Rating: Summary: It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's an overblown sequel! Review: I could forgive the convoluted plot were it not for one thing. Neo flying!!!!? Give me a break. This film is an exercise in excess. The W brothers need to get back to basics instead of the typical let's see what cool thing we can do next. And the ending, I haven't heard so much double talk since Bush's last state of the union. As far as a middle film in a trilogy is concerned: Empire Strike's Back this isn't but it's not Tomb Raider 2 either. Maybe somewhere in between. I grade it C for average. Pray that Revolutions will get this runaway train back on the track.
Rating: Summary: Almost Perfect Review: For what it was, "Reloaded" was almost perfect. The plot was interesting but not complicated. I've seen Fishburn act better, but I don't expect Oscar-worthy perfomances from action movies. Reeves and Moss have never impressed me as thespians but I knew that going in so it wasn't an issue for me. I was looking for mad action and crazy special effects and that's what "Reloaded" provided. I have two issues with the movie, however, that kept me from giving it 5 stars. First, the party/sex scene in Zion was waaaayyyy too drawn out. I don't know what purpose it served other than to make the movie longer. Maybe it was a snack/restroom break. At least that's what it was for me. The other issue was with the fight scene against the infinite copies of the agent. The action reached a little further than their technology could handle. At a few points, the live action characters clearly morphed into cartoon or video game characters. They chould've done a better job with the details. The moves aren't as jaw-dropping when it's too obvious that cgi-men are performing them. Having said that, the movie was still much better than I anticipated. Sometimes action sequels pay more attention to special effects than the story, but this movie did a good job of advancing the story while being visually dazzling. I can't wait for "Revolutions."
Rating: Summary: Reloaded Rocks Review: Despite all the bad reviews here, I thought Matrix Reloaded was better than the first. It was more inventive with more colorful villains and more mystery in determining who are these new villains and what do they exactly mean to Neo and the Matrix. The Zion orgy scene that everyone complains about is simply to establish the difference between the humans and the machines... love, passion, sex. It's what set the humans apart. It also makes you question, why Persephone has a need to sample Neo's kiss. I look very much forward to Matrix Revolutions
Rating: Summary: Continuing what the first movie started Review: Matrix Reloaded continued what the first movie gave its viewers, only kicked up a notch: more action and more philosophy, including the intriguing scene with the architect, which goes through all the foibles of humans and the importance of offering them the matrix, or the ability to reject for a so-called reality. The Oracle is developed more and becomes all the more intersting, as she is not the character we all thought we could trust. True, some of the action scenes are a bit long or even unnecessary but it does let the viewer see how far along Neo has come since we last saw him. Somehow, it's doubtful that those who didn't like it actually understood all that was revealed or else they would know that the Wachowski Brothers must have something extraordinary planned in November in order to get our heroes out of this one.
Rating: Summary: totally abysmal! Review: saw this monstrosity on an imax screen. appropriate for such a huge disgustingly ugly mess. these people are actors? this is entertainment?
Rating: Summary: Very weak sequel. Do not enter the Matrix Review: This movie is a perfect example of the product of the greed of movie producers. The plot is weak, the action scenes are forced into the movie, there is nothing new and even the acting is mediocre. I consider the first movie to be the best action/sci-fi movie ever, but wouldn't even think of buying this one.
Rating: Summary: Roller Coaster Thrills! Review: The Matrix series are the best sci-fi series since the movie "Blade Runner" (ahead of its time). The scenes are so dynamic they are almost unbelievable. You can watch Matrix Reloaded over and over and be thrilled as much as when you watched it the first time. Not many movies can give you that kind of pleasure. An unequaled sci-fi thriller!
