The Matrix Reloaded Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)May 21st, 2003
THE MATRIX RELOADED (2003) 2 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett Smith, Gloria Foster, Harold Perrineau, Nona Gaye, Lambert Wilson, Monica Bellucci and Anthony Zerbe. Music by Don Davis. Visual Effects Supervisor John Gaeta. Director of Photography Bill Pope. Written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers. Rated R. Running time: 138 minutes.
You feel dissatisfied, a qualm of is that all there is pervades throughout The Matrix Reloaded.
This high-powered sequel is a bit of a let down. Partly because of all the pre-release hype and the expectations created by the original, I anticipated more.
Matrix Reloaded offers many super-charged thrills, cutting-edge technology, special effects and stunt work. It lacks the air of discovery and wonder, of subversive paranoia that The Matrix provided. But that is to be expected in a sequel.
Reloaded sputters and spurts lurching from action sequences that take you to the edge of your seat, to long passages of exposition that make you want to dash to the lobby for popcorn refills.
In Reloaded, people don't talk, they posture pontificate, spew epigrams or utter cryptic prophecies - while the movie comes to a dead stop. Characters stand around looking cool - or bored - in fashionable shades and black leather.
Balancing those moments are adrenalin-inducing set pieces such as a 14-minute freeway chase that makes the one in Bullitt look like a go-cart race, or a playground brawl between Neo (Keanu Reeves) and the newly freed Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) and his 100 clones.
This time around the Wachowksi Brothers take us to the hidden city of Zion, the sanctuary for the planet's last remnants of humanity. But even that disappoints. The city lacks character. There is no feeling of the humanity who have taken refuge there.
For all its technological brilliance, the brothers' script undercuts the illusion, as the dialogue sounds as if it should be delivered comic book-style, in balloons over the actors' heads.
Poor Laurence Fishburne bears the brunt of the bad dialogue, which he delivers in such serious, sonorous tones that at times you just want to shout at him to lighten up.
Reloaded features a lot babble about free choice, causality and other techno-jargon that will have you reaching for some aspirin.
The feature's technical wizardry, though, nearly compensates for all the other nonsense.
The final verdict: Matrix Reloaded belies your expectations. It leaves you hungry for more.
So hang around through the end credits, a trailer for Matrix Revolutions follows.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on movies.
Bloom's reviews also appear on the Web at the Rottentomatoes Web site, www.rottentomatoes.com and at the Internet Movie Database:
http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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