Rating: 
Summary: Unfortunate ................
Review: I saw this movie on a wednesday night since my friends and I were very hyped about this movie. Perhaps that was our mistake. The question is whether our expectations were too high. The truth is that the first Matrix revolutionized cinematography. It utilized CGI in a fashion that Lucas never dreamed of and introduced a combination of an Anime type theme and heavy Hong Kong Kung Fu. It was bounded for success. But where X2 had room to expand, Matrix Reloaded had comparatively less.In the first part of the movie, we are shown various scenes where Neo's powers are demonstrated. He now can do alot more then just read codes and kick butt apparently. The dilemmas that he was facing didnt seem to be a matter of developing his powers. For the most part, alot of the fight scenes just illustrates how he can make agents and other humans fall to their knees in 3-4 moves. The next part gives us a good view of how the people of Zion lives. Truthfully, this was the most dissapointing part of the movie. I wont go into details but putting it succintly, just read or watch the Biblical story when Moses goes for the 10 Testaments and what his followers did because he was gone for too long. Combine that with Techno and you have the general idea. From then on the story becomes somewhat complicated and I cant go into to it without spoiling the movie. The best part of the movie is the interstate chase. During this dramatic battle where everyone is fighting for an old asian guy, we got some of our expectations met. The best character of this movie (I know I will be hated for this) is probably Agent Smith. Unlike what the previews have shown, the movie shows a more interesting side of him. He isnt just a program designed to guard the Matrix. Instead we see glimpses of what a true nemesis should be. Finally, throughout the whole movie a theme is drawn out. Especially in the final scene where Neo asks the Architect a question, most people in the theater began to scratch their heads. We got what we asked for in a way. There was more bulletime CGI, more fight scenes, and more of the same characters with some new ones. But when I left the movie theater there was still something missing, besides the answer to the cliffhanger.
Rating: 
Summary: The Middle of the Rabbit Hole
Review: Ah, "The Matrix Reloaded." Quite possibly the most anticipated movie in recent history. Tantalizing peeks of the film here and there have more than piqued the public's interest in this sequel, as if the mere announcement wasn't enough already. If you're reading this review, I figure you've already seen the first one so I'm gonna skip the small talk about back story and jump right into the rabbit hole. Cliche as it is, 'was it worth the wait?' To make a long story not quite as long, your opinion may fluctuate during the course of "Reloaded." The beginning of the movie starts off with Neo's dream, and boy, does it ever start with a bang. A Trinity fight scene augmented with more Gaeta magic, ending with a chilling scene of our protagonist in a less than comfortable position. From here on out, you're neck-deep in fight scenes. From the little tease with the Agent 2.0's to the simply astounding "Burly Fight" (fight with a hundred Agent Smiths) to the weapon-based melee in the Chateau, "Reloaded" succeeds in getting the adrenaline pumping indefinitely. Then you've got the infamous 14-minute Car Chase, which I must admit was not as good as I expected, but hey, that's what the hype does. Let's just put it this way: it's superb but not perfect.
At this point, it seems like the middle of the movie. Now, here, it seems as if the movie was just trying to cram in as many fight scenes (particularly Neo ones) as possible. You've got one fight after another, with story bits in between. This makes an unbalanced pace. You've got the fight scenes flying by and then the narrative seems to only drag the film along. It's as if you were betrayed by the Wachowskis; they've just substituted all the substance they had and in its place is only style! But just like in the Matrix, nothing is as it seems.
With the second act, the action maintains a moderate pace, but the story begins to fall together masterfully. A power plant, a glass building, and remarkable tension; amazing. A major revelation is thrown at you and the plot pieces itself together at break-neck speed. Looks like the brothers haven't exhausted all of the tricks in their repertoire just yet.
The final answer is "Yes, it was worth all the wait and MORE." Immaculate pacing with a great story to tide over fans as well as intense battles for thrill-seekers, "The Matrix Reloaded" has something for anyone and everyone. Delving into specifics, the plot for "Reloaded" is brilliant. I can't go much further than the standard synopsis without spoiling anything, but the machines are reaching the last human city of Zion and it's up to Neo fulfill the prophecy about the One and deliver the city from destruction. What follows is a chase for the Keymaker and Neo facing his destiny... again? The Wachowskis include a great twist and all the hints beforehand reveal their purpose. They've got my praises. Great performances all around, Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith) heading my list. He appears not quite as long as I'd thought, but when he's there, he makes everyone know.
