The Matrix Reloaded
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THE MATRIX RELOADED - film review
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The commercial and critical success of the THE MATRIX in 1999 guaranteed the sibling film-making team of Andy & Larry Wachowski an opportunity to return to the universe of Neo, Trinity and Morpheus. The open ending of the first film was the perfect jump-in point for a sequel, as Neo launched off into the sky, the suggestion was that his powers were the equivalent (if not greater) than anything Agents could throw at him. The question and challenge of any sequel would be how to place Neo in peril (for storytelling purposes) when the closing sequence of the first film suggests his powers are almost limitless. The Wachowski’s answer to this dilemma was to focus the story on Neo’s fear of losing his new found love in Trinity and using it as the motivator of his actions. It was a clever approach because, regardless of how powerful he may have become, there’s no guarantee Neo can be in all places within the Matrix at once, so, by default, the people he cares about the most will always be in danger. This is the point at which THE MATRIX RELOADED opens.
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In an effort to match the opening of the original, the Wachowskis stage an elaborate set-piece with Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), who jumps a motorcycle off the top of a building into a heavily-fortified compound, destroying a security guard shack in the process. She then proceeds to take out a group of security guards (much like she did in the opening of the first movie) with a motorcycle helmet and a variety of martial arts moves. Having completed the first part of her mission, she calls back to her operator to say she’s in and the action dissolves to an upper floor on an office building (presumably the one that she has infiltrated in the opening scene). Suddenly, Trinity comes crashing through the outer window, pursued by an Agent, who dives out after her. The pair engage in a free fall, slow motion gun battle (with the bullet time effect being used to emphasise the action), until -finally - the Agent manages to hit Trinity in the chest with one of his shots. The action cuts to street level and a side view of a parked car. Trinity, who is mortally wounded, hits the car at full speed, crushing its roof and breaking her body. Neo (Keanu Reeves) wakes up and realises he was dreaming. Trinity is lying next to him bed, safe (for the moment).
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Neo’s underlying psychological fears are exacerbated by the news that the Sentinels are making a concerted effort to dig their way to Zion and eradicate the last of humanity and no matter how powerful he is in the Matrix, Neo knows that Zion’s forces are no match for the machines. Commander Lock (Harry Lennix) orders all ships back to base in an attempt to prepare for the oncoming onslaught. At a final meeting of ship captains within the Matrix, Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) argues that one ship should stay out in the field to monitor the Sentinels progress and alert Zion should the Oracle (Gloria Foster) attempt to make contact and show a path to victory from within the Matrix. During the meeting, Neo senses something is not right. He leaves the meeting and speaks with one of the guards stationed on the front door. The guard tells him that someone just delivered a package for him. Inside the package is a ear-piece very much like the one that Agent Smith used to wear. The significance of it is not lost on Neo, but he is faced with a more immediate threat when three different Agents arrive on the scene. Neo quickly dispenses with them, but he makes his way back to the meeting to alert everyone that more Agents are on the way and they need to leave immediately. In an ironic twist, one of the crew left to monitor for a message from the Oracle is attacked by Agent Smith, who uses his newly-found abilities to merge with the crew member and use him to make his way into the real world. The scene is set as the computer-generated and real worlds begin to merge, with heros and villains on both sides capable of moving between both.
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THE MATRIX RELOADED had the unenviable task of living up to the standard set by its predecessor. THE MATRIX was not entirely original, but the Wachowskis repackaged a grab-bag of ideas from Asian and Western cinema to create something that felt fresh and different. THE MATRIX RELOADED doesn’t have that advantage because the viewer watches this film with the knowledge of the first movie and has formed some preconceived ideas of what to expect. The Wachowskis certainly make an effort to deliver something that is different to the first and take the opportunity to explore the Matrix in greater detail this time around, as the viewer meets characters such as the Keymaker, the Merovingian and the Architect. Each one of these represents a different part of the Matrix and it’s here that THE MATRIX RELOADED starts to run into trouble. Creating human-looking manifestations of the computer programs within the Matrix and having them interact with humans (such as Neo) who have been inserted into the program makes it very hard for the viewer to keep up with who is who and how they are able to do the things they do. What are they? How could they do that? These are questions that a viewer legitimately asks when watching a film like THE MATRIX RELOADED. Unfortunately, the Wachowskis make no real effort to provide clarity on this matter. They prefer to push forward with their cinematic approach, requiring the viewer to interpret the story and clarify any questions they may have in their own way.
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The interpretive viewing approach is OK, but the narrative of THE MATRIX RELOADED becomes extremely convoluted through the middle part of the film and a more traditional Act Two would have helped focus the story in the lead-up to the cliffhanger finale. Without the “Wow” of the first film’s stunt work, fight choreography or visual effects, the set-pieces of THE MATRIX RELOADED feel like extensions of THE MATRIX that rely on their length to keep the viewer enthralled. The freeway chase sequence is an example of this approach. Going one way and then another, the viewer is treated to multiple combinations of fight match-ups and stunts, but everything feels like it’s been done before with a greater level of skill and economy designed to keep the story moving. There are some interesting sidebars presented throughout the film and Neo’s foray into the world of the Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) and Persephone (Monica Bellucci) adds some much needed sexual energy to proceedings, as Bellucci’s character turns on the seductress in an attempt to drive a wedge between Neo and Trinity. The best set-piece of the film is reserved for Act Three where multiple crews from Zion ships agree to a plan presented by Morpheus to attack the Source, the place from which the Matrix emanates under the control of the Architect (Helmut Bakaitis). Film Editor Zach Staenberg, who won an Oscar for his work on THE MATRIX, does a great job in bringing together a difficult-to-explain sequence and make it work for the viewer with its multiple points-of-view and fast-moving action, it picks up the pace of the film leading up to Neo’s decision to forsake humanity and save Trinity from death.
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It’s extremely difficult to measure the true success of THE MATRIX RELOADED because it was always destined to be compared against THE MATRIX. Looking at the film’s box office performance, it’s the clear winner out of THE MATRIX TRILOGY series, making $742 million worldwide compared to $463 million for THE MATRIX. These numbers, however, don’t translate into broad acclaim, as critics and casual reviewers alike have time-and-again marked the second film well down by comparison to the first. THE MATRIX ranks (currently) at Number 17 on the IMDB Top 250 list, with an 8.7 score from over 1.1 million users. THE MATRIX RELOADED ranks 7.2 from only 409,000 users; a significant decline in both score and desire for users to even take the time to rank the film. These numbers are a direct reflection of the enthusiasm with which viewers have come to regard THE MATRIX RELOADED. Without doubt, it attempts to elaborate on the ideas introduced in the first, but it fails to find a new set of cinematic tropes to reinterpret and instead pushes the Psychology 101 approach of THE MATRIX to new levels in an effort to give a deeper psychological meaning to Neo and his actions. Unfortunately, it misses the mark and ends up confusing the viewer as it muddles its way toward a cliffhanger ending and the wait for THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS.
