Rypro 525

I sure hope this is good. For the few that have seen it give your thoughts (please use spoiler tags for key scenes)

Peter Canavese

Here it is:

http://www.grouchoreviews.com/review.php?id=1029

In brief, I agree with the New Yorker, Glenn Kenny of Premiere, Ron, etc. that TMR dazzles but is simply clunkier and more overreaching/pretentious than the first film in its iterations. Though repeated viewings may alter perception, The Matrix made perfect sense to me the first time I saw it as an entertainment and a philosophical playground. Characterization, plot, and dialogue thud this time around, and yet, I recommend the movie as a middle part to an exhilharating whole (fingers crossed). 2 1/2 stars out of 4 as a film, 3 stars out of 4 as a movie.

As for spoilers, I don't believe I give anything away which isn't explicitly revealed in the previews or publicity hype--I concentrate much more on criticism than plot summary (which is bare minimum) or details--but if you're concerned, wait until you've seen the movie first...

GeoffK

The DVD Talk Review is now live at: http://www.dvdtalk.com/aisleview/

It is100% SPOILER FREE

Krug

I just saw it and quite enjoyed it. I wish they'd have less of the philosophy and logic stuff; yes I know it's essential and in the spirit of the first movie, but it takes up too much space.

That said, the action scenes are remarkable. They promised and they delivered on that part.

8/10 from me.

BigPete

I'm very scared. Although enjoyable, I felt the CG of the first movie was incredibly cartoony and disconnected me from the film. I was able to deal with it and on the whole enjoy the movie.

After reading a dozen or so reviews at Rotten Tomatoes, the common thread seems to be that while The Matrix had near flawless CG, Reloaded is like "Tiny Toons".

So what will that mean to me?

TCG

I saw it last night:
after the first viewing (i'm going again thursday), it gets a B+, while the original gets an A-.

There are so many unresolved questions and mysteries, and I think Revolutions will probably bump Reloaded to an A-.

The CGI may have been overdone twice or thrice, but so was the case in the original.

As for Zion, I dont see what people are complaining about. It looks great.

The highway chase is as good as advertised.

i cant remember when a movie made my heart beat this quickly. all the action is incredible.

i feel it also delivered on the 'philosophical' side.

Roy Jones can actually act!

PS: what the hell was that

Jeremy517

The action was incredible. The story was almost non-existant. There was a lot more fo a story in the first one.

Mittman

I really don't feel that this movie had too little story, I felt that the story it was telling was told in a very bad way. The first film spelled everything out for the audience. Morpheus explained the whole concept of the Matrix perfectly to Neo in the first film. Most people walked out of that film understanding what the hell was going on. This film just leaves people wondering what they just saw. I really think Warner Bros. has shot themselves in the foot with this film. I enjoyed most of it and understood most of it, but most of the people I saw it with had no clue. You can't expect people to fork over their money for Revolutions if they hated Reloaded because it was too complex and they couldn't grasp it. I believe that it could have ended on a cliffhanger, but how it did end was just too abrupt. It would be like the first film ending when Neo takes the red pill and Joel Silver expecting you to pay another 7.50 just to find out what the Matrix is.

Patman

Spoilers below!!!



I think I've got my Superman flight fix from this film. There is probably very little reason to make a Superman film (if you want to see someone do some serious flying) in light of how Neo was zipping around in the Matrix. Man, that was just really nifty special effects (both in visuals and sound). Loved it when Neo was just about to take off, and you see the ground sort of trampoline Neo into the sky.

I think you could probably trim about 10 minutes out of the 1st act in Zion, and not lose much.

The car chase scene was just absolutely a joy to watch from beginning to end. Link's reaction at the end of it was classic. Those 14 minutes were almost worth the price of admission alone. Jackie Chan should be proud of Morpheus' moves on top of the 18-wheeler. The Bullet-time shot of the explosion from the 18-wheelers playing "Chicken" was top-notch, and a fine way to up the ante on shots like that.

The Neo-Smiths fight in the school playground was probably over the top and a little long, but it was fun.

So, how many times do you think Keanu purposefully messed up his kissing scene with Monica Belluci?

It's interesting to see that Neo now has real tangible powers outside the Matrix. Though he may have been the 6th or 7th in a line of "The One"s, Mr. Anderson is proving to be a bit more of an anomaly than the Matrix expected.

