I’ve just returned from the premiere of Matrix Reloaded. My brain lobes are sensationally dripping with thoughts, images and reflections on Reloaded.
I loved it.
My mind is noisy though, not because I have doubts about the movie at all, but because I don’t know where to begin reviewing it. There are so many things, so many references, so many ‘in-jokes’ that I honestly don’t think most people will get and so many spectacular moments where you can see the Wachowski’s are having fun with you.
In fact the movie is constantly playing with you. I wish I could spill the guts on all the wonderful references to the first movie and the way the characters play off of each other.
It’s a much more human movie than the first. Great emphasis is put on the contrast of machines and humans and what lies between, and while I was worried it would have a hard time expanding the universe of the Matrix, I think I can put a piece of lead through the ribs of that notion now.
It’s a very different movie, but that isn’t a bad thing. And quite frankly I liked the non-action parts of the movie the best. And the action pieces are pretty damn impressive mind you.
The CG, while not necessarily convincing isn’t bad, and if people would get their special-effects-cravings out of their heads for a short moment, perhaps they could lean back and enjoy the movie a little. I swear people are spoiled these days.
Besides, it’s the matrix, the sets in the matrix don’t look really, why should a person defying all the laws of physics? Grow a sense of disbelief…
Movies like this make me thoroughly enjoy being a geek.
A lot of people didn’t like it; I think they were possibly expecting something other than a sequel to the Matrix then. From where I’m standing it’s just right. With very few exceptions they went where I wanted to go (without knowing it!) and did what I wanted them to do (ditto).
Now as I said in my entry, I’ll make a proper review when I can get a copy of the movie to frame-step, but until then I’ll say this. I think what most people were expecting was something of the same, just more so. What they got was instead an evolution of the first movie.
People wanted more revelations, more ‘Welcome to the real world’ and more ‘I know kung fu’, or rather they were expecting that.
Instead, what they got was a movie that, to my opinion, transcends all that and deals with the characters as human beings much more than the first one ever did. All of them are fleshed out much more, their role in the big puzzle, and I love where it’s being taken. I was caught unprepared.
The relationship between Neo and Trinity really worked for me, much more so than a certain relationship in a certain other movie (that starts with an S and ends with tar Wars). It feels like a movie that is much more for grown-ups than the teenagers that will undoubtedly be the primary audience.
People are already busy little bees, criticizing page up and page down on forums across the virtual recesses of the net. I hope they at least take the time to step back and see the movie with the eyes its supposed to be seen with, and if they do, I think they will see it sliding perfectly into the first one, and I have no doubts in my mind, the third on.
I’ve seen several people who seem to think that Reloaded takes itself too seriously and plays out more like a drama than an action flick, and I think they need to understand two things. Thing number one is that they’re obviously not seeing the same movie that I am. I’m seeing a movie that is constantly having fun with itself, dropping small jokes, hints, reflections and musings along the way, and if you’ve paid enough attention in the first one, you’ll pick those up.
Secondly, let go of any presumptions that you might have about the movie and enjoy it for the perfect evolutionary sequel it is, realizing that it’s not X2 (no disrespect), it wasn’t meant to up the stakes, but to drive them forward.
Wachowski’s and crew, should you happen to read this, you leave me inspired.
I wobble between 8 and 9, leaning towards 9 (so that’s what I gave). Though really it’s unfair to judge it until Revolutions concludes.
Update: My review is up at IMDB.
Your level design is beautiful. Although I disagree with you on the Matrix. I was, and still am, in love with the first Matrix. Now, I’m quite certian that Reloaded was the illegitimate, redheaded stepchild of the first.
I came in expecting the world and got a disappointment. :( Regardless, I will buy it…:) I love the first that much.
Let’s hope the 3rd is of a little better quality and can live up to the awesome special effects.
Thank you :)
To anyone posting here, please mark spoilers clearly and try to keep remarks general and non-descript so as to not ruin the movie for anyone.
This comment is spoiler-free
I think you were possibly expecting something other than a sequel to the Matrix then. From where I’m standing it’s just right. With very few exceptions they went where I wanted to go (without knowing it!) and did what I wanted them to do (ditto).
Now as I said in my entry, I’ll make a proper review when I can get a copy of the movie to frame-step, but until then I’ll say this. I think what most people were expecting was something of the same, just more so. What they got was instead an evolution of the first movie.
People wanted more revelations, more “Welcome to the real world” and more “I know kung fu”, or rather they were expecting that.
