Pretentious Genius, good and bad in one.

Rating: 6/10 (29 October 2003)

Okay don't get me wrong I like the Matrix films. But let's get a few things straight. They didn't invent bullet time, trenchcoats, sunglasses or black shiny outfits. Nor is the concept of Robots rebelling against mankind after being mistreated a new one. Infact it's got to be one of the oldest in sci-fi history.
Okay, as I said I liked the films and when you look at what they achieved with what is basically a sack full of action/sci-fi cliques it's pretty damn impressive. This is largely down to the directors vision in putting this together. It's the glue that is important not the individual parts. None of this is really new, but it's what is being done with it that is impressive.
The problem I have is people seem to be forgetting this already. Not least of which being hollywood that seems determined to put these elements into every action film they make without regard to wether they work or not. The excessive bullet time works in the matrix where as it definetly doesn't in films set outside of a manipulated reality (like when they used it in a certain bond film). While the Matrix made good on old cliques it's created a whole load of new ones that seem set to be even more overused then the old ones ever were. This is something many people seem to celebrate about the Matrix series but I think people that do that have missed the point.
All this stuff with the game and the animatrix is just cross marketing. Nothing more, nothing less and damn it I'm fed up with seeing everyone wearing trenchcoats. I've been wearing them for as long as I can remember and they've come in and out of fashion but since these films there are more people then ever wearing them. Apparently you have to christen a new DVD player with a matrix film, it's "traditional" apparently. This seems a bit of a joke to me. Don't forget even good things can be over-rated (I've said for years that as good as the Beatles were they are still one of the most over-rated bands of all time). It's all getting a bit too prententious for my liking and I think people are letting it cloud their judgement.

This film wasn't as good as the first film. It was somewhat predictable both in style and plot. But as I said it wasn't the most origional of ideas ever stated. The whole plot could have been something off the twilight zone or the outer limits. The imagery is standard cool-gothic and again nothing overly origional. However it is put together tremendously well and there are a few scenes that really impress.
It's not the best series of films of all time, and as individual films I doubt this particular one would likely make it into the top 50 (at least not my top 50). Definetly impressive for the special effects, stunts and the way it is all put together. They really do know how to use CGI, many otherwise excellent directors are clueless when it comes to computer animation so they have shown what can be done. I also don't think it's really that ground breaking either when you think about it. Most of the effects used have been around for years, but it shows what can be done with it all. But it's mostly down to focused minds and a lot of hard work rather then doing anything really new. The scripts not the best ever written, the actors are pretty average (especially Keanu Reaves) and the basic plot elements really are not at all origional.
But it's all about vision and this film (and the others in the series) have an abundance of it. It is one of the most visually pleasing films to watch and it's important to remember that while the visual elements such as the long coats aren't origional they weren't in high fashion before the first matrix came out and so were picked because they would work in the film and not because they were trendy.
It's just sad it has led to hollywood being overun by the idea that having cliques in the films are more important then the suitibility of them being used. Two of the worst films to be victims of that phenomenom I've seen so far have been that last bond film (with the poor madonna soundtrack) and the film of "House of the Dead". Do give those a miss.
Don't give this film a miss though. It's worth watching the whole trillogy if you can. Although I suspect there aren't many people that haven't.