there's not much else to say. This movie was like microsoft software - glitzy to look at, but tended to crash at inopportune times.
It really seems as though this series is meant to be two movies (The Matrix and Matrix Revolutions) and this part was added as a homage to Star Wars/LOTR/Back to The Future coz a trilogy always sounds better than just a part one and two (this is why I will be avoiding Terminator 3). This part really didn't add much substance. Okay, we got to see Zion, and some new characters. The Keymaker(yes, he actually does make keys.....), Seraph, the Merovingian and the Architect, but other than the Oracle from the first part these other characters aren't the least bit interesting (or for that matter fully developed). The philosophy started to get irritating, it should have been done a lot more subtly, between the kickass fight scenes u have some character rambling on about Free Will. A little subtlety dudes, that's what made the first part so brilliant, and open to so much interpretation. In this part there's not much stuff for u to dwell on o think about, just a lot of visual candy - which is good, but not good enough. The only part which I'm thinking about is who and what is Agent Smith? Is he Human? Is he on the Machine's side? Is he a Virus? That's the only question that came up in my mind. On the whole, however it's watchable and enjoyable, but like a gazillion sequels before it, does not manage to live up to the first (and probably won't live up to the last part - see the Internet Movie Database for a real crazy yet convincing theory on the last part)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: True Science Fiction here
Review: Many consider this to be a bad movie and not able to live up to the first, but we must remember that it is a different kind of movie. We cannot be suprised in the same way we were when we heard the world wasn't real that all this world was a dream, but still they do a great job of throwing twists in the movie. From the archetect to the idea of Agent Smith, both will make your brain tingle and move to the point of hurt. The first time I saw it I was totally confused, but the second time it made so much more sense. Most people that I have talked to didn't like the movie because it moved away from the original, but the only reason they didn't like it was because of the confusing nature. This is true Science Fiction, people who think that Star Wars is science fiction will trully be disappointed, but if you can appreciate good story then you will enjoy this movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Rounding 2nd and barely making 3rd
Review: Almost. It was almost cool. It had some serious overacting from everyone really. Mostly monologue driven and some serious camera fluff to pad out time. A big rave-like party in Zion needed only a minute of film at best and then Trinity/Neo love scene needed only 30 seconds. These 2 scenes alone at the start of the film when on and on. I am surprised test audiences liked this cut. After watching Animatrix and beating Enter the Matrix (XBOX) w/ both characters I have found the story is much better but the movie Reloaded itself is not as good as the whole of the story the brothers split up. Watch the Animatrix and you find out what the Osiris saw that triggered events in motion. You also find out why that little kid in Zion was so annoying and on Neos tip. Play Enter the Matrix and you get a little more depth to the story and get to see a bunch of DIVX clips of what looks to be mostly A grade cutting room footage. The intro of these clips though makes me think the story is there it was just overclipped and concentrated on several scenes leaving the meat of the story behind. Many people think that folks didn't like this installment because it is the 'Empire Strikes Back' of the Matrix series. I disagree, I just think that when the brothers stepped up to the plate on this one they hit a 3rd base run, barely. Hopefully Revolutions ties it altogether makes Reloaded somewhat palatable but as it stands now it was a bunch of great action and mediocre speechs.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Matrix Reloaded the best film ever
Review: I recently went to see the Matrix Reloaded in the cinema and it was great. It is even better than the first one!!!. When this comes out on DVD I say "BUY IT!!!".
Kenu Reeves is excellent as allways and all the action seens are amazing and so are the effects you won't find another movie that will match the Matrix Colaboration its is the best!!!.
Also look out for the new Matrix movie(The Matrix Revolutions) Which comes out in November...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: best movie i've ever seen! SPOILERS!
Review: ok..i kno a LOT of people thought this movie [was bad] (ooo, the first was so much better! u kno them lol), but personally, when those credits started rolling past that screen, I refused to move from my seat. I was just so....BLOWN away, that my mind couldn't register anything else (the movie ending, perhaps?)! anyway, i thought it definitely met up to expectations (they were VERY high for a sequel 'cuz sequels usually [are bad]) and then some! it was the perfect blend of romance (lots of it folks!), action (hell yea neo!), philosophy (u need it in order for the movie to not b another james bond flick), confusion (i dunno bout the rest of u, but i am TOTALLY confused as to whether there is a matrix within a matrix, etc.), and a great storyline (uh, yea, u def. need that!) i loved how trin/neo's relationship was taken to the next level, how the rave scene showed that humans will be humans no matter what, how neo kicked the squiddy's ...even in the real world, how the oracle isn't what she seems (like everything else), and everything else too! this IS the best movie I have ever seen! can't wait for the next one!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: RELOADED was a smashing success. Smashing.
Review: One of the big draws of THE MATRIX was the question, "What is the Matrix?" The mystery was intrinsic to the core of the film. There was no mystery to solve in RELOADED, which is as it should be.

RELOADED did exactly what it supposed to do -- extend and expand the the overarching plot, the overarching narrative, the overarching storyline.