Instead, what they got was a movie that, to my opinion, transcends all that and deals with the characters as human beings much much more than the first one ever did. All of them are fleshed out much more, their role in the big puzzle, and I love where it’s being taken.
The relationship between Neo and Trinity really worked for me, much more so than a certain relationship in a certain other movie (that starts with an S and ends with tar Wars). It feels like a movie that is much more for grown-ups than the teenagers that will undoubtly be the primary audience.
People are already busy little bees, critizing page up and page down on forums across the virtual recesses of the net. I hope they at least take the time to step back and see the movie with the eyes its supposed to be seen with, and if they do, I think they will see it sliding perfectly into the first one, and I have no doubts in my mind, the third on.
I’ve seen several people who seem to think that Reloaded takes itself too seriously and plays out more like a drama than an action flick, and I think they need to understand too things. Thing number one is that they’re obviously not seeing the same movie that I am. I’m seeing a movie that is constantly having fun with itself, dropping small jokes, hints, reflections and musings along the way, and if you’ve paid enough attention in the first one, you’ll pick those up.
Secondly, let go of any presumptions that you might have about the movie and enjoy it for the perfect evolutionary sequel it is, realizing that it’s not X2 (no disrespect), it wasn’t meant to up the stakes, but to drive them forward.
It took me about 1 – 1½ hours to find that picture of Morpheus with the katana, what I don’t do for you people :)
I will make a new entry friday I think, for unloading on Reloaded (I made that up myself…), and hopefully I’ll have seen it once or twice inbetween now and then as well.
Remember: It’s a comic book.
My problems with The Matrix: Reloaded were thus:
(some small unmarked spoilers, the big ones are labled though)
1)The cinematography. Bill Pope did such an excellent job on the first, but (to me) the cinematography in Reloaded was a let down. Mild semi-spoiler ahead Like the scene where Neo talks to The Oracle: very obviously shot on a set, all because the lighting didn’t look anything like outdoor lighting.
2)The art direction. Again, the first one had the second beat hands-down.
3)The acting. What the fuck was with the guy who was supposed to be in charge of the defense of Zion? Why didn’t the Wachowskis knock him silly for making that ri-goddamn-diculous smirk all the fucking time? And what’s with the speaches given by Morpheus? They sucked!
4)Why did they turn Morpheus into a religious nutcase? I preferred the wise sage Morpheus from the first film.
5)What the hell was with the techno dance scene in Zion? Yes, there was one in the first film, but that took place in a club inside the matrix, where everything was supposed to be sleek and overstylized. On the other hand, the real world was supposed to be more, well, real.
6)The use of CG characters sucked. They looked fake, and it destroyed the first film’s reputation for having flawless effects. Additionally, using them in the fight scenes wrecked the legitimacy of the fight scenes. The great thing about the first film was that you knew it was Keanu Reeves doing that wire work, Hugo Weaving throwing those punches, Carrie-Anne Moss doing those kicks, etc. OTOH in Reloaded there’s always the nagging suspicion that it might be CG.
7)Speaking of the fight scenes, am I the only one who was underwhelmed by them?
8)Some scenes went on too long. While I am all for giving a film’s director(s) as much creative freedom as possible (including letting them have final cut), there is always the risk that the director will fall so in love with their own footage that they’ll be blinded to the fact that sometimes things need to be cut out so that the film as a whole plays better. I’ve seen it happen to many a student filmmaker, have heard of it happening to professionals, and I suspect that it happened to Reloaded.
9) Spoiler
Was I the only one who thought that the way Neo saved Trinity was a total cop-out?
10) Spoiler
Showing the “matrix view” of Neo pumping Trinity’s heart looked, well, bad. You can so tell that they just took a low-detail 3D model and stuck an animated “matrix code” texture on it. Also, you could see the outline of their bodies, and Trinity’s heart, but what about the rest of her internal organs? Hmm?
11) Spoiler
They broke the #1 rule of movie sequels: the plot of the second film shouldn’t ruin the first one. Have all the plot twists, “Aha!” moments, and “Luke, I am your father” moments you want, but don’t do anything that would ruin the first film.
Other than the cop-out at the end that I’ve already mentioned, I didn’t mind the film’s ending that much. But I think that the film would have been much better off had the Wachowski brothers taken more time to refine the script (like cutting out Morpheus’ overly long speaches, for example), not buckled to the temptation to use CG characters, tightened up the editing, and worked to have the cinematography and art direction live up to the high standard of the first film.
