Great action, rubbish plot

Rating: 6/10 (11 August 2009)

In 1999 an action film known as the Matrix became a surprise hit, written and directed by two unknowns, the Wachowski Brothers, and except for Keanu Reeves, had no major stars. The Matrix became a hit because it was a great action film, but also because it had a great plot and deep message about philosophy and reality (I personally recommend reading 1984 by George Orwell to get an idea about it). The film brought extra fame to Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishborne and Hugo Weaving, all staring in excellent films and the Wachowskis could could any project they wanted. The Wachowskis claimed that the Matrix was always meant to be a trilogy, and after the success of first film, shot The Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions back-to-back, the first time I think it ever been done.
Set six months after the first film, the machines were preparing for the invasion of the last human city, Zion, by drilling through the Earth. The commanders of the city are obviously worried about the upcoming battle and plan to have every ship available to fight. But some elements of the human population, mainly people who have been from the Matrix think that humanity's only hope comes from destroy the Matrix, freeing the trapped human and prevent the machines from having a power source. This now seems possible with Neo (Keanu Reeves) being the one. To do this Neo, Morpheus (Laurence Fishbourne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) need to free the Keymarker (Randall Duk Kim) from the exiles, powerful rogue programs that have gone into hiding from the Agents. The Keymarker is the only ally available to the humans who can give them access to the source of the Matrix and thereby the heart of the machines' program. The humans also have to battle a reborn Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), who is even more powerful then before, with the ability to make copies of himself. The humans has to battle with the agents themselves. But Neo is also suffering, having nightmares of Trinity being killed. He doesn't want her involved in the battle in case she is killed.
The best thing about the Matrix Reloaded is the action scenes, some of the best ever filmed, with excellent martial arts sequence. Particular fights of note are the fight between Neo and Seraph (Collin Chou), the fight between Neo and the Smiths, Neo and the exiles and the Freeway sequence. But that is the only really go thing about the Matrix Reloaded. The plot is confusing and all over the place; even with the philosophical message in the Matrix, it was still pretty easy to follow. They are too many sub-plots and many are left unsolved. There is no focus and a Matrix sequel should have been so much more. The philosophical message of the film is more forced in this film, and it's not easy to believe the message compared to the first film. The message is mostly about fate and choice and the fact machines and humans need each other. I can imagine pretentious people saying I understand this and that means I'm cleaver. You're not, you just think you are clever. The dialogue is at times weak, I excepted better from the film. Also Keanu Reeves shows his talent of being like a tree. At least Fishboure and Weaving are still good.
The Matrix Reloaded is not a good film, but the action scene are worthy, just ignore the lack of plot. Avoid The Matrix Revolutions, it is a massive let down.