Here are my thoughts on problems people had with RELOADED --

1. The Zion "rave". The way the people of Zion celebrate is entirely appropriate. The Zion rave was not only appropriate, it was absolutely necessary. Those people live a hardscrabble existence under the constant threat of annihilation. They have to live every moment like it is their last because, for them, it literally could be.

2. Lock's attitude towards Morpheus. Any time you get more than three people in a room, you are going to have dissent. They way people in Zion react to Morpheus is also entirely appropriate, and a natural extension of the first film. In the first film, it is obvious Morpheus is a zealot, but he is preaching to the choir, to people who believe as he does. But, in reality, how do most people react to zealotry? Exactly the way they did in RELOADED, with distrust and anger.

3. Changing the "rules" of The Matrix? There is nothing amiss with the way the Matrix is being re-revealed to us. The sequence with Merovingian and the cake continues the process that has already begun in the first film -- we, like Neo, are learning about the rules and the limits of The Matrix from the only beings capable of teaching him with any degree of candor and veracity...he (and we) are learning from the machines at the same time.

4. Link instead of Tank. Link fit in perfectly. Nothing about his lines or his performance grated on the nerves, or stood out like a sore thumb. No complaints.

5. How phones work in The Matrix. The cell phones don't exist in The Matrix in the way that the humans need them to exist, to use as an exit for their minds. The rotary phones (or phone booths, etc.) exist in the The Matrix as The Matrix's "real-world" counterpart, the simulacra, of an actual machine-world form...a landline, just like Tank told us in the first film.

6. Neo's "real-world" powers. Once again, Neo is saved by a twist of fate because he is The One. The fact that Neo and Bane/Smith are in a coma, possibly the same type of coma, is further proof -- as Smith says just before the Burly Brawl -- that Neo and Smith exchanged something of themselves (at the end of THE MATRIX).

I know there are other complaints, like some people disliking the W. Bros. re-interpretation of Philosophy 101. So what? I will always take a film that has something to say, even if it is at a basic level, over an brain-dead, explosion-filled snooze-fest like ARMAGEDDON or INDEPENDENCE DAY any day of the week.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: have you notice they only kill anonymous henchmen?
Review: THe matrix ReLoAdEd is a movie that simply blew me away.
THe plot- THe machines have found zion and now are drilling into the city. (if they have a quarter of a million sentinels, why not just blow through the main gate where the ships enter?) The end of the movie has a HUGE twist, but i shall not divulge for the unfortunate souls who didnt see it in the theatre.

The beginning is kind of weak,(with a pointless orgy/mosh pit) but the latter half more than makes up for the beginning. better than the first.

ONE MORE THING- have you noticed that in the sequel, every one appears to be invincible? i mean, no major characters die. how [weak]is that?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WAY BEYOND MATRIX!
Review: First I want to say that I never reviewed any movie here but I just had to say a word for this movie as I have read with deeply sadness too many negative reviews.[...]P>MATRIX RELOADED is the best movie I have seen in a very LOOOOONG TIME (since The Two Towers). It is WAYYYY better that the first one. I totally loved this movie. I am 27 years old, and what this movie is all about is not special effects, but movie plot. I just can guess that the people who did not liked this movie, was because they did not get it. This movie goes far beyond THE MATRIX, and transcends it in every way. The best parts for me were the conversation with the Arquitech and the conversation with the Merovingio. I must admit that I have to saw the movie two times before catching and understating everything that was said there, but it was worth it. The idea that there were other Matrix before, the idea that this was the sixth version of the matrix, ergo, Neo was the sixth version of The One, was really mind-blowing. Also, the idea that there were rebellious programs (programs hacking programs, etc) that did not wanted to be deleted was amazing and really cool. And of course all the phisophical issues of cause and effect versus free will and choice, all this was excellent. I must say that not everyone would understand fully this movie, but that is was makes it great, with so many [...] movies going on today in Hollywood. This movie makes you THINK. I have to say also that many terms in this movie are computer related, and even related to software programming (like agent Smith being a Virus, programmers' access (the back doors), hacking, upgrades, source code, etc) so this wont be easy to understand to many people.

In conclusion, I gave this movie all the stars I can give to it. Just excellent! I just wish that MATRIX REVOLUTIONS comes near to this masterpiece, but I have learned to trust and admire the Wachosky brothers with this two brilliant movies.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Live action anime - no more, no less.
Review: The Matrix Films are neither great art, nor are they bad movies. They are simply great live renditions of Japanese anime.
If you like the more adult anime - you'll like the Matrix films.
In rare statements, the Wachowski brothers have declared what a great fan they are of this medium. If you don't care for anime, chances are the movies will leave you at a loss as to what all the fuss is about, or maybe even a tad confused. If you are into anime - you'll 'get it'. All the entire heavy philosophizing, the religious/mystic/spiritual nods - the general mumbo jumbo laid at between the fantastic action sequences....
Relax. Enjoy. Its Akira/Ghost In The Shell/Lain/Ninja Scrolls/Hellsing/Gundam Wing/Guts/etc. all rolled together and presented live!


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