I hope this sequel is an illusion

Rating: 4/10 (24 May 2003)

Expanding on bulls*it mythology can be a dangerous enterprise. The original Matrix merely hinted at the underlying metaphysical questions posed by its premise. In doing so it invited the comic book literate but you also suspect girlfriendless fan base to posit questions about the film's existential ideas. However this bloated and overwritten middle instalment attempts to shade in these areas with disastrous effect. Like Yoda on speed, the characters in this film spout third rate philosophy like there entire conception of English had been based on the Empire Strikes Back and those little bits of paper you get in fortune cookies. Where the original film kept it tight and merely alluded to the back-story, the back-story we discover in Reloaded (much like the Star Wars prequel trilogy) is a lot more interesting in our imagination than it is when its all explained. It would help if any of it made much sense but most of the dialogue is seemingly written with a view to inviting dense speculation and analysis from the internet community and thus imbuing the material with a depth it doesn't possess. This is a film that requires an editor. Its much too long, with some scenes dragging on while you check your watch. With pretencions of profundity the characters speculate about Neo's origins, the nature of existence, their function in the universe and so on. However, the Warchowski's aren't Nietzsche or Kant and frankly, should leave this kind of crap to genuine thinkers. People are going to this movie to see action and martial arts and thats what they should have concentrated on. Reloaded delivers here of course, but although its all more elaborate than before, its also less impressive simply because most of it seems dropped into the narrative for no reason. New characters are introduced but have little to do except turn up and do the obligatory fighting. This is a disappointing sequel, too long to be satisfying, not self-contained enough to stand on its own without Revolutions and too concerned with adding layers of shallow intellectualism to its status as pop-cultural myth to be engaging to its audience. As with Star Wars, its far more fun when the audience fill in the details- when the filmmakers do it they lose the simplicity that made the original enjoyable in the first place. For these reasons alone the Matrix Reloaded is like waking in the real world having experienced the joy of a computer generated illusion. You'll want to take a pill, forget about all this and return to the original as soon as possible.