Mind Bending Effects Drive Sequel

Rating: 6/10 (14 May 2003)

Movie number two in a trilogy is hard. LOTR, Scream 2 and on and on... You don't have the great character development of movie 1, and you also miss out on the cool ultimate showdowns of movie 3. You're the middle child no one pays attention to. Matrix Reloaded saves itself from that, mostly, with millions upon millions of dollars in cool digital effects. Oh, and some crazy martial arts action that Hong Kong would be proud of. Really, though, the best part of this movie is the (honestly, hold the laughter, please) deep philosophical questions that get posed. They deepen the meaning and relation of The Matrix as an entity with our modern technologies. Some real, applicable man/machine issues are presented. These scenes are few and far between, but they're thankfully cushioned by cool stunts, lots of bullets and the next generation of the Bullet-Time Effects. Definitely worth the money - though it's a hyped up adventure, it's one that lets you either relax and enjoy, or sit up and think. You have a choice.