What did you think of Matrix Reloaded?

[Gold Trumpet]

Bullet time? How is that anything important for film art? That seems regulated for use and copy really mainly in the action film only and if even used in an art film, it is just one technique. If the work can't back up its purpose, then it is meaningless.

~rougerum

[dufresne]

The Matrix succeeds at production design, but not really at 'film art'.

[Mesh]

Bullet time? How is that anything important for film art? That seems regulated for use and copy really mainly in the action film only and if even used in an art film, it is just one technique.

There was once a time when narrative editing was "just one technique."  (And, no, I'm not saying bullet time is anywhere near as important.)

An innovation doesn't need a clearly defined "purpose" or "meaning" at the time of its inception.

Bullet time is an innovation in the "art" of making action films, which themselves are a large, valid, broadly defineable art form.

[NEON MERCURY]

I thought it was great just for an action movie -nothing more than (insert old-school batman verbs/adjectives a la)whiz-bang-arrgh-slap-crackkk-whap-smack-etc.  Really good film for nothing more than to go to the theatre(which i hardly never do anymore)and be amazed at the "power of cinema"

Those Twins rocked

[Gold Trumpet]

Dufresne is right, the qualities in the movie that excel are in the production design only. Comparing bullet time to narrative editing is a bad one because narrative editing brought upon a new way of telling a story for films while bullet time is just an effect for a certain action sequence. Narrative editing is the most important technique added, and yes, it is a technique, but it doesn't gurantee for quality of work. Its just that it exists as a new level of how to show films. I'm not saying bullet time is good or bad, but it is a production achievement in acting for narrative films. It is in no way breaking any structure of how a film is presented. The Matrix movies are still typical works for their field.

~rougerum

[Xixax]

You people are all on crack. Reloaded is one of the most incredible films ever made from a technical standpoint.

When you appreciate film, it's OK to appreciate more than the direction and story.

Anyone who says that this film is anything less than phenomenal from a technical standpoint loses all credibility in my book.

I saw it for the second time last night, this time in an IMAX theater, and I was once again awed. The sound design, the effects - all of it was simply amazing, and the IMAX transfer was flawless.

[Sigur Rós]

Anyone who says that this film is anything less than phenomenal from a technical standpoint loses all credibility in my book.

I totally agree. But the script is crap! Some of the lines are so stupid, I nearly laughed my head of!

[©brad]

You people are all on crack. Reloaded is one of the most incredible films ever made from a technical standpoint.

When you appreciate film, it's OK to appreciate more than the direction and story.

Anyone who says that this film is anything less than phenomenal from a technical standpoint loses all credibility in my book.

I saw it for the second time last night, this time in an IMAX theater, and I was once again awed. The sound design, the effects - all of it was simply amazing, and the IMAX transfer was flawless.

ur lucky. i would luv to see this thing in an imax. i've never even been to one before. i would assume they are mainly in the bigger cities, yes? anyone know of any around georgia/south carolina area?

it seems like the same 4 ppl are bashing the movie for the past 6 or 7 pages of this thread. "the matrix isn't technically innovative, just the set design/ not a work of art..blah blah blah" ---enough. we get it. ur retarted. take ur perpetual whining to the brown bunny thread and stop polluting this one, for the sake of the ppl who do love the movie.

[MacGuffin]

I didn't get a single bit of the 'Architect' conversation in 'Reloaded'

amen!

Maybe this will help. Source: Latino Review

Since the release of Larry and Andy Wachowski's highly anticipated sequel, "The Matrix Reloaded" many moviegoers have left the theater either disappointed, enthralled or completely confused. The slow pacing of the film's first forty minutes, the techno-babble conversation between Keanu Reeves' Neo and Helmut Balkis' Architect, and the sudden cliffhanger ending have left many so alienated that they didn't care to wait after the credits to see the teaser for the trilogy's conclusion, "The Matrix Revolutions." The Wachowski brothers certainly knew their film was the most anticipated of the year and rather than make it easy for us (and them) by crafting a complete rehash of the original they've made a film that forces the viewer to use that tool called the brain. Yes, we are left with more questions than answers and the film could have been a hell of a lot better, but after seeing it a number of times I've come to realize how brilliant this series is and I applaud the Wachowski's efforts.

In my original review I stated how disappointed I was that the film didn't raise the questions that I wanted it to. When moviegoers become attached to a particular series or story they're sometimes so devoted that their expectations can never be met. We often want the story to take the direction we're interested in and when it doesn't we get pissed. Sure, the Wachowski brothers could have taken the series to a level that would make it an instant and untouchable classic, but the story they want to tell is still interesting and the trip so far has never been boring. I'd rather the story stay on its current course than turn into a PG-13 family oriented rehash that has no conclusion in sight.