Bad:
The dance scene music video in Zion was a lame, drawn out parody of Britneys “Slave 4 U” video. Slave 4 U was sexier and better looking though.
Good:
The battle scenes! My god. I don’t care if they are CG or stop-motion animated sausage meat – they looked good.
Can you imagine what kind of storyboarding they must have been doing for the multi-agent-smith scene (shown in trailers)
Oh, and that should’ve been speeches, not speaches. That’s what I get for not running my post through ispell.
As for the Neo vs Agent Smiths fight scene, the editing and camera work were just all wrong, but aside from that and the (very fake) CG characters, it was cool.
Yup, but you have noticed that inside the matrix, things are always a little ‘off’, right? while you can argue back and forth about whether or not that is conincidental, I prefer to believe that there are no conincidents in filmmaking unless they are verified as such.
A Matter of personal taste, personally I absolutely loved it. The Nebuchadnezzer scenes were amazing I though, I love the virtual control (Zion’s ‘control tower’) and the Architect room. But throughout, as with the first movie, what I liked the most was the fact that I never though “that’s nice art direction”, like I did over and over and over with Episode 2. Now as I said, I won’t hone down on a verdict before after I’ve seen it again, but so far I’m of the mind that it seems to fit perfectly with the first one.
While I have to agree with you that they were some of the weaker parts in Reloaded, I don’t think they ‘sucked’.
He was always a nutcase… Makes perfect sense to me.
(This goes out to Brian’s comment as well). I loved the ‘rave’ or whatchamacallit. I thought it fit in perfectly, and I thought it was damn hot!
First of all, it did not ‘suck’. You might have thought it was below par, but it didn’t ‘suck’. I agree that there is a distinctly different feeling to the fighting when the CG kicks in, and to some extend I would probably have enjoyed it just as much and maybe a bit more had it been the actors all the way. But with that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the burly brawl and the highway (and the in-betweens :)).
It’s a comic-book movie, and more so than most other comic-book movies, which are really comic-book-movie-adaptations. Seems like a wierd line to draw, but I think the Matrix has to be seen in a different way than most other movies (and that’s probably one of the reasons it gets slammed a little bit, because the criticts weren’t ready to do that for it. Whether that’s fair or not I won’t be the judge of, but that’s my observation anyway).
While I might retract this on a second viewing (and subsequent ones), I never ever thought it was too long or boring. I loved all the scenes, in particular the ones where nothing happens.
Probably not. But is would you rather have them do the movie you would have done, or the movie that they did?
I wasn’t a big fan of using matrix code bodies. That said, I could really give a shit about the rest of her organs. It’s a comic-book, get over it.
As I said, everything is subject to change. Hell I loved Episode 2 when I watched it in the cinema, now I hate it. I hope to see it again asap.
Yo, here’s my “quick” take: (some spoilers)
Most importantly: I’ll have to wait until Revolutions before I can say how good Reloaded really was, cause it’s just not whole movie as it is.
Bad: acting, story pacing, action… Keanu Reeves seemed bored, and Laurence Fishburne sucked.
The fight scenes were inane, boring, and led no-where. Worst of them all was the movie’s big signature scene, the “burly brawl”, which IMHO should be cut from the movie entirely. I may sound over-negative, but it really bored me, and had no logic or clever connection to the story. Like, why does Neo just stay and FIGHT, when he’s THE ONE, who can fly, and do “things” with the Matrix, like splitting apart agent Smith in the first movie? Duh. Booh.
Also, all martial arts fighting in Reloaded seemed to go on auto-pilot, repeating over and over again what we’ve seen in dozens of movies by now… NOT very impressive stuff.
Too much CG: Not that I actually mind CG, or tons of it, but it seems that all movies who want TONS OF CG, ending up getting a lot of mediocre stuff… like the SW prequels, LOTR, The Mummy, etc… The original Matrix had better integretity in its VFX.
Zion: for all the reasons everyone has mentioned… it all played like something out of a Wing Commander cut scene. And why did they have to give Morpheus an ex-girlfriend?? Independence Day, Godzilla, and all those other stoopid movies all introduce “getting back togehter with the ex”-subplots, because they mistakingly think it triggers instant emotions in the audience… why did Matrix have to sink to that level??
Good:
Agent Smith… he didn’t do a lot in this movie, but his cockiness has been turned up a notch from being “set free”, and it suits him. He’s got something in his eyes he didn’t have in the first movie.
