Loads of action...Loads of Fun??????

Rating: Null/10 (17 May 2003)

Spoilers herein.

The quality element of the Matrix, was never the wealth of acting talent that it had. Fishburn was quite adept at playing Morpheus, but otherwise, the movie lacked good actors. Keanu Reeves' flaw may not have been as readily obvious in the first movie, because of his roll that consisted of looking confused for the entire movie (one of the few rolls that actually suits him perfectly). The blaring faults in the acting become more obvious though in this second installment. When faced with a character with more depth, Reeves does not wholly deliver. Moss does not pick up the slack here, and the first half of the movie, triangulating around these two primarily, suffers.
One of the stongest points of the original, was the fantastic manner in which the philosophical beliefs of Morpheus and company were incorporated into the plot, and intermingled with the action scenes. However, in Reloaded, there seems to be a clear line as to where plot stops and action begins. This might be more acceptable if the presented plot in the first half of the movie was more intriguing. But, after the first 45 minutes of this, the plot loses the novelty and leaves the viewer wondering where the action was. This is the Matrix after all isn't it?
When the action finally does come, it is overwhelmingly impressive. The hand to hand combat retains the intriguing elements of the first movie, but this is not all this movie has to offer. The two most impressive scenes in the movie are the battle with the hundreds of Agent Smith's, and the magnificent car chase-highway scene. Both are well done. Some say that there are obvious CG moments in these scenes, but the pure quality of the scenes allows the viewer to overlook these minor deficiencies. The highway scene was one of the most incredible car chase scenes of all time. Not only does it outclass most other chase scenes in quality, but it also outdoes most of them in quantity leaving the viewer in awe.
The biggest problem with this movie is not what it should be. The movie focuses on the inner conflict of the characters, especially Neo, in much the same manner that the Two Towers did. If acted properly, this would allow for a truly superb movie going experience. However, Reeves fails to deliver and the movie drags because of this. The movie is still enjoyable for most though.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5