Matrix 2.0: Upgraded

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2003)

Had to see it on Day 1, show 1 and its cool. The coolest action movie just got better and its worth every bit of the hype. Its got loads of panache. Its got a couple of sequences that is going to take light years for anyone to come close to faking.
The movie tends to drag a bit at the start but once it gets to business we know it best for it kicks butts. No one needs to validate the Wachowski brothers' intelligence but they put it to ample use here, be it inserting totally unnecessary scenes e.g. When Neo pays a visit to Oracle he is has to prove that he is the "one" by proving his Kung-Fu skills and cleverly cover this up too (Neo:"You could have just asked") then there is a demo fly to the sky, superman style, which seemed a little out of place; making even the most mediocre situation look spetacular. While the movie has technical aspects and the movie looks miles ahead, the sequences get your heart pounding are: 1. Neo fighting around 100 clones of Agent Smith. Its not like we haven't seen Heroes fend of so many, but the sheer presentation and the Wachowskis signature makes it seem like we've never ever seen anything like this before (nor are we going to see something like this in the near future). The best part is when he swings the Iron staff to fight the multiplying Agents and starts cracking skulls, literally. I think I can still hear the sound reverberating in my mind. 2. The chase on the Freeway as someone pointed out sometime ago, will make Fast and Furious look like a cartoon show. Trinity and Morpheus fight it out with the Twin Ghosts ("programs gone bad") and the Agents in Car, on Truck tops and then on Bike as they try to snatch the "keymaker". Just breathtaking stuff.
The Story in a line: Zion, the last city resisting The Matrix is under attack from machines and has 72 hours to fight back, Morpheus and his team must follow the prophecy, get to the core of the Matrix to "put an end to the war". The movie was surprisingly easy to follow until Neo encounters the Matrix 'Architect'. From then on it was like someone was trying to explain writing a compiler in 'C'. Got to catch it again. Anyway nothing much in terms of the story content.
The ultimate visual treat, but it may not make every Matrix fan happy. As for anyone watching it for the first time, it may not be THAT impressive a movie, taken in total.