The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Movie Info

Hmm…clean, empty spotless park in the middle of the city…I thought the Matrix was supposed to be reality.

The Sentinels are moving in on Zion as Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) continues to preach that Neo (Keanu Reeves) is “the one”. When Neo has a prophetic dream involving Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), he questions if he can stop the vision or if it is destiny, but Neo has also activated something inside of Mr. Smith (Hugo Weaving) that could prove to be a threat. The danger is growing and the Sentinels are coming…will Zion and the human population survive or is there a greater meaning to everything that is occurring?

Written and directed by the Wachowskis (then credited as the Wachowski Brothers), The Matrix Reloaded is a science-fiction action film. Following The Matrix in 1999 and a video game tie-in called Enter the Matrix, the film was a box office success and received mixed reviews from critics.

Cool gimmick…stress the word “gimmick”

To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of The Matrix. I thought it was ok, most of the groundbreaking special effects were used in other movies before The Matrix and the plot of The Matrix seemed to be borrowed from every sci-fi writer who had ever written about false realities. I saw The Matrix Reloaded in the theater with the hopes of some fun…I was even less impressed. With time and the ability to start and stop the film, I don’t hate it as much as the first time, but it still isn’t a very good film.

Ok…after this this lame rave, I’m ok with the robots wiping out humanity forever…

The story follows the path of the Star Wars series. The first film was relatively self-contained (they didn’t know how reaction would be), but The Matrix Reloaded is written with the intention of having a sequel. Unlike The Empire Strikes Back, The Matrix Reloaded doesn’t feel like a complete story that can stand on its own while enriching a sequel (and the original). You have long (dull) monologues with people like The Architect which the Wachowskis clearly believe to be “deep”, but if they are broken down, low-grade philosophical garble wrapped up to sound elitist.

The cast expands in this entry but this actually hurts the product as well. It continues to introduce and supporting roles and this takes the thrust away from Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Hugo Weaving. The series began to spin stories around character introduced in Enter the Matrix and for those who didn’t play the game (or want to), it feels like you missed something when they show up…it doesn’t enhance the story but creates a distraction.

Yeah…at this point I really just don’t care (and a lame freshman philosophy lesson doesn’t help)

Visually the movie remains solid, but it lacks the innovation of the first film. While the first film took all of the special effects at the time and made them into one sleek package, The Matrix Reloaded feels like it doesn’t create anything new. There are some decent fight sequences (like on the freeway, the park, and in the home of Merovingian and Persephone), but they also go on too long…the effects get boring.

The Matrix Reloaded is a poor follow-up to a blockbuster that didn’t impress me as much as I had hoped. I will give the movie this, it did try to create something new and create an epic tale, but it seemed to miss mark…plus, if everyone is trying to save Zion from the evil robots, the hippy mosh party should have you asking the robots to destroy Zion forever…I’d take the Matrix over that any day. The Matrix Reloaded was followed by The Matrix Revolutions also released in 2003.

Related Links:

The Matrix (1999)

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

The Animatrix (2003)