The Architect: this is where the movie began, for me. And this is the only scene which comes close to the “wow” scene in the first Matrix, where Neo “wakes up” in the real world. Unfortunately, the Architect scene comes too late to have the same impact.
The bike chase: rocked. Even though I knew – from the trailers – that the CG cars were hovering inches above the ground, I was still afraid those things were gonna hit me for real. –Didn’t like the bluescreen studio fight on the truck, though.
The Keymaker: cool little fella. I also like the whole “door” concept. Like the door in “Labyrinth”, if anyone remember? ;)
The music: Don Davis does it again, and the electronic additions suit him. –Don’t know what all the lame satanist loser trash metal-crap is doing on the soundtrack, though. It only played in the end credits, anyway. –Commercial decicions, I guess…
The oracle: her stuff was very interesting… if it was up to me, the 3rd movie would begin with the desctruction of Zion (ridiculous place, anyway), and then concentrate on The Oracle and Agent Smith taking over The Matrix from the Architect… ;)
Well, that’s it. As y’all can tell, I wasn’t too impressed. I don’t mean to make a big issue out of disagreeing with your review, Michael – varying opinions is human nature! ;)
–And I’m still hoping Revolutions proves that Reloaded WAS a good part of the Matrix saga, after all!
Cheers!
I may just be an action craving “star-wars-kid” but i think it rocked!
And i think the “techno-scene” ( orgy! ) was good too, kind of underscored the fact that man is almost reduced to cave-men, revelling in some of the most basic desires. And all that mechanics in stead of electronics..great!
The only thing we noticed in the firght scenes was Morph´s fetisch for playing martyr. “Go!! I´ll stay here!!”
I cant do this like I want to…to much!
I LOVED the movie. I thought I would be disapointed, but i was blown away. And while we are on the subject…I´m in love with trinity!! I dont know what it is, her face isn´t totally ´knock-me-in-the-head-with-a-shovel´beutiful, but she has somthing….presense? That makes her….well loveable.
Damn!! I dodged Lea in star wars. Never saw red sonja. To old to get swooed by Arven in LoTR…and now this….i wanna have her babies :)
must see the movie again…..
Simon.
P.S MAN there was alot of sexual tension in this move…
P.P.S The french guy rocked…both af a bit comical relief, and as a bad guy.
I don’t mean to try and make myself seem superior to anyone, but I think a lot of what made Reloaded so good for me was that I’ve spent a lot of time ‘inside’ the matrix. I’ve of course, like every other christian soul (eh?!) seen the first one over and over and over. I’ve seen and enjoyed all the commentary tracks, I’ve sat through all the specials on the first disc and gone over the revisited disc over and over, read the online comics, in fact I’ve read the entire site, studied the conceptuals, read the script, dug up all in the info I could on the Wachowski’s and their crew and so on and so forth.
And it’s made me very sensitive to the movie and its universe.
Like Simon (who I think had a lot of this built into him at birth or something, because he always picks up on these things), I thought the french guy was hilarious, I looked around me in the cinema, and no one ‘got’ it. I was grinning throughout the movie at the way the camerawork kept playing off of the first one while going into even more extreme shots, the way the dialouge was just really thought provoking while still being tight as a drum, and let’s not forget hilarious.
If you still don’t think “There is no spoon” is one of the funniest line of the first movie, you should go see it again. Once you get that, I’m sure you’ll (the omnipresent hivemind of anyone who don’t get it yet) get the second one a lot better.
Reloaded is a lot more gritty than the first matrix, and I loved the way Reloaded feels much more claustrophobic than the first one. You’re always imprisoned, the sets are closed, almost featureless at times, much more so than the first one, properly emphasizing the fake nature of the matrix.
In regards to the CG, as I said, I could care less. I think people just have a tendency to really focus on it when they should be focusing on the story, action and characters.
And not to shine my own head or anything, but I have spent a fair deal of time looking at, reading about and understanding special effects, so I’m no ‘housewife’ in this arena.
If the video game had turned out to be good, that tie-in would have been so damn sweet. It didn’t though, and as such I think that was a slight mistake.
PS: I too thought it was sexual tension from start to finish, I loved it! I never thought Trinity was that hot though, I don’t know why.
Red Sonja… WTF!? Brigitte Nielsen is one skanky assed beesatch.
PPS: I can’t wait to see Revolutions. And I hope there’s even more real-world action.
PPPS: Why did Neo fight Smith? Because he could. Smith is the arch adversary, and his return from destruction alone is reason enough to face him again. Unfinished business. It’s like asking why did Ripley go back to LV-426?
