The REAL Truth

Rating: 5/10 (14 January 2006)

People placed Matrix in a huge and not really deserved pedestal that when Reloaded came out, it failed to reach the extremely high expectations the film carried from the original's success. Since I didn't have Matrix in such a pedestal, I enjoyed Reloaded (as entertainment of coarse). The Matrix to me has always been escapism, nothing more. The film might include philosophical issues such as man vs. machine, what's real and what's not real? But the reality is that The Matrix phenomenon is more of a technical one.
Philosophically, the film contained the same content as the original, it only gave it the logical push, like a logical progression of the discussion of the themes dealt with in the original, there are several scenes that are just pure philosophy (Herbert Marcuse to be accurate). On the bright side, all of these save the film from being a totally hollow experience, however, the philosophical content feels like a burden due to the fact that it doesn't blend easily with the level of action. The film jumps from a scene loaded with lot's of philosophical speech to just high octane action, making the mix rather sloppy. We also have to remember that the subject of man vs. machine and what is real? Has already been dealt with in cinema, in such films as Blade Runner and Terminator.
The acting was as bad as in the original, or worst, and yes the screenplay was very poorly distributed, the first 30 or 40 minutes can be removed, they add nothing new to the story, or to the characters, making the first portion of the movie hard to endure because they have no purpose or meaning, or as the extremely funny Merovingio said, they did not have a why, it was just dumb and disorganized exposition. But when the Oracle makes it's appearance, well into the film, the story gains a purpose, a reason, a why, and so from there the film improves. When I say improve, it's within the Matrix context, because then we have the long fight with the Smith's, which on the plus side, it was funny and surprising in terms of technological advances. Then there's the talk with the comical, pedantic and pompous Merovingio, which is a considerable highlight Then there's the incredible chase scene (probably the part when the audience gets their money's worth), since Ronin I had not seen a good chase scene, and this one is really amazing, it was like 20 minutes long but all of those minutes were exiting, following textbook 101 in cinema car chases, having a fast pace, a difficult production, and all of the story depending on the outcome of the chase. Finally, there's the infamous talk with the Architect, I would have found it fun to cast Jason Alexander as the Architect, that would have been fun, of coarse, he should have been serious, but just his presence would have taken some strain off such an overly turgid scene, long and complicated stuff about the Matrix, all those ergot's, vice vs. and a propos were confusing and eventually lost interest. Finally, the end was just a little too gratuitous, being exactly what you could have deduced from half an hour before. Nevertheless, the film managed to cook up a little cliffhanger, perfect to create anxiety for part 3. However, the film had many flaws, but I think that movies that come in summer have a disclaimer implied on them, the film you are about to see has very few depth and emotion, only CGI, and gang-bang combined with punches and kicks. Just see some summer films, and compare them with the ones that are released at the end the year. Matrix has and will always be summer pop-corn fun, not smart, provocative and charged with meaningful emotions conveyed with great performances, the film is an example of first-rate use of stylistic resources like sound, effects, etc. But that is it, but if you add some small philosophy, you get an entertaining film, just like the first Matrix, or then tell me, did the first had good performances, or a serious approach to important and provocative themes that have never been seen before... no, it was action, effects and small smart philosophy conveyed in a cool and appealing style(leather, sun shades, guns, groundbreaking CGI) that's it, that is I think the perfect definition of the Matrix phenomenon, which although entertaining, it is just that, low-brow entertainment.
I personally enjoy the films because there's nothing wrong with well crafted entertainment that serves as exiting escapism, cinema has a long tradition of creating films that make us fantasize about other worlds were there's good and evil, and the fate of people is decided by gun fights, karate and chases. Being a fan of the classics that started this tradition, such as James Bond and Indiana Jones (which are immensely superior), I can honestly say I enjoyed both Matrix and now Matrix Reloaded, because I knew what to expect, if people were expecting a film with good performances, and an intelligent story, well no wonder they hated it. To sum up, I liked Reloaded just as I liked Matrix, because both, although they have lots of pretensions, they just reach a pop-corn summer movie level that they are meant to reach, which is exactly their reason, their purpose, their why. I really hate people that think Matrix is more than that and who claim that the first was a great cinematic achievement, they are wrong, it was entertaining, and had it interesting advances in CGI, but it is just entertainment and it will never surpass that. If you search great recent cinematic achievements, then see Lord of the Rings, or any of the other films that are more than just entertainment. Matrix and Matrix Reloaded are fun and enjoyable to watch, they are totally satisfying on an entertainment level.