Er.. Um� Whoa?
No, really. I just saw “Matrix Reloaded�?, if you’ve seen it you understand the feeling of detached excitement I am feeling right now. Across the nation premieres are letting crowds of excited fans out into the cold night parking lots wildly arguing about the meaning of so many fine points in this movie. It’s a movie that I almost want to take notes in the entire thing needs to be watched at least 5 more times before I can really understand it. Now I will simply pass judgment based on first impressions. I will attempt to me as ambiguous as possible and will avoid any spoilers. I assure you that nothing I can write here will fully convey the intensity of the experience that is “The Matrix Reloaded�?.
I feel that I should have been taking notes throughout the entire movie. Luckily I ran into a whole crowd of fellow geeks from a local high school that I attended. Each person gets different things out of a movie and notices different facts. Any big questions about the significance of certain characters and moments were probably explained are hinted at somewhere in that mass of movie. Again this movie covers a lot of ground and in certain places does feel rushed together for time constraints. I have to say that this movie is an entirely different beast from the first one. It’s been 4 years since The Matrix was released. Naturally the movie styles are bound to be a little different. This installment is a little cleaner and more modern, though I am not sure that is a good thing, the atmosphere is a little less permanent in this movie which is a shame because the atmosphere that was so finely detailed in the first movies was one of it’s biggest strengths.
I don’t know when I will get a chance to go see this movie again but I certainly will see it again. I have to admit that I feel a little uncomfortable at the unnecessarily suggestive scenes. The love making scene between Trinity and Neo is not really necessary but is forgivable as it does aid a lot in character development. The Zion danceing scene that takes place consecutively within that is really unnecessary. One particular sequence involving cake in a restaurant is completely superfluous in it�s attempt to legitimize its presence in the plot.
The biggest thing about this movie is that in the end you are left with far more questions that you expected there to be. It is so thoroughly confusing that it really expands your mind. I have to wonder if there have been forms of media in the past that have posed such profoundly useless philosophical consideration. I have read a large number of science fiction novels, many of them are quite good at cliff hangers and surprise twists and a decent amount of metaphysical theory. Yet, the incredibly complex structure of the story in The Matrix trilogy is more akin to Anime than anything else I am familiar with. Only in that odd imported medium of entertainment from Japan have I seen anything so blatantly psychotic, and chaotic. I mean, seriously it’s almost painful. And this is just the question, the answer is in the next movie. I doubt it will be any easier to digest.
Did past generations have to deal with these complex ideas in their very entertainment? Since when did the human universe become so boring that we need to throw the public through the ringer with concepts that have little effect on everyday life? Is this a sign of our cultures advanced state, and the levels at which consciousness has the ability to invent and manipulate the unreal? Oh crap, I guess I am doing the same thing this movie did, just ending with more questions than is really reasonable to demand of it’s audience. Perhaps these initial thoughts will be more amusing after I have had the opportunity to sleep on it and have maybe seen the movie a few more times.
Keanu is still kinda dorky in this move but doesn’t embarrass us by saying “whoa�? a lot. Oh and one more thing, there are too many new characters in this one. Some start to slip through the cracks.