Keanu Reeves does an excellent job as Neo again. Scoff, if you must, but he fits in the character of Neo perfectly and not many people can do that with their on-screen personas. Humor, a tone not quite present in "The Matrix," has a couple moments in the film, and they set the mood well. It's nice to see that such a monumental movie can take itself even the slightest bit lightly. Notably, most of these lie with Link, the Nebucchanezzar's new operator. When all is said and done, this movie delivers on all fronts and exceeds all its promises. Story, action, and even a tiny bit of comedy, it's a divine combination. It empties its clip of excitement and intrigue on you, leaving you with nothing to do but wait till it reloads a final time in November with "The Matrix Revolutions." NOTE: Just a little tip for those going to see it. Wait for all the credits to scroll by. Let's just say that if you do, there's a little taste of the end for you to see.
Rating:
Summary: The Matrix Delivers
Review: A war is coming and we all have a choice. The Matrix Reloaded delivers more action and more thrills than any other sci-fi movie I have ever seen. The movie begins with Neo in love and ends with Neo in love. His journey carries him from The Oracle, to The Keymaker, to The Architect, and ultimately to a single choice: Door One saves the world as he knows it, or Door Two saves the woman he loves. The Matrix Reloaded delivers more action, more fight scenes, more emotion, and a more realized storyline than the first Matrix without compromising the philosophical insight and simple down-and-dirty storytelling which wowed us to begin with. This is Hollywood moviemaking at its absolute best. If you experience one movie this year, experience -- The Matrix Reloaded. And if you stay in the theater until after the closing credits, you'll get to see a preview of The Matrix Revolutions. Get a group of friends together and go see The Matrix Reloaded. It'll change your life. Stacey
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly subdued follow-up...
Review: Having just spectated The Matrix Reloaded, I am apprehensibly speculating my next viewing to be shortly, for it has been roughly an hour ago. There's just something about the experience of a theatre, that makes even the most cliched film, seem splendid. It is, in fact, suprisingly subdued: which is an absolute positive element, not only to any film, (in my opinion) but especially to a second act in storytelling. The post-effects are superlative, quite possibly the best I've seen; and I absolutely hate CGI! Overall, you will thoroughly enjoy the experience this film has bestowed upon us. There are some holes, there are some cliches; but you knew what you were getting into prior to even wanting to see this film! Fair warning. Movie geeks and sports fans will unite, and agree upon, making this an essential viewing!
Rating:
Summary: GREAT show with EVERYTHING in it!!
Review: This movie is AWESOME! The storyline can get really confusing, but I think that the final movie - Matrix Revolution will explain all of them. It keeps everyone guessing what is actually happening - and I still do not know what is happening. All I have are my speculation and hunch. It can be a bit philosophical sometimes, and some part is just too overwhelmingly difficult to understand (unless you go back and watch it again and again to hear what they are actually saying - as the characters speaks really fast and they were using some strong vocabulary!). Some people might be turned off by the plot - maybe because it is just too hard for them to understand or some are not technical enough to grasp the whole concept of the Matrix. Even if they do not like it - they would still love the action! The action are AMAZING - such Neo fighting 100 Agent Smith - although you can see that it is computer generated. it is spectacular. The 20 minutes chase scene was amazing and a REAL pure andrenaline rush!!! There are so much action - and the special effects are phenomenal!!! Sure some of the effects are nothing new - but they put it in a way that you have never seen it being done before (at one part of the movie, the audience starts screaming and clapping). IT is an amazing movie - it keeps you guessing and you never know what is going to happen - you have to go back and watch it a few times to try to catch the details. Wow!! Great SHOW!! I can't wait for Matrix Revolution. By the way - the end credits are VERY long (I think the Warchowski brother did that on purpose) but do stay for a sneak preview of The Matrix Revolution teaser after the end credits!! Just a reminder that this show is extremely confusing because it is fast paced - (I do not really care for some scene *such as the Zion erotica dancing scene*) but remember that Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolution are basically one show. Matrix Reloaded ends without any conclusions but viewers should be aware that Matrix Revolution will tie everything up. Also watching some of the animatrix ... would help understand what is actually happening. I just got out of the theater an hour ago and my friends and I are still overwhelmed by that show :) Great show!! I am definitely going back for more!
