Not as good as the first, but it will still rock your socks off.

Rating: 6/10 (15 May 2003)

Matrix reloaded isn't great cinema. It doesn't even really have a beginning or an end. It's just the middle part the story. It's that grey area where we're waiting for the big finale, but we already know there isn't anything left to develop anymore because it was already explained in the first film. So Reloaded builds onto the matrix mythos. It explains some of the intricacies of the matrix that we didn't get to see in the first film. It explains things like why there are ghosts in the matrix and it builds a lot on the different programs that perform all the many tasks in making the matrix look and feel real. It isn't as heart poundingly exciting as the first one, but when it's over you'll just say "Wow" and be speechless.
The action sequences are stunning. They'll blow you away. The car chase and the burly brawl, in which Neo fights 100 Agent Smiths, are just way way cool. The computer effects have taken a step up since the first movie. Before I saw that, I didn't think it was possible.
Overall I didn't think this was the greatest movie ever made. I didn't think it was as good as the first Matrix. It isn't even a full movie, only a part of one. Alone, that would be horrible. But it isn't alone. Many movies have a whole lot of potential that they just don't live up to. That's what makes a movie a bad movie. This however is one of the rare cases where the movie met or maybe even passed it's potential. But because of the nature of being "the middle part" it's potential just wasn't that high to start with. So in short, it's not the best movie I've seen, but it couldn't have been better. I give it a 10.