A no-brainer, but what a supercalifragilisticexpealidocious* no-brainer

Rating: Null/10 (24 May 2003)

* from Mary Poppins (1964)
SPOILERS
This is a look at Matrix Reloaded from 4 perspectives: story, action, special effects and casting.
Generally considered as sci-fi, M.R. does not really live up to that classification. To enjoy really good, lucid, logical sci-fi, read any story by Isaac Asimov instead. Better still, read the entire robots series (Caves of Steel, Naked Sun, Robots of Dawn, Robot and Empire) or the entire Foundation series (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation, Foundation's Edge, Foundation and Earth). Best, read both series and marvel at the converging plots that developed/evolved through a time span of well over 30 years. In fact, the Matrix trilogy borrows freely from Asimov's classics: Zion City is a variation of the Caves of Steel while the idea of a super computer running human beings was created decades ago, in Asimov's "Multivac".
As to the story, all the mythological, metaphysical and scientific mumbo-jumbo is nothing more than the double talk Dean Martin playing the pilot of a jumbo jet in Airport (1970) used on a smart-Alex kid who noticed that the plane he was flying had turned around. Don't waste your timing trying to figure out the alleged allegory. While the story of M.R. puts together all the favorite elements used in a popular movie, it is just there for the ultimate purpose of supporting the visual-sensual extravaganza.

On action, if the wire-fu stuff is considered the key of success to the movie, Hong Kong action design wizard Yuen Woo-Ping is the true "Architect" of M.R. Note that Yuen is credited not even as "martial art choreographer", but rather "action choreographer". In a radio interview in Cantonese, he said that he was given much greater scope and flexibility by the Wachowski brothers in the second Matrix project. Purely from the standpoint of martial arts, the difference between Keanu Reeves and, say, Jet Li, is like night and day. But this remark is entirely irrelevant, and certainly not intended to take anything away from Reeves as an actor. Wire-fu and high-tech have combined to create a brand of fighting that is captivatingly beautiful to watch. In this department, M.R. has given us the best.
As to special effects, eventhough the movie has been released for only just a couple of weeks, the 17-minute car chase has already become legendary. In this history making sequence, the audience is given just about everything, from explosions, collisions, cars in mid-air, to Japanese sword, guns and Jacky Chan style acrobatic stunts. What I like best though is the finale in this sequence, with two gigantic trucks crashing into each other head-on, showing the container collapsing in slow motion (suppose that can quality as bullet-time). Another thing I noticed is a certain degree of resemblance in the "movement" of the albino twins in M.R. and Nigthcrawler in X2. And here, I must give Nigthcrawler the edge.
Casting is another strength of the movie. We have the good old trio of Reeves, Fishburne and Moss. Brightening up the movie is the addition of two very beautiful women: Monica Bullecci and Mrs. Jada Pinkette Smith. We see old friend Hugo Weaving too. But here I must say that while I can't dream of a better Agent Smith, I fail to see why Weaving has been cast as Elrond in Lord of the Rings. I simply cannot imagine anyone that looks LESS like an Elf.
Anyway, I'm probably going to watch M.R. at least one more time before going to see the conclusion. I'm just getting a little worried though, about how Matrix Revolutions is going to visually keep up with, let alone surpass, Matrix Reloaded.