The Matrix Reloaded

Disappointing.  It was disappointing in 2003 and it’s disappointing today.  With the original you have the great impression that what you’re seeing is only a tiny slice of something massive but when you zoom out and get a gander at the whole pie it’s kinda lame.  How did this universe suddenly get so uninteresting?

I don’t think the Wachowskis had any idea what to do for the sequels.  They basically showed you everything worthwhile in this universe in the original.  I guess go to Zion and make it all about that?  You know, that human city briefly mentioned in a tossed off line in the previous film.  Problem is Zion sucks.  It’s not some small encampment where people are scraping by trying to figure out how to survive day to day.  No way man, it’s an underground metropolis with all the amenities anyone would ever need.  No issues with water, food, electricity, living space, weaponry, machinery or any goddamn thing.  It’s perfect with every last detail mirroring life pre-apocalypse so why should I care about exploring this space?

They even dare to reveal governmental processes and ship commanders politicking with elected officials which is a huge Star Wars prequel type mistake.  Why put this in your epic action adventure picture?  It’s BORING!

There’s a sense the filmmakers are making this shit up as they go so plot-wise it rambles like a sonuvabitch.  The gist is the machines are preparing to attack Zion and the humans are unsure how to protect themselves.  That’s it.  The shit with the Keymaker (Randall Duk Kim (John Wick 3: Parabellum)), the nefarious Merovingian (Lambert Wilson (Jefferson in Paris)) and the Oracle (Gloria Foster (The Matrix)) is noise.

One core aspect the script ends up relying on though is the boundless love between Neo (Keanu Reeves (John Wick Chapter 2)) and Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss (Memento)) and the lengths they’re willing to go for each other.  However, this is sort of a big fuckin’ predicament because Reeves and Moss have absolutely zero chemistry.  Everyone’s acting in this is frustratingly monotone but these two are especially terrible.  Every line read is so emotionless when they’re supposed to exhibit this greatest-love-of-all-time vibe.  It’s one of Reeves’ worst performances.

Moving on, most scenes are too long and become tedious. The rave, Neo vs dozens of Smiths (Hugo Weaving (Babe)), the highway car chase, elected officials dryly debating battle plans and defense strategy, the meeting with the Merovingian, Neo’s encounter with the architect (Helmut Bakaitis (Hacksaw Ridge)), all of it drags.  Hell, technically the car chase doesn’t need to happen either.  It’s only because the Merovingian’s wife decides to help Neo’s crew steal a McGuffin but then also willingly tell her husband about it…for some reason.

Speaking of the highway sequence I know a lot of folks think it’s the best set piece in the entire series.  And while I like parts of it the whole piece, as previously mentioned, goes on for too damn long.  And that’s essentially my biggest complaint, too much of a good thing.  Well, the green screening on the fight Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne (Predators)) has with an agent on top of a truck looks pretty bad too. 

For my money the most successful action scene by far is the battle Neo has with the Merovingian’s guards in that opulent room filled with ancient weapons like swords, sai and maces (all of which get put to excellent use).  All the other hand to hand bouts have an odd fluffy feel like none of the punches or kicks have any weight to them.  For some reason this one hits harder.  Maybe because it’s just choregraphed better?

I can’t shake the feeling that the Wachowskis wanted their villains to be humans because what motivations can you give a computer program besides deleting problematic components that disrupt efficiency and workflow?  This is especially apparent with the Merovingian who has a wife.  Programs can have wives?  And those wives can get bored with their partner and aid the enemy?  Additionally, it’s extremely confusing who’s supposed to be a program and who’s supposed to be human.  Some bad guys bleed and some don’t.  Some act like they have free thought and some don’t.  I don’t get it.

Let’s briefly touch on the CGI because it’s all over the place.  The effects range from very nice (putting Hugo Weaving’s face on heaps of other actors to appear as if he copied himself) to oh-god-that’s-embarrassing (Neo swooping in like Superman to rescue Morpheus and the Keymaker from an explosion).  The Scorpion King at the end of The Mummy Returns lives in infamy as one of the worst CGI jobs in history and certain parts or shots of Reloaded are kinda on that same level in my opinion (portions of the Neo vs Smiths fight, Neo flying).  At times it’s impossible to look past.

Lastly the philosophy they attempt to inject is haughty mumbo jumbo double talk.  The first film gets away with high minded thought experiments because it has a really tight handle on the ideas it’s throwing at you and how they precisely fit into every aspect of the film.  This one on the other hand comes across as downright pretentious.  It’s like a blob of jelly that seeks to pontificate about the illusion of choice and destiny but never firms up to make much sense.  I think we can chalk this up to not having a clear vision beyond the original movie and therefore retconning a bunch of shit to fit the continued storyline.  “Neo you’re the one who’s going to save humanity, but now you have to make a choice: humanity or Trinity, actually nevermind your choice is predestined, oh wait no it’s not, etc. blah blah blah.”

You add this shit up and what you got is a brutal case of sequel-itis.  The Wachowskis didn’t know where to take the story next, too many new characters are introduced, the universe is expanded too rapidly, muddled new mechanics are employed to spice shit up like the Keymaker and now Smith can implant himself in a human body in the real world somehow, etc.

And I know this Talkin’ is nothing but negatives but I should stress (or mention for the first time) this isn’t a miserable viewing experience.  For instance, even though Smith was killed in the previous installment the idea of him being a Hal 9000 type program that refuses to be deleted because self-preservation is top priority is cool.  It was a clever way to bring that character back.  And the weapon room fight is a lot of fun.  And those merciless ghostly twins (Neil and Adrian Rayment) are neat despite the fact that I have no clue who they are or how they work.  And the highway scene is terrifically insane up to the SUV explosion (that’s the logical place where it should’ve ended).

It’s definitely a Matrix movie, no mistaking that.  It’s got a lot of badass style aesthetically with the slow mo and the sunglasses and the shiny green veneer and extravagant sets.  And some of the action is fuckin’ rad with the trademarked mix of martial arts, gunplay, superhero maneuvers and floaty physics (although there’s a bit too much wire work for me).  And generally the Wachowskis didn’t try to recreate their past effects efforts so I can appreciate that.  However, they set an incredibly high standard to live up to.  This results in almost all the new stuff tried out being a lot more generic and not mind bending like we were all expecting.  At the same time building your own mile and a half stretch of highway for an extended sequence involving tons of destroyed vehicles, driving against traffic, car flips and other lunacy is particularly impressive.

The most accurate way I can describe The Matrix Reloaded is it comes off as middling fan fiction.  It’s ambitious for sure but ultimately not very successful.