Plug in - Reload

Rating: 8/10 (25 May 2009)

A sequel was inevitable after the (partial) cliffhanger ending of the 1999 blockbuster "The Matrix".
The second-part in the the Wachowski brothers groundbreaking vision, "Reloaded" makes sure it has the signature fight-scenes from the first Matrix and then some.
The first part of the film starts out just a bit too fast, lacking a bit of info that could have come across more clearly. After a short amount of time it becomes apparent that many months have past since the first Matrix film, and Neo has fully developed into a savior figure for the 'resistance', the people of Zion.
As the story shifts to allow for the entrance of new characters to the story, a feeling of the magnitude of the entire human/machine battle comes to light. The people of Zion are just waiting out until their impending doom and all of their hopes lay squarely on the shoulders of Neo, the savior that they believe will end the war.
Therein lies the main strength of "Reloaded". The new characters to the story bring a certain human aspect, not as much present in the first installment. When the cool, stylized, slo-mo style is not present, there is a certain sense that these people are only human, preparing to fight a force far beyond them.
The film spends a large amount of time on the now apparent villain, the Morovingian. A french speaking computer-program who spends his time messing with people in his high-class restaurant with his rejected wife Persephone.
And there, lies the movies biggest problem. "Reloaded" is highly publicized as a two-part deal, to get the entire thing, the second part (or third, whatever you want to call it) "Revolutions" must be seen. Why is this a problem? Because the film itself is aware that no matter how many times the characters say "it ends tonight" the audience knows it isn't actually going to end until the next movie. There is a rather large lack of drama to the 'climax', mostly because of the focus on the Morovingian, and not on the machines. Now this would be fine if it weren't for the scripts unwavering insistence on pretending there's a climax when there doesn't need to be one.
Reloaded does regain it's bearings toward the end though, although somewhat depressing it ends with a key revelation to the story and ends with enough left open for the third-installment to be a must-see.