The questions raised in "The Matrix Reloaded" have left many confused, but I truly have faith that all will be answered in the final film "Revolutions." If some of you out there are too impatient to wait until November then you'll be happy to learn that many of the answers you seek are available now and are actually in "Reloaded". You just have to pay very close attention and know where to look for them. If you haven't seen "Reloaded" by now then you shouldn't be reading this spoiler filled article and I suggest you don't read any further. This article is quite lengthy so bare with me. The question about the film get I'm asked most is also the most irrelevant:

Why does Neo fight Agent Smith when he can fly away?

We all know what a badass Neo became after Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) "killed" him in the first film. He's nearly omnipotent with the ability to control matter, outrace, stop bullets and fly within the Matrix. So why doesn't he fly away from those hundred Smiths in the "burly brawl"? Because Neo has become a bit arrogant. We see it when he easily takes out three agents in the film's opening. He fights those agents and the Merovingian's (Lambert Wilson) goons to give his friends time to fly away. It's true, he doesn't have to fight Smith, but he did take him down before and wants to see if he still can. He doesn't count on the fact that Smith can now copy himself and eventually realizes he can't win this time. All of the Smiths could have just tried to shoot Neo too. Eventually at least one of them could have wounded him, but they want to get close to Neo to do something else, something we'll get to later.

Is the Oracle's prophecy a hoax?

Well, yes and no. The conclusion I've come to is that much like Obi-Wan Kenobi laid that crap on Luke about his father in "Star Wars" and told "the truth from a certain point of view", the Oracle (Gloria Foster)has done the same with Neo, Morpheus and the citizens of Zion. To understand the meaning of this we must first answer another question.

Who are the Architect and the Oracle?

When Neo steps through the door of light near "Reloaded's" conclusion he encounters the Architect, the designer of the matrix. The Architect is a program from the machine world who explains to Neo that the Matrix itself is a mathematical equation that is almost flawless. Its flaw lies in the fact that human beings themselves are flawed and often don't accept the program. Many attempts to create the perfect dreamworld for humans to interface with resulted in failure which led to the machines to develop another solution: the Oracle. The Oracle was an intuitive program created to study the human psyche. The machines and the Architect could never understand why human beings could not accept the program of the Matrix even if it was tailored for their lesser minds. Through her studies the Oracle came to the conclusion that 99.9% of humans plugged into the Matrix could accept the program only if they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice on an unconscious level. But the existence of that 00.1% is a threat that the machines were not willing to let grow.

As Morpheus stated in the original film (and also demonstrated in the Animatrix short the Second Renaissance Parts I & II) , the human race barely survived its initial war with the machines. The machines knew that many humans born plugged into the Matrix would reject the program and eventually find freedom through the aid of humans born in the real world. For the machines to survive they could not let the number of freed human minds grow so a form of control was developed: the Prophecy.

With the aid of the Oracle's research results, the machines created a hoax to keep mankind in check. The Matrix was an unbalanced mathematical equation that always resulted in the same remainder. This remainder was an anomaly that despite his efforts the Architect could never eliminate from the equation. The machines decided to use this problem to their advantage and place this anomaly or piece of code within a human man born in the Matrix. With this piece of code that human mind would interface with the Matrix differently from others and would develop uncanny God-like abilities. With the help of the Oracle the machines would create the prophecy and the myth of the One: he who possessed this anomalous code. By giving mankind false hope the machines could keep them in check within the Matrix and the real world. The 00.1% of minds that did not accept the Matrix would not grow in number.

The person chosen to be the "One" would use his power to free human minds from the Matrix and build the free human city in the real world known as Zion. Remember Morpheus explained to Neo in the first film that "a man born inside the Matrix freed the first of them" and could "reshape the Matrix as he saw fit"? Through the guidance of the Oracle the One would eventually make contact with the source: the machine mainframe. The One would them be presented with the choice of returning the code within him to the source so that it can be temporarily disseminated into the Matrix, once again balancing the equation. At this point the machines would attempt to destroy Zion in the real world and allow the One to choose 23 individuals from the Matrix, 16 female, 7 male, to rebuild Zion, free more human minds and begin the cycle again. "After he died, the Oracle prophecized his return," Morpheus told Neo. But little did he know that this has occurred more than once.

