Not as accomplished as the first, but still a fair sequel

Rating: Null/10 (5 July 2003)

The biggest flaw of "The Matrix Reloaded" can be summed up with three letters: CGI. It's that simple. Unlike the first, "Reloaded" uses way too much CGI, taking away the 'real' effect of all the fight scenes from the first. There are still some fights in "Reloaded" that are CGI-less, and they turned out to be the best ones. Neo (Keannu Reeves) fights the Oracle's (Gloria Foster) bodyguard Seraph (Colin Chou) one-on-one, and that happened to be the best fight scene in the entire film.
The fight that everyone was waiting for, the "Burly Brawl" (in which Neo takes on dozens of Agent Smiths (Hugo Weaving and a whole lot of stunt doubles) looks to fake. Neo looks like plastic, and the Smiths look no better. Also, it goes into too many slow motion shots, causing it to become a little to long-winded.
Also, the acting that was almost perfect from the first is taken down a notch in the second. Even Laurence Fishburne's Morpheus is goofy sometimes. The best performance, again, comes from Weaving as Smith, who in "Reloaded" is more sinister and comical than the first. Weaving uses his eyes to terrify you, the same trick he used in "The Matrix".
Overall it's a good action movie, still can't wait for "Revolutions", 8/10.