A slick, intriguing and slightly trashy sci-fi spectacle that is really incomparable to the first. While not as fresh or innovative, on its own merits, "Reloaded" is the best of its kind since &quo

Rating: Null/10 (10 July 2004)

This is my second review of the picture. On my first one I was very critical, but here I'll give it praise.
First of all, is this follow-up as good as the original? In a way, yes. I'll say this, it's a very different movie. "The Matrix" was a self-contained story about the discovery of a superhero. "The Matrix Reloaded" is the first half of a two-part story, the salvation of humanity. It's a setup for the trilogy's conclusion, "The Matrix Revolutions", and isn't a watershed movie like the first one was.
Like "The Phantom Meance", "Reloaded" is a very talky film and takes awhile before it seems to move. But when it does, it gets really good. Most of the original cast is back, but their roles have changed a bit. Neo, so confident at the of the first film, is lost at the beginning of this one. He's not sure of himself, although his powers have begun to grow immensely.
Morpheus is no longer a mentor, he's more of a prophet this time around. Trinity's role has been reduced from kick-ass warrior woman to the more traditional love interest. Agent Smith is no longer an agent of the system, but he still holds a grudge against Neo and can clone himself at will. Interesting new characters are introduced, but aren't given much screen time.
"Bullet-Time" and the kung-fu, although not as cool as they once were, are an improvement over the original's. Action is not in short supply in this movie, there are a number of scenes that dazzle. The extended highway chase scene is the highlight of the film, but there's also two great martial-art scenes displaying Neo kick major behind. The dialogue may be head scratching, but for the truly devoted, at least it'll prove to be thought-provoking.
The climax is actually anti-climactic, a cliffhanger done in the style of a two-part TV episode. It's sudden, but if you've allowed yourself to be taken by the movie, you'll be dying to see the next part. There's some tacky sex stuff, but it shouldn't distract your attention that badly. Overall, this a state-of-the-art, Anime-inspired, sci-fi mix of pseudo-philosophy, kung-fu, video games and comic books.
Initially, I was very disappointed by this movie. I wanted it to be another groundbreaking film with fluid storytelling. "Reloaded" doesn't have a mind-blowing revelation like the original. It does, however, have a nice twist toward the end. Overall, it's mainly good stuff that towers over crap like "Charlie Angels: Full Throttle" and "Bulletproof Monk".
It's not a great picture, but it is pretty good. I'd give it an enthusiastic thumbs up. *** 1/2 out of ****.