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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: Like the Original . . .
Review: . . . a good and unusual action film. Many critics gave this film a scathing review, comparing it unfavorably to the original Matrix; and it is certain that some elements, such as characterization, were executed better on the first film. However, to me the feel of both movies was essentially the same, and the sequel actually improves on the first in matters of dramatic pacing.

The reasons for which I rate the film at three stars are several. First, the screenwriting is perhaps even more stiff and portentous than on the original. As a matter of fact, the much-touted "philosophical" content of the Matrix films often seems to consist of nothing more than vague, aphoristic one-liners intended to sound wise but really devoid of much content. Nor are the screenplay's inadequacies at all ameliorated by the actors' tendency to deadpan everything: Neo's statement to Trinity, "I love you too d--n much", sounds about as much like a passionate declaration of love as does someone ordering a double cheeseburger at a drive-thru window.

Furthermore, characterization is even more basic than on the first film, nor do we care any more about the "extras", hard as the Wachowski brothers try to make us do so. With the exception of the ever-brilliant Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith), the actors all seem to take themselves far too seriously, without the distinctive touches of humor that lightened the metaphysical ponderousness and pronunciamentos of the original Matrix.

Nevertheless, there is a brighter side to this film. For one thing, the action and special effects are nearly flawless, executed with the novelty and stylishness of the original--though of course we have seen the "novelty" already. However, in good sequel form, everything is on a bigger, more dangerous scale than before: multiple Agents Smith, ghostly "Twins" which can pass effortlessly through walls and cars, defunct Agents armed with medieval weaponry, and best of all, the best high-speed car chase ever committed to film. Despite the campiness of the philosophical dialogue, some really interesting situations and questions do occur, especially during the conversations with the stylish Merovingian and the Architect. In fact, nearly all the scenes that occur inside the matrix have some redeeming value; as other reviewers have pointed out, it is the "real world" scenes that fail to deliver. The tribalistic depiction of Zion, with its attendant orgiastic rave and sex scene, is ludicrous; most of it can be skipped without any lessened enjoyment of the movie--and certainly should be if youngsters are around.

Even so, as I mentioned before, Reloaded is better paced than its predecessor. While I will never find myself watching the offending Zion sequences in Reloaded, I tend to watch only the ending of the Matrix. The metaphysical and explanatory segments of Reloaded are stitched in to the story more successfully, whereas in the Matrix it was all clumped into a long, boring "lesson" on board the Nebuchadnezzar.

All in all, this film is very far from perfect; it cannot be called great art or philosophy by any standard. Nevertheless, it is a joy to watch such well-choreographed action, and technical details like sets and cinematography are often quite beautiful, sophisticated, and well-done overall. It is probably not particularly re-watchable, but I recommend watching it at least once and extracting the considerable fun that can be gained from it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not a Trilogy
Review: Well. I saw the movie, and i like it, is a good action film, lot of shooting, chasing, a hero, a girl in love of the hero and all the ingredients that make a good action film. But that's it, I can't talk about reloaded as a second part of the great MATRIX, why? The plot it's not consistent with all the ideas that where thrown over the first film, for example, at the end of THE MATRIX NEO was able to understand the matrix code and destroy the agents without fight them, he become omnipresent inside the system, but in RELOADED he was only a supercharged human with limited powers. Another inconsistency, at the end of reloaded, where NEO is capable of shutdown the sentinels just extending the hand, wasn't the matrix a computer environment where the hackers could jack in by plug themselves with a wire attached to their head? so NEO goes wireless? what happened with the interface that they need for entering the system? We have to remember that THE MATRIX is only a computer based system. I'm sorry but there is too much inaccuracy trying to join both films.
The scene with the arquitect, where they want to explain everything in joust five minutes is boring pointless and meaningless, when I saw the movie at first time I get lost at the middle of it. Well this film got a lot of details that already where pointed out for another reviewers so I joust can said that RELOADED is a great film if it's looked apart of THE MATRIX. if you wanted to find a connection, then you are not going to enjoy this film. Watch it and don't try to understand and tray to make it fit in the MATRIX Universe that were created around THE MATRIX first movie. I think The Wachousky brothers goes for the big bucks instead of the big movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Very Entertaining Movie on Multiple Levels
Review: While critics have repeatedly knocked Reloaded for not being the Matrix (just like they have knocked the Star Wars prequels for not being like the classic trilogy), I found the movie to be a thrilling, entertaining experience. It is so rare to find an action movie that has any underlying value that I am thrilled beyond belief whenever one comes along.