Cannot wait to hear how the DVD for this film is going to sound in the HT because there is some serious bass to be had in this film.

Numanoid

Anyone else catch the Adam-12 reference during the car chase? I think I was the only one in the theater who got it.

Patman

I caught that reference as well.

Dr. DVD

Saw it. Thought it kicked ass!


A lot of people will bash this movie for not being intellectual enough. IMO, the first movie was for the intellectual exposition, this one was to expand on what we already knew. This movie confirmed my feelings that the first Matrix was just the tip of the iceberg. This one took a big risk of showing so many new characters and plot developments, and I think it worked.


Overall, a big This movie succeeded where the PT has failed and actually gave story for the glitzy FX. I can also say that it is nice to finally see a large scale epic sci-fi movie with an R rating that doesn't water crap down for teeny boppers.

The best part: the chase scene. Bar none the best chase I have ever seen in a movie. I also loved the twins! I can definitely see them getting Boba Fett type status among Matrix fans.

In short, keep your expectations modest, and you will be pleased. Go in looking for the next coming, and you will be disappointed. The first one gave you something to think about, now you just enjoy the ride.

Krug

I think the action and the philosophy integrated far better in the first movie. Here it's kinda jarring.

Also noticed that the violence had been 'cleaned up'. While in the first movie Neo and the rest just went into an office block and wiped everyone out, here they just appear to knock 'em out cold.

UKingdom

Also came back from a 10PM showing. Enjoyed it very much. However, it's far from perfect and in many ways also deserving of some of the criticism it's been receiving.

The movie is VERY entertaining AT TIMES, with an incredible chase sequence, and some very good action. However, I thought they dragged on a lot of fight scenes and the magic wasn't there anymore, something was missing and a lot of the film felt mechanical and routine. The rave scene was annoyingly long, and a lot of fight scenes just got old. A good way to put it is that you felt like you could have looked away for two minutes and you really wouldn't have missed anything; the sense of urgency and excitement was gone, instead, something routine and rehearsed. Punch punch, block block, kick, dodge this, etc. Of course, all fight scenes are like this, but something was missing, I can't quite put my finger on it.

There is a lot of jargon and philosophy talk throughout the film which people kind of zoned out on (especially near the end in a pivotal scene), but it's definitely WORTH watching. Maybe not worth the hype, but definitely worth watching. (I doubt twice though at least for me)

DRG

I enjoyed it, but with reservations. Actually, I hate to admit this, but my thoughts were very much in line with Harry Knowle's review on Aint It Cool... and that scares me. I was honestly bored (and worried about this) up until they showed up in Zion. At this point I was torn between enjoying seeing how Zion works for the first time and somehow wishing it was more breathtaking... instead of looking like an amalgram of other movie ideas. There's a scene when they first enter Zion... and they show this all white control room... I can't describe it, but it looked absolutely cool. I was hoping Zion would continue this style path, but instead we got the mechanical cave look. Not bad, but nothing special either.
The big brawl was awesome (kinda pointless, but so what). The stuff at the French guy's place was cool... up until when they split up. The dreadlocked ghosts.. excellent. But Neo's weapon fight did nothing for me. We just saw him dispatch dozens of Agent Smiths with a huge metal pole... and now we're supposed to get excited when he picks up a pair of sais and fights and few kung-fu rejects? Here's the main spot I agree with Harry on... that they brought up the idea that there could be all sorts of rogue programs in the matrix like vampires, etc., but we never get to see much of anything truly wild. Maybe they're saving it for Revolutions, but the possibilities are almost endless here. The freeway scene blew me away. I did have issues with the pacing of the story. It didn't have the even arc of discovery that the first film had. It was: 1. Introduce Zion, 2. Oracle sprinkles a few plot points, 3. Action (vs agents, not pertinent to the story), 4. Action (saving the keymaster... who is really just a plot device to build a bunch of action in between the Oracle's info and the Architect's... plusa bit of info about the French guy & Persephone, but that won't pay off yet), 5. Action (protecting the keymaster), 6. Action (getting to the Architect). Not that I would want the action cut, but I wish they would've spread the plot revelations across the movie a bit better, than just dumping all the impoartant info near the end.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed it. I was just underwhelmed, but I suppose that may be unavoidable given the hype.

devilshalo

I lowered my expectations of the film and I was still underwhelmed. It didn't have me saying WOW like the first one did.

