Severely under-rated - a very good follow-up

Rating: Null/10 (8 May 2004)

I recently watched this movie in sequence with the original, and it was only then when I realised the equality of the two movies. It must be said that while the first movie was a very entertaining science-fiction movie, it was in no way flawless. Pointless side-characters, over-written dialogue and slow pacing are abound, but these are brushed aside due to the strong plot that held the movie together. This time, however, people went into the movie without realising that these flaws would still be present in the sequel.
Instead of taking in what they saw, expectations from the audience were simply too high. With all of the hype over the original movie, which was continually added on over the four year gap, the sequels had a lot to live up to in order to "beat" the original. People wanted something better than the original. And simply put, this isn't that.
Instead, this is exactly more of the same, and it's because of that fact that this movie was given such bad responses.
The movie is in actually very well thought out. The original had a very open-ending, but was also quite finished with in that all of the original plotlines were "resolved". This sequel, on the other hand, had the task of continuing this storyline without repeating the original movie - a trap many sequels fall into without creative flair. However, this movie does carry on the storyline in the most logical way - the stakes are raised immensely as things merely hinted at in the original are expanded and explained in logical detail. But here lies the problem of the Matrix sequels.
The Wachowski brothers made a critical mistake in creating two movies in such a short time span. Instead of focussing on one, many storylines have been strewn throughout both movies in order to keep enough material rolling. Only one sequel should have been crafted at a time. I can't really comment on Revolutions after only one showing, but if my memory serves me well it was very weak compared to it's older brothers - it definitely does deserve the criticism it recieved, as it felt tired and uninspired. But if people had not known about a third installment, the chances are that they would have been far less critical of Reloaded. As it is, no one was sure what to make of the middle part of this trilogy.
And it definitely is the middle part. It carries on the storyline from the original, but leaves itself open for the third movie. Exactly as the second Lord of the Rings movie did. But because Reloaded can't stand all that well as a stand-alone movie, that may be why so many people felt cheated. In reality, it's simply doing exactly what it says on the tin - being the second part of the trilogy.
After watching in sequence with the original, it's clear neither is perfect. Both are let down by poor dialogue, awkward pacing, unnecessary philosophies (which are interesting, but could be far less overbearing), and have too many unneeded characters. There's nothing wrong here that wasn't wrong in the original - except perhaps a totally unnecessary and very terrible Xion Rave sequence, which plays out like an MTV video and features soft pornography (designed seemingly only to appeal to a modern youth demographic). Perhaps this one scene was responsible for killing enjoyment while watching in the cinema).
As it is, this movie is a good follow-up. The story is carried on logically, the action is just as gripping (though fight choreography could be better at times), and the pace is consistent. Despite massive complaints about the over-the-top special effects, there is nothing wrong here - the fight scenes play out at exactly the right length. On repeated viewings, most action sequences lost their touch, but because the fights are so long here, they remain just as compelling every time through, and new details can be picked up on every time. The only exception to this rule is a Neo vs Smith fight which starts off wonderfully, but eventually ends up trying to be too "cool" in favour of being logical, as Neo rips a telephone pole from the ground in order to fight his nemesis. Now that was unnecessary.
The effects themselves are all fantastic - the CGI flows seamlessly with the on-screen action and the lighting is simply perfect - a direct follow on to the style of the original.
Taken as light entertainment, with deep undertones for those who want it, this movie is very much a triumph. Yes, it could have been better in many places, but so could the original. This movie is simply more of the same. It doesn't try to improve on the original's flaws, but really it doesn't need to. It's just the way a sequel should be.