Rating: Summary: Nothing special Review: I agree with many of the complaints against this film many others have registered here, but wanted to object to one of the more celebrated aspects of this and the previous Matrix - the so-called fight scenes. First, I'll admit that some people don't care for realism in fight scenes, and that's okay. But for the real martial arts aficionado opinion, read on. Anyone who is impressed with the fighting in the Matrix series obviously hasn't been exposed to the greatest fight choreographer ever, the late Bruce Lee. Bruce's whole martial arts career revolved around plucking the weedy martial arts garden, or, to quote him, to get rid of the impractical aspects of "the classical mess" of traditional Asian martial arts. His own style, Jeet Kune Do, was designed not to be pretty, or to camouflage the activity of the practitioner (as in the Western Capoeira silliness) but to enable one to defend oneself successfully, period. His fight scenes, then, fought strenuously against the grain of the schlocky Hong Kong kung fu fight movie style that prevailed then. There was still a fair amount of glamour in his fights (lots of high kicking that he personally felt was as effective as "punching someone in the knees") but compared to the reigning Hong Kong style, they were stunning and brutally honest. For a time, what Bruce set in motion carried a certain momentum. Eventually, with the rise of Jackie Chan's international movie success, a sad reversal has occurred. Chan's fights were more of the same, although often imbued with a certain sense of humor not found in the Hong Kong tradition, which makes sense considering that style's lack of anything approaching reality. In recent years there has been a resurgence of the Hong Kong style, which is what we get with the Matrix. The fight scenes in these films, aside from the special shooting techniques developed by the Wachowski brothers which are already loosing their impact, are simply theatre. For those with any martial arts training, they are just silly, and they unfortunately mislead the general public about the effectiveness of the classical martial arts (with the exception of Thai boxing). (Traditional Western boxing, with all the limitations that fighting only with one's hands and under rules of the ring involve, still produces fighters vastly superior in street situations to masters of traditional arts. The technique of Western boxing is tested fully, while traditional Asian arts are largely theoretical. The only real showing they get is in a highly restricted format, in a ring and with gloved hands and sometimes feet, similar in the end to what occurs in Western boxing. Also, Western boxers, unlike traditional martial artists, know what it's like to hit something other than air, and they know what it feels like to be hit and what it takes to keep hitting back after being hit.) Until another Bruce Lee comes along, or a director with a real affinity for his greatness, unfortunately we will have to sit through more of the same.
Rating: Summary: Can I get the time I wasted Reloaded? Review: Even though it has already been said before in other reviews, I still feel compelled to add to the list of disappointed viewers, only to possibly dissuade any other Matrix fans from wasting their money on this movie. I absolutely loved the Matrix, it was an incredible movie full of special effects, great fighting, some really weird stuff going on, and a freshly approached plotline to the age old "our world is dying" theme. "Reloaded" has none of the above, with the exception of some good fighting that gets very old and boring after awhile. There is a finite amount of Kung Fu maneuvers that can be done, and repeating them over and over and over and over does not make a fight scene a good fight scene. What plot there was to this sequel could have been whipped out by the screenwriter's five year old between juice and bedtime. So exactly what did I not like about it? Waiting for two hours and twenty minutes and still not seeing the plot. Waiting through fight after fight after fight with no originality added except Neo's ability to fly. Wow. He should have flown away from some of the fights sooner just to save me some of the time I wasted watching this. The Zion/orgy and Neo/Trinity scene should have been left on the cutting room floor, along with the idealistic snooze-fest of a speech from a Morphius who has morphed from powerful, enigmatic leader to a boring fuss-pot of a wanna-be philosopher. Yawn. When all the Smith replicates kept coming, why didn't Neo fly away sooner? If Neo has become "The One", why can't he read the Oracle better... Sorry, I just could not find one thing to like about this sequel. Some sequels are worth watching (Star Wars, Alien, LoTR) and some are not. (Highlander, Predator, Matrix) Please listen to others who gave negative reviews and articulate better than I do. I wish I would have.
Rating: Summary: Incredible movie! Review: Completely distorts the story of the first part. Raises a lot of questions and confuses the...out of a lot of people. But, the best part about Matrix 2 is that (just like the first movie) it could be seen by millions, but understood completely by few and that is worth every penny!
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