And while the fight sequences were nice to look at, I pretty much got bored as they wore on. Had they not intercut so much slow motion, I would have enjoyed the sequences better.

Was there a story that we haven't heard in the first film?

I must say tho, that the Wachowski's have captured the flight of Superman. That was amazing. Let them direct that franchise. Now!

Rypro 525

Were there any gun fights?

Patman

This is the first film in quite a long time where I woke up the next morning, and wanted to see the film again. And lucky for me, I will be seeing it this afternoon (as a "work-related" activity, no less).

SPOILERS BELOW!!!




Here's my new take on the Rave scene: To quote The Beastie Boys - "You have to fight...for your right...to PAAAAARRRTTAAYYYYY!" I think that's an easier way to think about that scene.

The choice that Neo was given by the Architect boils downs to:

1. The Matrixed Rebooted totally (in order to the programming to be Reloaded with enhancements/tweaks given the new permutation/development of code that has been created from the spark of artificial life inside the Matrix world, i.e. an offshoot of chaos theory applied to the Matrix)

or

2. The Matrix Patched (temporarily, i.e. with only 24 hours to get it done) with a chance of the humans gaining a more symbiotic relationship with the machines that gives both sides control of their destiny.

Neo chose door number 2 in light of the somewhat irrational notion of being guided by love and the quest for physical/mental/spiritual completeness that comes from the amalgamation of 2 strong elements and turns them into something stronger together (the "whole" being stronger than the sum of the "parts").

The choices themselves aren't necessarily important, but it's the journey of "how" and "why" the choices were made that changes the course of events at a crucial time where humans have a shot of gaining equal footing with the machines.

Are our choices just a matter of our programming (pre-destiny), or is there a spark of true intelligence that weighs all of the pro's and con's to arrive at the choice? Do we truly control our own destiny, or is destiny in control of us?

The hint at the end where Neo exhibits Matrix-like abilities outside the Matrix does make for the Matrix-within-the-Matrix scenario very possible. It gives off that nifty "dreams meets artificial intelligence" vibe, or goes into that world of "do robots/machines dream".

Michael Corvin

Overall, it was good, not great. And there is no way it could live up to the hype. There just wasn't much story advancement. It was mostly action and the scene with the 100 Agent Smiths went on for way to long. The people behind me said out loud "when is he just gonna fly away?"

The freeway scene was my favorite bit of the whole movie albeit one small thing. Matrix or not if you are on top of a vehicle moving 65 mph and you jump up into the air - that vehicle is gone and your ass is hitting the concrete.

What do you guys think about that. That was the first thing I asked my buddy after the show. He thought it was Neo has power outside the Matrix as well.

Kellehair

In response to Michael Corvin's post...

Morf

Actually, you are wrong, and the movie was correct. When you are riding on top of a car going 65 MPH, you are going 65 MPH as well. Everything is relative, so if you jump, you are still moving 65 MPH forward, as well as moving upward.

Ooh...now you have me thinking!

DVD007

As far as the whole Matrix within a Matrix Idea goes it has a chance...They do show in the very beginning Agent Smith using the phone, perhaps going into the next level...They also talk about Zion being destroyed 5 times before, of course the scene where Neo stops the Sentinels...Perhaps, As Morpheus asked in the first Matrix " Would you like to see how far the rabbit hole goes?' They are STILL FALLING!!

Bruce

Michael Corvin

Nice. How far does the rabbit hole go? Very nice.

But to add to what I already said:

slop101

Don't believe the naysayers - I thought it was pretty good - a worthy sequel. New ideas were introduced and the story moved along pretty well. There was no big "reveal" on the level of the matrix-world as in the last film, but there were some good twists and turns. The action/effects were definitely kicked up a notch - they just didn't redefine things like the last film did (I didn't expect them to, either). The script was fine and the Christian philosophies were there throughout the film again, only it was a little bit more veiled - non-Christians wouldn't see them as well. A lot of ideas on choices and pre-destination were explored that I found kind of interesting. I only have one real nit-pick: There was one sequence, early in the film that was kind of lame and just went on far too long and could have easily been cut in half - but that's about it.

csant

These ideas are GREAT keep them coming...

Im still in AWE, cant think straight... going back to see it again.

I love the sequence when neo choice was to save trinity... it was intense. You see... you fault the urgency he most have felt.

Gotta love how fast he was moving too...

Someone added let the Brothers direct Superman, I second that.