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05/17/2003 Archived Entry: "The Rocket Scientist reviews "The Matrix Reloaded""
THE ROCKET SCIENTIST COMPARES "THE MATRIX RELOADED" with the novels of William Gibson and the famous SF movies of recent years.
This next sequence in our exploration of the Wachowski brothers Matrix world expands, explains, and at the same time confounds things.Whereas the original was almost psychoterror in places (the place where Agent Smith seals Neo's mouth comes to mind), 'Reloaded' is more like good 'ol honest science fiction.
Seen it twice now, once on opening night, and once on a matinee the day after. It does not even remotely disappoint.
He also has a comment or two from the POV of someone who knows guns. To see the review, click on "More."
Da Matrix Reloaded?...
No Spoilers folks, its OK.
OK, lets get something straight right off. This movie cannot be like it was for the first one.
Entering the Matrix world can only be done once for the first time.
And after that first time, you know what to expect from the Matrix realm. Not that the next corner you turn won't have something that may scare the livin' stuffings out of you, but you now KNOW that when the screen has that sickly green hue that you are in the world "where there is no spoon." An entire universe where you can try to waste the bad guys with a minigun while your beautiful girlfriend flies the stolen helicopter (or from the female POV, you steal a helicopter whilst your cute boyfriend tries to waste bad guys with a minigun).
This next sequence in our exploration of the Wachowski brothers Matrix world expands, explains, and at the same time confounds things.
Whereas the original was almost psychoterror in places (the place where Agent Smith seals Neo's mouth comes to mind), 'Reloaded' is more like good 'ol honest science fiction.
Seen it twice now, once on opening night, and once on a matinee the day after.
It does not even remotely disappoint.
The plot is really pretty durn good -- loaded with some thought provoking metaphors, and some human foibles that are explored in what to me were interesting ways.
The camera work is excellent, the fight scenes every bit as killer as the first ones.
You will see more of all the things that you really liked about the first Matrix. And the special effects are absolutely staggering.
Now, there are those who say that the plot is a bit on the thin side. I am not to be numbered among them.
But perhaps I have more references to pull from. You see, the Matrix world shares quite a lot with the Cyberspace worlds of William Gibson books. Books that include Neuromancer, Burning Chrome, Mona Lisa Overdrive, Count Zero, Virtual Lightt, to name a few. In this Cyberspace, you interact with computer programs directly with your consciousness while you are 'plugged in'. Gibson's characters interact using VR glasses, and implants.
The Wachowski characters are plugged directly into the brain.
The Matrix Reloaded takes us deeper into the realm, both the 'Real world' and the Cyber world. We get a long and loving look at the last human city: Zion. The primal exuberance, and lack of crushing authority are quite refreshing. These folk seem to really enjoy life. Perhaps we will see more of these folk and their city deep in the Earth in the third movie. They seem like libertarians to me.
EVERY entity in the Matrix is a program in a massive computer. Some of the programs are just that... programs, and some of those are smarter than others. Some of the entities are the cyberspace projections of the billions of people who are plugged into the Matrix. There are metaphors EVERYWHERE -- for instance the character that you will meet called the Keymaker. I look at him as a key generator, in the sense of encryption keys. Not terribly bright or witty, but a nice useful program to have locked away. In YOUR vaults.
Not that there aren't a few flaws. A certain UMP machinegun with what must be at least a 500 round magazine comes to mind. (But I always notice things like that.)(OK OK, maybe he swapped mags when the camera wasn't on him.) That's coupled with a character wielding it that doesn't seem to be able to hit the broadside of a barn from the inside. Despite that, the reflex sight that is mounted upon the gun is obviously on; you can see the projection led running which is a nice touch.
I should perhaps inform you that I LOVE science fiction. Perhaps I am so overcome with the Matrix hype that I am not being critical enough.
Perhaps. Just to give you some references as to what looks good to me:
I thought the Dune movie (the first one) was excellent. I think that the Star Wars series is great cinematography, but a bit thin in the plot department. Star Trek movies after the Wrath of Khan were OK, but it got a tad threadbare towards the end of the Shatner era, and I haven't bothered to see anything after that era. (I detested the TV Picard's 'moral dilemmas'. Kirk's idea of diplomacy was a charged phaser bank and a couple of well placed photon torpedos? my kind of guy)
Be that as it may, from where this Rocket Scientist sits, I simply must declare in the most emphatic fashion that is available to me that I consider this movie a brilliant achievement, and an absolute must see.
Go see it
Posted by Claire @ 11:14 AM CST
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