As for the comments that it is "not as good as the original," what sequel is? Very few sequels can improve upon the perception of the original, and Reloaded is no different. In the original Matrix, the Wachowskis showed us revolutionary things we had never seen before in American cinema, like bullet time and wired martial arts. Because the second film uses variations on many of these same techniques, even though the action sequences are still thrilling, we as an audience have lost some of the wonder that accompanied seeing these things for the first time.

I don't think we give enough credit to the digital pilgrims like the Wachowskis and George Lucas, whose films pioneer effects that are subsequently replicated and mimicked by dozens of other films. But I digress.

While the film has some slow moments (the Zion sequence, in particular), the "burly brawl" and freeway chase sequences should provide enough adrenaline to satisfy even the most hard core action junkie. The film also presents some maddeningly complex philosophical quandaries that are more directly presented as a part of the plot than the subtle underpinnings of the original Matrix. This is probably another reason some people voiced some disdain about the movie: "you mean I have to THINK about my entertainment and not just absorb mindless action?!?" ;-)

In short, although the Wachowskis may not have hit a home run with Reloaded as they did with Matrix, they have certainly legged out a standing triple that entertains on multiple levels.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Awful sequel
Review: This was an awful sequel to the original matrix. Who ever wrote this sequel is an idiot. Do not buy. Most of dialog does not make sense, their was way too much slow-downs and fightings, and their was not much of a story dialog. Do not let your teen watch this sequel.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: ZZZZZZZZZZZ.....oh! is it over?
Review: Not even the special efx could keep me from dozing off; tremendous let down from the first MATRIX..dialogue was slower than watching paint dry, while genuinely trying to make a point (a Positive)..was salvaged to a good degree by the most recent M effort!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Bad start, grate end...
Review: On the Movie:

Ok, this movie made me hate Larry and Andy Wachowski the first time I saw it. But then I decided to swallow my disappointment and saw it again with hope of finding something, and I did.

I believe that this movie is a work of art with some very nasty flaws that spoilt it to me the first time, but after my second time I watched this movie I just forgot the flaws. It's like if you couldn't remain angry at a child for doing something dumb after a good smile.

The Plot doesn't have any holes as I first thought. In fact, the twist the story had with Neo's confrontation with the Architect was amazing. The Orwell inspired "1984" view of hope and rebellion being measures of control released by the system itself in order to keep a balance and ensure its survival kept me thinking.

The film is very philosophical, in fact it has very deep ideas like the nature of choice, causality and the behavior of men. The visual aspect was incredible with a dazzling use of special effects and the shots were simply breathtaking.

But now lets analyze the flaws. Zion was my worst problem with this film. Please!!! do not do that ever again. The rave was completely out of place and seemed as a desperate attempt to win viewers through a "Baywatch scene" after the heavy philosophy the studio may have feared people wouldn't stand without (I don't dare to name this atrocity with an adjective).

The people of Zion looked everything but men and women who had found the truth about reality and awakened from a lie. They were more like "wanna party and be sexy for real" rather than "I'm fighting not only for myself but for mankind's freedom" idealists and warriors. The only characters I found real there were a wise old man with a point but claming to have none, a worried man in angst for seeing his vision of defense crashed by an etheric believe he didn't understand, the crew members of the ships and controllers of Zion, a kid and a bunch of old people in the council (which are considerable), but not the thousands of mistakes raving with an army above them.

The other huge mistake I found was the "Kung-Fu plus 10 000". The first movie had an amazing mix of action (yes and Kung-Fu) with dialog, character development during the fights, philosophical revelations and more. Reloaded had some grate Kung-Fu too, but the scriptwriter forgot the mix, the interaction of characters and the narrative beauty leaving only the esthetic, letting the Kung-Fu be the star... (for that I can rent an ordinary PG-13 movie with Van Dame)

In the end the movie left a grate foundation for Revolutions, but again with a mistake... (never end a Film like TV!!!). The "to be concluded" after a flash shot of a man infected with virus Smith (grate performance by the way!!).

Oh, and another thing I just hated was the exaggerated use if CGI in the Neo - Smith fight. (It looked like Final Fantasy). There were other ways to that more realistic...