Rating: 
Summary: a desecration of the original
Review: I loved the first Matrix. That's why this film was so disappointing. The computer generated images were as amazing as cgi gets...but that isn't sayiing very much now is it. The characters were flat--if i have to hear one more speech by Morpheus about belief, faith, fate etc. Come on. He sounded so stiff I thought woody woodpecker was going to come out and peck him. The fight scene were endless and actually tiresome. Rubber Neo versus Putty Smith. Not good. Where was the religion theme? In the Matrix we got to go "oh he's Jesus," "he's John the Baptist," "whoa . . . Trinity." Reloaded seems to have replaced all that with chop soky kung fu, cool costumes, and some mumbo jumbo about the "key" and "choices." But the worst, w-o-r-s-t part is that I'll never be able to watch that scene where Neo "starts to believe" the same way again. No matter how cool Morpheus looks with a katana, it doesn't make up for this.
Rating:
Summary: Just saw it--first impressions
Review: The Matrix: Reloaded is a worthy sequel to the original, but with a much different, and slightly unexpected tone. The original was dark, mysterious, and deep (or at least it pretended to be deep). In the second, a lot of the darkness and depth is gone, replaced by, alternately, dialog and fantastic fight/chase/stunt sequences. But in way, that's okay. In the same way that the mystery of the matrix is now transparent to Neo, so it is to us in Reloaded. The good: brain-smashing stunt, fight, and CG sequences; enough interesting and unexpected plot developments and revalations to keep the story moving through this movie and into the third; surprisingly erotic and well-done (for Hollywood, at least) love scene between Neo and Trinity. The not-so-good: dialog sometimes strays into the ostentatious (stuff like, "I know you know I know, but do you know that you know I know you know I know?" "I know you don't know that I know you know." Huh?!); at a crucial moment, I coudldn't really keep up with all the metaphysical BS and lost track of an important plot point; a few characters are underdeveloped (Niobe); a few characters are stereotypical and flat (the Captain); a few plot devices are cliche'ed (a hinted-at, but completely undeveloped love triangle between the Captain, Morpheus, and Niobe); at least one plot point is totally nonsensical (the robots are coming to destroy us, so... let's show them our defiance by having a drum circle rave? oh yeah... that'll show those machines who's boss). Although there are a lot more not-so-goods on this list than goods, note that I gave the movie overall a 4. It's solid! It suffers a little from sequel-drop, but it's still head and shoulders above most sequels.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome to Zion
Review: What is life? Is it all about choice, or simply cause and effect? Are our choices predetermined, our futures predestined, or can one person really make a difference? And can a technological messiah fight his way through the philosophical underpinnings of this film as well as he fights his way through the martial artists who are constantly attempting to remove him from the equation? Nope, I won't give anything away in this review. No secrets revealed, no spoilers on display. Suffice to say that those who approach "The Matrix Reloaded" must be familiar with "The Matrix." You must know what it is, who Neo is, what Zion is about, and be prepared to grapple with transcendent reality, packaged in an action-filled box. This film smartly avoids retelling the original tale. If you want to come along for the ride, "Reloaded" will not slow down for you to jump aboard. Be prepared. For those millions who've seen the film and are dying to see the sequel, you probably wondered whether the Wachowski brothers could do justice to this universe they so thrillingly created for the original. The answer is a resounding YES, with few noticeable changes. For instance, the accompanying musical score has grown from a collection of grunge punk to a variety of styles, all equally at home in a world filled with chrome and metal. And yes, the grunge punk is there too. The groundbreaking FX are in full effect, expanded in some ways and properly contracted in others. Through the FX the film forces us to face some of our fears: Heights, death, speed, falling, etc. It's a roller coaster with a brain. I'm now convinced that anything a filmmaker can dream up can be represented via FX, if they're willing to work on it as intensely as the Wachowskis. Incredible! Finally, the hardcore will want to sit through the 10 to 15 minutes of end titles for a sneak peek at "Matrix Revolutions," slated for November release. It's only about a 30-second spot (60 at the most), but we've been waiting for this for some time and the experience is worth savoring every last drop. Besides, the end title music is some of the snappiest in the film. You won't be bored at any point, from opening title to the theater lights coming up. The Matrix has you. Watch out for upgrades.
