This is hard to review...

Rating: 3/10 (22 July 2003)

Alright. so. The Matrix Reloaded. hmmmm. where to begin?

My feelings are extremely mixed, but trying to in any way review this movie borders on the impossible due to its serial nature - about half a dozen plot lines are set up without any further payoff. Though I am dumbfounded by its lengthy scenes of Bert I. Godonesque exposition (back when film makers didn't worry about having to hold an audience) and goofy Anime-like plot, if I was to criticize them now I might have to seriously eat my words in November. Even so, it perhaps suffices to say that this is one of these annoying examples of a sequel that completely changes the rules and meaning of its predecessor (much like 2010: The Year We Made Contact retroactively altered 2001: A Space Odyssey). The Wachowski brothers seem alternately like geniuses and madmen - at times it almost appears like they are trying to pad out their film with endless scenes only vaguely connected with the main plot (such as the one involving Monica Belluci as Persephore) or with completely unnecessary rave scenes that, much like the intermediate sections of Pod People, just never end (to quote Crow T. Robot: `We paid for the song, so we're going to use all of it!'). Agent Smith apparently doesn't serve any real purpose, except to show up at inconvenient times and be beaten up by Neo. Then again, perhaps we will later learn how he is connected with the two manipulative main forces pulling the strings in the Matrix, which I shall not give away here (the revelation of one came as a considerable shock to me). On the other hand, there are isolated scenes of pure brilliance (such as the final piece of plot exposition) in this plucky piece that are worthy of Clark and Heinlein. The action scenes border between the gratuitous and unconvincing, such as Neo's first encounter with the Smiths (the CGI Neo seen frequently here is uncomfortably reminiscent of Blade II) and the mind-blowing 20+ minute highway chase. Still, the overload of action scenes is somewhat repetitious and made me feel like someone jammed my head into the cushions of a Sharper Image Massage chair and hit the Shiatsu setting.
So was I entertained? Yes. Was I bored? Frequently. Was I amazed? Constantly. Did I like the film? I have not the slightest idea. I'll tell you in November.