As the Architect reveals to Neo this process has occurred five times before. A human mind is chosen as the one, given extraordinary power to use in the Matrix, the ability to free human minds, build a human refuge in the real world and the choice to return his powers/code to the Matrix so the cycle can start again. What they did not expect was Neo to be different.

Who or what is Neo?

What the machines didn't count on is that the intuitive program dubbed by humans as the Oracle would develop an affinity for the human race. Time and time again she has seen the cycle of human freedom and destruction repeated. The machines have played this game five times with an ignorant human race and won each time. But she knows that Neo is different from his predecessors.

Neo carries a code within him that gives him super abilities within the Matrix. All of his predecessors chose to return this code to the source in order to save the human race. Unlike Neo they were designed to develop an attachment to mankind that would not allow them to turn their back it. But, Neo is an outsider, a loner who has no attachments. Sure, he is close to Morpheus, the man who freed him and the citizens of Zion but he's never been comfortable with his role as a "messiah". There is only one person Neo has developed an attachment to and that's Trinity. She understood and fell in love with Neo before they even met. "I know why you live alone and why night after night you sit alone at your computer," she tells him when they first meet in the original film. She doesn't love this guy because he's "the One" she loves him because she understands him and lived in the Matrix like he did before she was freed.

When Neo encounters the Architect he is given two choices. Through the door on his right he can return the code he carries within him to the source/machine mainframe. The equation that makes up the Matrix will once again become balanced and the human minds plugged in will be saved. Zion will still be destroyed, but Neo will have the chance to free 23 minds from the Matrix to rebuild it and save the human race. Like Noah's ark these 16 females and 7 males will procreate to survive in the real world. If Neo chooses the door to his left, he will return to the Matrix to save Trinity, but without the code he carries the equation that makes up the Matrix will remain unbalanced causing the dreamworld to decay and eventually shut down. The system will crash killing billions of human minds plugged in and coupled with the destruction of Zion will destroy the entire human race. The machines feel that they will win either way. They'll survive, either continuing to use the human race as batteries or living off of low power reserves. They didn't expect Neo to choose to return to the Matrix unlike his predecessors, because they don't understand his attachment to Trinity. But the Oracle understands and hoped he would make that choice.

What happened to Neo in the real world?

When Neo returned to the real world after he saved Trinity he says to her, "Something's different, I can feel them." It appears that some of his abilities from the Matrix have followed him into the real world, but how? Well, just as people like Trinity and Morpheus have the ability to download combat training into their brains, Neo appears to have downloaded some more of the code into his own mind. Its likely that the code within the Matrix and the code that the machines use to communicate and control each other are similar and that Neo can now operate on their level. Unfortunately, it also appears that using these new "powers" weakens Neo and may potentially kill him, hence the coma he falls into. This is probably what the Oracle was counting on. Yes, she lied to Neo and Morpheus about the Prophecy, but did so to put them on the right path so that Neo would choose not to return his abilities to the source. "You've already made the choice," she tells him, "You have to understand why you made it." She knew his encounter and interface with the Architect would change him, for the better.

What can we expect from Revolutions?

Besides being another all out action fest I think that the answers to these questions will be fully explained in part three and the story will come to a conclusion. Neo will probably use his abilities to defeat the machines and save Zion, but not before what appears in the teaser to be an all out battle between men and machines. Neo has possessed these abilities all along and his encounter with the Architect has helped him modify it for use in the real world, but the code he carries is incomplete. Somewhere along the way, Neo imprinted part of the code onto another, but who? Is it Trinity? Will their tryst lead to baby Neo to be born in movie 3? That's funny, but maybe. If you recall there is a certain agent out there in the Matrix gunning for Neo. An agent who claims he is now "unplugged, a new man" like Neo. An agent named Smith who now has the uncanny ability to copy himself onto other programs and has even managed to download himself into Bane (Ian Bliss) in the real world.

When Neo jumped into Smith at the end of the first Matrix part of his code imprinted onto him and left him as a malfunctioning program. Smith already developed too many human characteristics and desired for Zion to be destroyed so that he could get out of "this zoo" and be deleted. Now that he is a "new man" he claims Neo has given him "purpose." Smith doesn't want to return to the source and be deleted like other malfunctioning programs but desires to control the Matrix. It's his new playground, the Devil's playground. He wants to take the rest of Neo's code so that the Matrix can become his world and he can keep it running. "I want what you want," he tells Neo, "everything." By Revolutions it looks like Neo will have to encounter thousands of Agent Smiths in order to take back what he took from him and save Zion. Smith may become everything and everyone. Neo was arrogant and believed he could easily defeat a couple of Smiths the first time he took them on, but now he'll be more prepared for what he's up against. "You are the only thing that stands in his way," the Oracle is heard saying in the teaser. Judging by the way he's laughing it looks as though Smith will develop even more human traits and personality making things more interesting.

