A fitting second installment

Rating: 10/10 (5 September 2003)

This did exactly what I think most avid fans of the first movie needed from a sequel. It had scenes that will be remembered for years to come such as Neo fighting a 100 Agent Smith's, or the car chase taking your breath away with every twist and turn. Most of all, the moment Neo dives between two collided trucks on the verge of mass explosion to save his crew. Shocking how something like that can be seen by our own eyes in a cinema and not just in our dreams, that moment alone demands the admission fee. I sat in the cinema and for the first part I felt let down by the rave sequence which wasn't to my taste. I thought it was drawn out and had no purpose in the film, I nearly lost sight, I started to get this sinking feeling. Yet I got beyond that when the pace of the film built up to a furious finale. I was immensely pleased by Reloaded. Every second since I sat through 'The Matrix' I had wanted a sequel. I had wanted to know what was going to happen in the world the Wachowski brothers had created, finally it is here, and I am far from disapointment. I don't see how anyone can be. They are not shortchanging us by leaving us on a cliffhanger they are giving us the 3rd and final part 6 months later so that the trilogy can be finished. I think the series is more of two movies, in which the 2nd and 3rd will act as a 6 hour sequel to the first. So make your judgements after seeing the finished article. All I know is that from the first and second movies I have witnessed movie magic, in scenes which I can talk about with my friends for years to come. I think a problem with reviewing Reloaded so early since its release, not even waiting for a good 5 or so viewings is wrong. 'The Matrix' wasn't a one time only watchable movie. I had to sit through it again and again to understand all of its messages before I could get to grips with the whole concept. This is what should be done with Reloaded. Given time and multiple viewings most fans of the first movie will see it as a fitting second to the series. I recently read the transcript to the meeting between Neo and the Architect, which at the time I became lost after 3 seconds of staring into the old mans beard. Yet reading the script I realised how intelligently the story has evolved. Simply there is too much information to be taken in whilst viewing Reloaded, a stigma attached to the first. So given time Reloaded will be seen as a huge success as it rightly should be. Take away the rave scene and you have yourself a 10 out of 10.

One thing I'd like to see from Revolutions is Neo beating up some fat-blokes. Some ordinary people who can't match his punches and so forth. Just let him beat the crap out of some normal James Bond Cronies for 10 minutes. Now that would be lovely.