But in the end I had to swallow my hate to this mistakes and enjoy the pros of the movie. My conclusion is that there were errors in the script (in the way of deep narrative during the fights and using things without purpose)

If you cut some parts like the Zion rave, you can still understand the movie without any loss. If you reduce the Kung-Fu a little bit and add character development like in the first Matrix (1st is less expensive and 2nd makes a better movie).

The movie began incredibly boring, (just kung fu (without context), usless and ridiculous rave, kung fu (without context), kung fu (without context), and no development at all. But after the conversation with oracle, things began to improve, and by the time Neo was in the building I was hooked. The twists at the end were great and turned my imagination wild.

Dispite the flaws, I still love the good parts of the movie and think Revolutions makes amends.

On the DVD:

Great transfer (both audio and video). Great Information in the Special Features. But...

The extras had one flaw, a very plain audio track. They put one track and left it playing the whole documentary killing the rhythm. But the information is still very interesting.

Could have been better... but hey, nobody is perfect.

If you have doubts about this movie, watch Revolutions first and then think if you can forgive what you didn't like. In my case, I only had to watch Reloaded again...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Reloaded Reviewed
Review: I don't know why people don't like this movie--its great!! Keep in mind, I also liked The Empire Strikes Back, which everyone I know hated too. It took the Matrix and kicked it into high gear--only lagging once when it seemed like they would never stop that underground naked dance thing, but everything else was great and this movie will be a classic!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of my favorite movies
Review: This movie is a ride and an action packed one. The movie has without a doubt some of the greatest action scenes in movie history, coupled with the drama and mystery surrounding the Matrix it makes for an intense movie. We get to see Neo as the one with out many doubts about his abilities in the Matrix, yes he still has doubts about how he can save Xion but you see his transformation from unsure and apprehensive to somewhat arrogant. As you see him going toe to toe with 3 agents in one of the openning scenes. Agent Smith is perhaps one of my favorite bad guys of all time, he is just a character you love to hate. The agent Smith fight scene with Neo is one of my favorite scenes of all time. And the Freeways scene is just an adrenaline rush. And how could you get upset about the cliffhanger at the end knowing the next chapter is only a few months away. A great movie and an all out great trilogy.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Moose Hole - The Box Office 'Reloaded'
Review: The world we live in is not real. We are all part of a large computer program. It is not the year we think it is. Most humans believe it is the year 2003 but rather it is the year 2099 or something close to that. Machines have taken control of the world and most humans are tapped into a thing called The Matrix. Pretty weird, huh? Well, the strange premise of The Matrix caught on in 1999 and now the first sequel has been declared the movie event of 2003. Though the sequel, like its predecessor, is rated R, the highly anticipated film is still expected to break box office records faster then any other movie. It is even expected to challenge Titanic for the highest grossing film title. A huge amount of hype has been placed on the film. Fanatics have been surfing the web and chatting how excited they are about this film. You couldn't go into a movie without seeing at least a teaser trailer for the film. Now that the film has finally arrived in movie theaters across the country and soon the world, will The Matrix Reloaded live up to the hype?

The story for The Matrix Reloaded does not exactly take up where the original left off. To fully understand what is going on, one must rent The Animatrix on DVD and play the Enter the Matrix game but let us say that we are not all huge fanatics like the rest of the world. Here is the simple and basic story line for The Matrix Reloaded: It is the year 2099 and man is fighting an ongoing battle with machines. Machines gained control of the world and put humans into slavery. They built a computer program called The Matrix which all are connected to except for a small few. Those small few would include Morpheus, Trinity, Neo and the people of Zion, the last human stronghold. They are continuing their fight against The Matrix and searching for the answer to this question: Why are we here? Why are doing what we do? Why us? That is as simple as you can get about this premise without confusing somebody or giving away most of the movie. It is highly recommended that you not see this film unless you have seen the original The Matrix. The story can be confusing even to those that have seen the original but it is still excellently done. It is amazing how intricate and complex the plot is that there is not a single action within the course of the film that does not have a significant action later on either in this film or in the next.