I think we'll also get more from Niobe (Jada Pinkett-Smith) in the real world battle against the machines. I just hope she doesn't turn into Lando Calrissian in "Jedi" and just be the head of an assault on the machines. I'm hoping we'll see more of the Twins, Persephone and learn who the Merovingian really is, although Lambert Wilson is not listed on the internet movie database in the credits for "Revolutions." This could be an intentional fluke or maybe Persephone is the real villain and her kiss with Neo may have repercussions. If anybody remembers the Matrix superbowl trailer in January you'll recall Trinity's dialogue with a mysterious male voice:

Trinity: "You give me Neo, or we all die right here, right now."
Voice: "Are you ready to die for this man?
Trinity: "Believe it!"

From the teaser it looks as if Morpheus and Trinity with the help of the Oracle's bodyguard Seraph will have to bust into a freaky S& M club to save Neo's ass. I'm willing to bet that the Twins and Persephone subdue the now vulnerable Neo. If not the Merovingian then some new program who can "write" code like him. They don't need kung-fu to take Neo down. Fighting someone like him isn't new to them: "I have survived your predecessors." I even think we'll get to see some of the vampire/supernatural henchman the Oracle mentioned that also appear in the "Enter the Matrix" video game. Either way, time is running out for all of them because the machines are closer to Zion and the Matrix will begin to crash and shut down due to Neo's choice. Their salvation may lie in his sacrificing his life. Remember the Wachowski's have stated that these three films are about birth, life and death. Neo was "born" when he was unplugged and discovered his powers in part one, the citizens of Zion all celebrated "life" in the now infamous "rave" scene in part two and the final battle and sacrifice of Neo may lead to much "death" in part three.

Many have said they think the characters will discover that Neo is a machine or that the real world is part of the Matrix, but I don't think the Wachowski's will use that ploy and cop-out. If that were true and the real world was a simulation, why would the machines send 250,000 sentinels to wipe-out Zion when they could just shut the program down? Neo will probably have to sacrifice himself to keep the program of the Matrix running to save the human race. They can't unplug all of those billions of people yet or maybe ever. Even if the machines are defeated.

It sounds like a lot of hogwash, I know., it really is if you think about it These are movies, its all fiction and is meant for fun. Anyone getting their brain twisted over this stuff needs to chill and take a break. Just remember that these movies are meant to entertain. I'd rather come out of movies like these full of questions and a bit confused than just temporarily satisfied, quickly forgetting what I just saw. If you're full of questions after leaving a good movie like this then its doing its job. The Matrix films may be popcorn movies, but they rank up there with the best of them.

[©brad]

It sounds like a lot of hogwash, I know., it really is if you think about it These are movies, its all fiction and is meant for fun. Anyone getting their brain twisted over this stuff needs to chill and take a break. Just remember that these movies are meant to entertain. I'd rather come out of movies like these full of questions and a bit confused than just temporarily satisfied, quickly forgetting what I just saw. If you're full of questions after leaving a good movie like this then its doing its job. The Matrix films may be popcorn movies, but they rank up there with the best of them.

good read.

[Gold Trumpet]

Considering this entire thread is basically 80% good and 20% negative I don't see what the problem is if negative things come in, especially since it is more reasonable than some of the things said by people who liked the movie and hated the negative comments. Its why I don't question Sean Penn face to face on whether he is not peaceful enough because I think he will prolly punch me in the face for it. Hyprocrites are everywhere and here I thought I lost credibility with some of you guys by now anyway.........

~rougerum

[NEON MERCURY]

Anyone who says that this film is anything less than phenomenal from a technical standpoint loses all credibility in my book.

I totally agree. But the script is crap! Some of the lines are so stupid, I nearly laughed my head of!

right on man...but as long as you can "wow" 'em with the action the industry can forget some of these horrendous/cheesy/silly lines given to these characters.

[bonanzataz]

especially since it is more reasonable than some of the things said by people who liked the movie and hated the negative comments.

yeah. half my argument for people who don't like this movie is "shut up! you don't know what you're talking about, dick! the matrix is awesome!" what can i say, i enjoyed it thoroughly.

[The Idiot]

Please read my review at http://outofthevoid.blogspot.com/

Thank you.

[Xixax]

Good one.