Matrix Reloaded (Warner)
In Theatres Now
Review by Sparrow
Nearly
a year I have waited with baited breath since seeing the teaser trailer
for this highly anticipated movie. The wait has been at times agonizing,
as I was a huge fan of the first in the series. Unfortunately it looks
like I should've waited a bit longer.
Maybe my hopes were a tad high on this movie but after the original they should have at least come close to meeting the quality of the first Matrix. Sadly, they fell short of that mark. The whole stereotype that sequels never meet the level of the original is very accurate in the Matrix Reloaded.
About the most positive thing that I can honestly say about this lackluster sequel is that it's definitely pretty, but doesn't have a lot of substance to back it up. Even their attempts to blow the audience's minds with "There is no spoon" type theories come off as nothing more than boring Star Trek type "tech talk". Mark my words though there will still be a large group of chronics sitting around late at night spouting inane conversations on how there is a matrix within a matrix...ugh.
Let's run down the list of obvious major faults within this sequel that we' ve been barraged by hype for months on end...shall we?
Keanu
Reeves - At least within the original Keanu displayed confusion as to
everything that was going on around him. In Reloaded his character Neo
is still fairly clueless...but displays no emotion or expression whatsoever.
We all knew this prior, but now I can't even watch him act now for fear
of falling asleep from boredom.
Carrie-Anne Moss - Anyone else notice that Trinity is looking pretty hagard and tired these days? I know there is a lot going on within her life, with Zion on the brink of destruction, but she could do with a facelift or a very long vacation. She has also been spending far time in the Keanu Reeve's acting school and is starting to display some of his rigid acting style.
The
Famed Twins - So much talk...so much hype...so much utter crap. They
came, they fought, had a chase sequence and then they're gone. I'll
give it that that entire time line took up a large portion of the movie
but they didn't strike me as either menacing or all that integral to
the storyline. The writers just threw in a couple of high powered antagonists
that had marketing value.
Hugo Weaving - He and his Agent Smith character rocked my world within the first Matrix but again, like the Twins, appears as nothing but a simple roadblock in the storyline's way. Sad to see Hugo fall because of bad writing.
Now
I'm not saying that the Matrix Reloaded didn't have it's entertainment
value because it very much did. It simply fell far short of my expectations.
I've learned my lesson now though, so when Matrix Revolutions hits the
theatres I'll be more prepared to just take it as simply another sci-fi
action movie and will probably enjoy it moreso than this one.
Rating: 4/7