About as good as we had a right to expect

Rating: Null/10 (27 May 2003)

Lock and load! The Matrix is back. We've waited four years for its return and been subject to the most intense hype since the revival of the "Star Wars" saga in 1999, so can it possibly fulfil expectations? If those expectations are realistic, then essentially it does.
No sequel could be as mindblowingly original as the first offering with the basic concept of all our world as a virtual prison or of the body-twisting, gravity-defying special effects or of the super cool characters in black leather and shades. Yet technically this is another amazingly accomplished work with some sequences - the opening one with Trinity, Neo's fight with 100 versions of Agent Smith, the conflict on the twin staircase, and above all the spectacular freeway chase - being enormous fun, even if the last looks like a video game (which, of course, much of the film's material now is).
The eroticism which was latent in the first movie is now much more explicit, possibly reflecting the complicated sexuality of at least one of the Wachowski brothers. One-time model Carrie-Anne Moss looks more gaunt this time (although more capable than ever as a fighting machine) and we have to look to another former model, the delectable Monica Bellucci who presents Neo with his most original challenge, to admire genuine feminine curves. Meanwhile the rave scene in labyrinthine Zion is an odd sequence for a sci-fi movie and looks more like a slot on MTV.
Neo's powers - already extraordinary by the end of the previous movie - have now become awesome, even God-like. Crew member Link refers to him "doing his Superman thing" and seemingly he can raise a woman from the dead. This makes him appear less heroic and more comic book. However, the main weakness of the sequel is the pretentiousness of its repeated philosophical expositions. There are already patients in American mental institutions who only speak Klingon and no doubt soon there will be some who think that "The Matrix" is a new religion. Finally, it's as well to be forewarned of the abrupt ending, a la "The Empire Strikes Back", which leaves us hanging and gasping for "The Matrix Revolutions".
Footnote 1: If you sit through the absolutely endless credits, naming every plasterer and painter in the US and Australia, you'll see a trailer for "The Matrix Revolutions".
Footnote 2: "The Matrix Reloaded" will be soon be released in an IMAX version - and that should be mega.