Review

Review Date: 18-May-03
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Juicy

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Last month, I revisited the 1999 smash "The Matrix" for a Spotlight and concluded, as I had when the movie first arrived, that it could only be described as "boring." Succumbing to curiosity and hype, however, I made my way into the thick waters of its sequel's onrush to give this wildly popular mix of myth, kung fu, sci-fi, spiritualism, and comic book zowie another try. And this time around I have to say, this baby rocks.

It feels as if Andy and Larry Wachowski, the masterminds behind "The Matrix," heard my prayers (or gripings) in regards to the original movie, for they ramped it up in all the right places. Forsaking the dull, olive hue of the first film for deeper blues and the occasional burst of sunlight and stained glass, they have brought their blossoming dream world out of the shadows and into a more accessible sphere. Similarly, the story's hero, Neo (Keanu Reeves), has cast aside the doubt that made him rather a dull boy four years ago, emerging as the coolest black-clad superhero this side of Gotham City, a supremely confident giver of life and death who has mastered the pithy-wisecrack-in-the-face-of-the-foe bit that has marked all truly tough customers since the days of Dirty Harry. And then there's the humanity, the pulse-pounding, loin-throbbing life that was missing from the dank metallic gloom of "The Matrix," offered up in all its sweaty, heady glory in a wild, orgiastic scene that seems to reach out and tap into our primal desires and instincts, making us one with the heroes and their quest, as any good myth cycle should. Channeling a lot of early George Lucas and a good bit of original "Star Trek," the story has finally found its soul, and is finally about something more than its nifty futuristic concept. What the Matrix has been reloaded with is hope, joy, and energy --- in addition, of course, to a bigger and better, new and improved barrel of whup-ass.

A lot of the advertising for "The Matrix Reloaded" focused on the addition of new characters, but every one of these is marginal (except for Harold Perrineau as Zion rebel Link, who didn't even get any press). The story continues to be firmly rooted in the core group of Neo, his beloved comrade Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), and their mentor Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), all of whom are somewhat deepened in this film. (In a way, this trio perfectly represents the melting pot that is one of the pleasant hallmarks of "The Matrix" universe, where there seems to be a role for everyone: men and women, young and old, blacks, whites, and everything in between. Indeed Reeves, with his ethnically ambiguous, somewhat androgynous beauty, makes a most fitting hero.) But despite its increasingly dynamic characters and overt philosophical interest in free will and destiny, the real draw of "The Matrix Reloaded" is its action sequences. This is where the Wachowskis really deserve to be commended, because the pressure to top the groundbreaking flair of the original must have been astronomical; anything less than an advancement in cinematic technique would have been considered a failure. But, happily, the action here is utterly delectable in its complexity and almost seamless execution. Some may prefer the extended car chase towards the end (which I had to admire, even while I lamented the inherent tediousness of speeding automobiles), but the piece de résistance is really the central hand-to-hand combat scene between Neo and his old nemesis, Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) — or rather, a whole army of Agent Smiths, who come at him in a city playground like a swarm of patent leather beetles. The gorgeously choreographed, extremely intricate scene had me grinning ear to ear for all of its five and a half minutes; it makes the famous bullet-dodging shot from "The Matrix" seem as outdated as Pong.

Much has been made of "The Matrix Reloaded"'s rather abrupt ending (due to the fact that it is only the first part of a finale that will be picked up again this November); but to me the movie's "To Be Concluded" message is much easier to swallow than its last half-hour, which is rushed and confused (particularly since the preceding car chase feels like the end). Still, a half hour of muddiness can't nullify almost two hours of really fine entertainment. A lot of people didn't think it was off course, but I think "The Matrix Reloaded" has put one of the major movie series of our time back on the right track.

Copyright © 2003 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.