Sequels may end up being a bad idea...

Rating: 6/10 (15 May 2003)

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS*** I adore the first Matrix film. But after seeing Reloaded this evening, I am beginning to think that forming the story into a trilogy may end up being a bad idea. What's more, I'm not entirely convinced that a trilogy was always the plan (I don't know the facts about production plans, perhaps someone can clear that up for me)... I won't bother with the plot specifics, since I suspect everyone reading this has already seen the film, and watched the plot unfold (and those who haven't seen the film yet should go see it for themselves before reading posts like this one). My fear going into the theater was that, with the whole "What is the Matrix?" thing out of the way, any future films would be lacking in substance. And I think that is exactly what happened.
Honestly, nothing about this film felt "right". It looked as if the cast of the first film were plucked out of their world, and thrown into this weird one, with new rules, a new feel, etc etc.... Some of what I was watching struck me as a big waste of time/film- the Zion rave/Neo-Trinity love scene was painfully long, and largely unnecessary. The Zion council was boring, and generic (I thought I was watching the Phantom Menace for a bit). The machines are doing all kinds of crazy stuff (including Agent Smith), and so is Neo, in the real world (Neo is apparently god-like OUTSIDE of the Matrix now too, giving the trilogy a decidedly Biblical feel to it). The last nail in the coffin is the frequent exposition, that is often long, clumsy, and completely over-the-top. With this second episode, it seems like they're trying to do too much with the Matrix "universe". And the more I think about the first film, the more I start to believe that any expansion past the first film is doomed to fail miserably. Maybe I'll sleep on it, and change my mind completely. Maybe not. Reloaded was an entertaining, but ultimately disappointing film. But maybe that's the best thing that could've happened, at least in my eyes.
...as a sidenote, the film's visuals seemed to have slipped a bit too. None of the fight scenes really stick out, and the CG is excessive.