Style over substance

Rating: 6/10 (18 May 2003)

*** SPOILERS! ***
Matrix Reloaded, I believed, presented the Wachowski brothers with an opportunity to take the refreshing and original world created in the first movie to another level. Instalment number one had the hard work out of the way introducing the good guys, the bad guys, their history and consequently why they weren't too fond of one another - everything was set for a worthy successor. Unfortunately it seems Andy and Larry were more keen on discovering just how many fight scenes they could cram into a two hour movie, any semblance of plot left to gather dust on the side.
That isn't to say they gave up on the story altogether; the audience is treated to a lengthy stay within the remaining human colony of Zion and experience the burgeoning relationship between Trinity and Neo. Nevertheless it's the clearly pivotal scenes which suffer the most; Neo's encounter with the Architect (creator of the Matrix) is lost in five minutes of nonsensical dialogue whilst any emotional impact from the death of a lead character is muted by their immediate reincarnation.
Producer Joel Silver has commented on the brother's frustration at seeing their once innovative special effect sequences overused in otherwise mediocre films, remarking that this time the set pieces would be so expensive, so extravagant and so precisely edited to be rendered irreproducible. It would appear the final result is as intented although I couldn't help feel there's only so many times you can watch Keanu Reeves et al. dive around in slow motion before recognising another bathroom break.
Overall: 6 / 10