Horrific Zion scenes, fantastic otherwise

Rating: 8/10 (16 June 2003)

A worthy successor to the (at first) underrated and then overrated first chapter.
(minor spoilers)
"The Matrix Reloaded" features some questionable editing. The Zion scenes - especially the infamous Zion rave - drag on for what seems like forever. I don't mind Neo and Trinity, but dozens of sweaty Zion extras bumping and grinding? Strange. The council scenes are incredibly dull - save for the scene of the machines powering Zion. "What's the difference between these machines and the ones coming to kill us?" the head honcho guy asks. "We can turn these off," Neo says. "Could we? Could we really?" the head honcho guy says.
The fight scenes, though slower than the best martial arts flicks, are lavish and incredibly well-shot. There are plenty of them, with my personal favorite being the Chateau fight where Neo and some errant programs do battle with an assortment of weapons. The music is great, with plenty of continuity between film 1 and 2. The lauded special effects sometimes look fake (the "burly brawl" is nearly spoiled because of this), but the overall ambition is amazing.
There is more action, a lot more philosophy and epistemological stuff, and even more black leather. The Matrix Reloaded is the second chapter in what is increasingly becoming this generation's "Star Wars".