Rating:
Summary: Recycled & Repackaged scifi w/ loadsa flash and style - fun!
Review: I had the good opportunity to go to the premier of this one. It was pretty good -- loadsa action. The fight scenes were superb, rivaling some of Jet Li's best choreography. It also has what I think is one of the best chase scenes ever played on the silver screen. The effects were out of this world. That said, I thought the film lacked some of the heart that the first one had. Watching it, I was simultaneously entertained (read fascinated by the artifact) yet completely aware that I was viewing an intentional construct (perhaps an unwanted effect, yet one that was entirely relevant). It was only during some of the extended action sequences where this broke down and I was able to suspend disbelief albeit momentarily until the awareness kicked in that even the wild action sequences were intentional constructs. I'd say the Wachowski brothers sat back with Jean Baudrilliard's "The Evil Demon of Images and the Precession of Simulacra," The Illusion of the End, and Simulacra and Simulation left over from a graduate course in postmodern theory and said, "hey, this would make a great flick." Phillip K. Dick wrote scifi like this back in the 50s and 60s -- this was more serious Harlan Ellison territory perhaps. Still, it's damn relevant these days with the Internet fully taken hold of our culture -- echoes of William Gibson anyone? Real vs. hyperreal, it's all fun and games until someone puts an eye out. Joseph Campbell would be proud. They've got the messiah mythos down pat. Sure, it's repackaged for the cyberage, but that's what Baudrillard was on about anyway -- no new myths, everything recycled and simulated in absence of the referential original, all in the cause of entertainment of the masses who demand fascination -- well, that and black clothes and sunglasses because they look so damned cool. I won't toss out any spoilers. It's an enjoyable film, and the audience surrounding me seemed to receive it well, too. Like after each cliffhanger in the Lord of the Rings series, I heard grumbling from a few about the ending of this Matrix 2, but that's just par for the course. What did any of them expect? The good news is that the final words on the screen were "To be Concluded" and not "Continued," which means that part 3 will end it, one way or another. Sure, sequels or spin-off films might happen (and there's that AniMATRIX dvd out soon (next week), but at least they'll wrap this story line up soon. The music was just fantastic and the look of the film was superb and polished -- the bullet cam effect was put to good use and I was slack-jawed on more than one occasion. Still, while the film/s is/are technically innovative, they are not script-wise. The Matrix films do not say anything new -- at least not to the those of us with half a brain who've been science-fiction fans for years. Yet, they put elements we've seen before together well. Lawrence Fishburne's lines were a bit over-the-top to the point of nearly becoming laughable and undermining the seriousness of what the film was trying to accomplish. More than once I wondered how he was able to pile on the drivel without cracking up -- really, there was some inane dialogue that made me wince -- it was nearly embarrassing. But, I suppose that is tempered with the fact that the themes explored throughout the movie are nearly profound and the film does manage to remain cerebral when it counts, almost to the point where it might alienate those viewers more interested in the loud bangs, fast chases, fist fights and bullets flying! ;)
Rating:
Summary: YES, better than the first one...
Review: I saw it yesterday night and let me tell you, the hype doesn't do it justice. Many things you thought you knew from the first Matrix will be overturned (with complete plot consistency) with a new twist. It is even deeper in concept and meaning than the first Matrix, although consequentially even more confusing. Matrix Reloaded definitely has a different tone than the first one. Reloaded focuses a lot on the relationship between Neo and Trinity and the movie is just a lot more, hmm, "sexy". There's plenty of action too, of course, but that's a given. I particularly love the white-haired Twins. STAY TILL THE END OF THE CREDITS!! There is a preview for Matrix Revolutions. Basically Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions are one movie that was cut in half cause it was too damn long. That is why they're both being released in the same year. The ending is a terrible cliffhanger, but the 5-10 minutes before the ending blew my mind
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