The cast of The Matrix Reloaded is wonderful as it is expanded significantly from the original film. Keanu Reeves is perfectly cast as the role of Neo or The One. There was some question with the original if he could handle such an important role as this but Reeves totally proves his acting worth not only in the original but also in this film. Carrie-Ann Moss is great as Trinity. Her role is placed more center stage in this film allowing more screen time and more importance then some thought in the original film. Laurence Fishburne is, as always, delightful as Morpheus. Fishburne is able to show more emotion with character this time around though not too much away from the normal emotions Morpheus had in the first movie. Jada Pinkett Smith is okay but one would think that her role will be bigger in The Matrix Revolutions. Monica Belluci's role is nothing more then eye candy for the young males. Her acting range is never really seen which is quite disappointing with such good word coming from her foreign films.

The Matrix Reloaded is definitely the movie event of the summer but not quite as perfect as all the hype said it would be. As great as it is there are some things to pick at. What is with the constant huge kissing scenes between Neo and Trinity? Almost every time they are alone they are eating each other's face. I think after the first kissing scene we would have gotten the idea that they are in love with each other. Another thing that was a problem was the orgy scene in the city of Zion. Was that truly necessary? It went from being a totally sci-fi film to this porno flick. What was the deal with all the sexual references within the course of the film in general? Are they that desperate to attract and appeal to young teenage boys that almost every other scene has to include a sexual action or comment? You would think that this kind of film would be above all of that but guess not. Other then those comment, The Matrix Reloaded is definitely the film to see this summer. One should see this film for the special effects alone. Absolutely amazing though in parts they seemed a little much especially with the fight between Neo and the multiple Agent Smiths. The Matrix Reloaded is not perfect by any standards but maybe that is what the film makers intended it to be. It is only half a film. Remember to stick around after the credits to check out a short preview of The Matrix Revolutions opening in theaters on November 5th, 2003.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Matrix is reloaded, but the bullets are jammed
Review: Neo flies. Trinity dies. Morpheus cries (almost). These are just three of the many scenes of The Wachowski Brothers' "The Matrix Reloaded", one of the most anticipated sequels of the last decade.

The film begins with Neo, played by Keanu Reeves. Neo is plagued by nightmares involving the death of lover Trinity (Carrie Anne-Moss). He believes he is seeing the near future. After a few neat CGI-filled scenes that show that to us, we find Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) (the latter of whom is being ridiculed by some fellow humans for belief in "The Prophecy") on their way home to Zion. There they learn that the amount of sentinels has increased greatly. The war is coming, or so we are told.

Morpheus meets with his rival, stern Commander Lock (Harry Lennix). The two are constant competitors after Lock stole Morpheus' love, Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith). They fight about what to do, what's coming, and what to believe.

So do we. With "Reloaded", what began as a single successful film becomes an updated "Star Wars"-esque trilogy, with a seemingly unbeatable first film, a middle piece, and a battle-filled climax. Many watchers will be put off from this film's lack of progression storywise, but that's meant to be. It's the centerpiece for the story, and it's unfortunately quite hard to do much with the centerpiece ("The Empire Strikes Back" still wows me).

What Andy and Larry have done is left open our questions from the first film. Oh yeah, they added some new ones too. And I get the feeling "Revolutions" doesn't clear them up either. Ugh.

"Reloaded" is every bit as entertaining as the original film, if not a little more confusing at times. There's enough action and excitement to keep anyone in their seats - especially the scene around the end of the picture, in which Morpheus and Trinity struggle to keep the Keymaker out of reach of The Twins and/or the Agents. And, all of this occurs on what's got to be the most realistically vicious freeway I've ever seen.

One thing that I deemed unnecessary was the amount of sexuality. There was a fair amount of sexuality (including nudity) and too much sappiness throughout the film. Carrie Anne-Moss and Keanu Reeves making out? I don't know about you, but that's not my idea of a good time. Generally, things like this occur when the previously careful directors become more comfortable and popular ... which isn't always a bad thing.

The CGI animation is spectacular. There's a slight drop in martial arts action from the first film, but the action sequences here are really fun. Of course, they're accompanied by another great punk/metal/rock soundtrack and a fast-paced score from Don Davis.

One last note: Neo flies. Yep, he flies. As one of the Nebachudnezzar's crew puts it, "Uh-oh - he's doin' the Superman thing again." This happens about three times throughout the film, and while it does have a sort of cheesy and annoying feeling to it, I can't help myself but to find it fun. And funny.

Overall, "The Matrix Reloaded" comes nowhere near being as good as its predecessor, but it's a fun time at the movies, and definitely a recommended watch. This series is getting better and better. Now for "Revolutions".


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