Phillip K. Dick trains Shaolin Monks to fight Robots...

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2003)

SPOILLERS---PLEASE SEE IT BEFORE YOU READ IT
Just got out of The Matrix: Reloaded. I must say that this film was all I was hoping it would be, while at the same time being completely different than I expected. Some here have commented on a lack of plot, but I think that that it only suffered from the inherent issues of a "middle movie" Empire Strikes Back didn't have a "satisfying ending," nor did the last movie I saw (The Two Towers--No, I haven't seen another movie in all that time... I'm a geek, and a cheap one). Even Back to the Future II was a clifhanger (while not what you'd call "good").
Reloaded IS an orgy of Kung-Fu'ery and eye candy CGI effects. While not the groundbreaker in effects of it's predecesor ("bullet time" has become a cultural icon... how could it live up to that), it DOES deliver the amazing shots. My personal favorite was trinity's jump from the Ducati and her 80 story plummit at the beginning/end of the film. In fact, this movie was beautifully bookended with a rubber-clad vixen and 1 gigatons of BOOM!
In the philosophy department, this film was even more intense than it's daddy. While The Matrix was in some ways a story already told (The Messiah, the Buddhist concept of reality, the play on Alice in Wonderland), Reloaded gave the series a voice all it's own. The concept of Fate was a minor theme in the first film, but was pushed MAJORLY to the forefront here. We are assaulted with the question of what IS free will... REALLY? We also are toyed with on the nature of conciousness and soul, (Smith's "possiession" and "freedom"), and I found the philosophical implications of the encounter with the Architect something that will last. I'll definitly see this movie again before deciding what it's message really is, and I wait with bated breath for it's fullfillment in REVOLUTIONS.
For a "middle movie", I'd say: As good as "Empire," not as good as "The Two Towers," WAAAAAAAYYYYY better than "Attack of the Clones" (and "Back to the Future II", of course). :)