I've only seen The Matrix: Reloaded once. I intended to see it a second time before writing my review, but circumstances conspired against me. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I caught the film Wednesday night, and upon exiting the theater stated that I thought it was very good, but inferior to the original by about a full point on a ten-point scale. By the time I got home and into bed that night, my mind was already rehashing the movie and thinking I might have under-estimated the film. Thursday I decided that Reloaded was actually probably the equal to the first film, though for different reasons and in a different way. Friday morning I had a few hours to kill while one of my vehicles was being repaired, so I spent the time on the phone with a couple of my brothers who had seen the movie Thursday night. After working up a hypothesis of things with one of them, I decided that Reloaded is in fact quite possibly a better film than the original.
Now I wish I could better remember my responses to the first film. I saw it in the theater, and I remember being awed by the special effects like everybody else. I'm not sure at exactly what point the philosophy of the film captivated me, but I suspect it wasn't the first day. Sure, it was interesting, but what intrigued me most of all was how it held up to scrutiny over time. I suspect the same it true for most people. Considered in 2003, the philosophical underpinnings of The Matrix are powerful, especially considered in relation to other films which tend to be based on a single point of a simple philosophy, and even that only accidentally. So considered in 2003, The Matrix is hard to beat. After all, what were ground-breaking special effects then are commonplace now. It's been four years! We've also had four years to think about the film, to consider the possibilities, to discuss things with our friends and family. We've barely had four days with the new film, and I think it will grow on people, given the chance.
What follows will contain spoilers. Major spoilers. I will tell you right now, do not read any further if you have not seen the film. I will ruin the film for you, giving away the twists and turns of the plot as well as laying down a possible explanation for everything in the film. I may be wrong, and I probably am, but I suspect that having read my view of events, it will be hard to watch the film without thinking of things in these terms.
If you're reading this paragraph, you should have already seen the movie. If you haven't, stop now. I won't warn you again.
Reloaded
First the cursory stuff, to give people who really shouldn't be reading this a chance to ease out gracefully, with a minimum of spoilers. I went into this film wondering about the title, and suspecting that things would break, badly. After all, at the end of the first film, Neo can stop bullets, he can completely destroy an agent by jumping inside of him, and he can fly. In addition, he pledges to blow the whole matrix wide open. How could a super-being, a lower-case god, possibly encounter any conflict, let alone enough conflict to carry two more films? It seemed that they would have to back off of the ending of the first film a little, because I couldn't think of a scenario that would continue from that point without seeming to be foolish. Fortunately for all of us, the brothers could, and I think that they pulled it off. Working backwards through my list, Neo states at one point that they have "rescued" more people in the last six months than they had the previous six years. That, coupled with statements from the first movie that rescuing people who aren't ready results in psychosis and general craziness, seems to fulfill Neo's pledge to the matrix overlords. He can still fly in this film, though he manages it with a little bit of lead time, apparently to reshape the elements of the matrix around him. That helps in this film as being one reason why he simply doesn't fly away from every battle, but there are others. Finally, it appears that he didn't actually destroy Agent Smith after all, so why try that again? Further ingredients piled on include the fact that the first time we see Neo fight someone, he is surprised by either the quickness or strength of his opponent. "Oh," he says, "Upgrades!" This fits in rather well with the crazy theory I'll spell out later. So it is easy to surmise that Neo has been relatively unchallenged for the last six months, flying around and generally growing bored with everything that happens inside the matrix. As a god-like superpower, is boredom the greatest enemy? I'm getting ahead of myself!
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
MATRIX RELOADED SPOILER: I meant to mention, but then forgot, the interesting possibility that Neo did not actually stop those sentinels after all. In fact, this was the first thing I said after exiting the theater - Did Neo actually stop those sentinels, or did the ship coming over the hill set off an EMP at just the right time? Shades of A Case Of Conscience float through my mind.