Oh yeah, the soundtrack. Don Davis’ portion I really like, I think it’s actually better than the score from the first Matrix. (I’m listening to Mona Lisa Overdrive (nice wink!) at the moment). But the more commercial part is definetly a lot more downbeat and boring than its counterpart from the first Matrix.
He, nice geeky reference to the LV-426… :) Anyway, I think that Neo finds out quite early in the burly brawl, that he’s in deep trouble (when the Smiths start doing the gooey Kali-Ma on his chest), and he’s frightened by that, but still stays. This is where I don’t get it. And then 50 more Smiths enter the scene, and still he stays. And he’s always able to fight them all JUST to the limit, no matter if there’s 10, 50 or 100…
And then, after 10 minutes of what I would call Wachowski show-off, he does the Superman.
Oh well.
On a side node, how many Animatrix references did you peeps spot?
Osiris, of course, that was the most obvious one.
There’s also a theory that the kid, Neo’s new fan, is the skateboard kid who escapes from the school in one of the Animatrix movies…
And then I think the concept of renegade programs bears a certain resemblance to the defecting machines in “Matriculated”…
Any more?
Cheers! :)
Regarding the score, it has actully taken quite a lot of beating out there… lots of people really don’t like it.
I love it, and I pity those who don’t “get it” – which I take it is quite how you feel about people like myself, who don’t “get” the movie, Michael? :) Anyway, I’ll be re-watching the first Matrix tonight (for the umpteenth time), to see if I can revive my senses of what The Matrix is and isn’t.
Cheers!
Trinity isnt hot….thats the point…where does she get it from?
And the coolness! I mean, neo is the one…that just HAS to boost your confidence ( maybe thats whe he stays to battle the smith´s, besides the fact that he is still trying to grasp his powers. Also in the beginnig he tries to whack an agent. “hmm…upgrades” He´s continually adapting to what the matrix throws at him, including butt-loads of smiths ) Morph is a legend. Bur her…shes just damn cool.
We actually had this Uber-geeky discussion on our way home, who was cooler, Mystique or trinity. I think the closing argument was “Mystique COULD be trinity….if she wanted to” :)
And another note on the french dude, when neo fights his minions…hes just standing there, you can see him in the background during the entire scene…arms crossed and everything. We wnat more of him.
Oh! The twins! sigh “We are getting aggrevated”
Pause “Yes…..We are”
I think the dialogue was one of the better. That and all the included hints, like when the architect shows neo his life…and all the little tv´s show different clips from the first matrix…I need to see this movie again…soon!!
Simon.
If I didn’t have a previous engagement tonight I would have gone to see it again :(
I’m looking forward to getting the Animatrix, though I must admit that I didn’t like Second Renaissance a whole lot. I love Detective Story, I thought that was very very well done. Program was so-so, not really delivering much else than ‘hm.. okay’.
Simon, I see what you’re saying, and it’s definetly not that I’m revolted by Trinity (not at all!), I find her to be much more beautiful (and interesting) in the real world, rather than the matrix.
BTW, I love the sex scene with the plugs on the backs, the grotesqueness of it all and the beautiful shot of Trinity wrapping her arms around Neo, bordering sureal.
Man this movie was visually amazing!
I think Simon more or less covered my point in regards to why he stays around to fight Smith. Why the hell not? He’s the one dammit!
When he picks up the steelpole and smashes the concrete to bits on the face of a Smith, I was choking on my Coke it was that cool. Those Smith’s were fucked over BAAAAD! That pole had a life of its own, CG or not, some non-existing teeth were bashed out left and right!
Love the shot where Neo finally takes off and all the Smiths are left standing, absolutely brilliant and 100% Wachowski-style!
I’m actually really quite happy that a lot of people didn’t like it, it somehow makes it more ‘our’ movie than say Lord of the Rings. (Nothing bad against LoTR, it’s absolutely fucking awestrikingly stomach wrenchingly good!). Like Fight Club. Some ‘get’ it, to others it’s just another movie.
Does that make us 1337? ;)
BTW, did everyone notice that when the Architect tells neo that they based the current matrix off of all the ‘bad’ history of the human species, hitler, stalin and what have you flash on the screens. Then Bush comes up. That was the crossing of the T for me :)
Oh yeah forgot to add this about the dance. To me that scene is what the entire fight against the machines is about, it’s what makes machines and humans different. The instinctual, lust-driven orgy (almost) which about all the things that the machines can’t do and understand.
It’s both a way of keeping in mind what they’re fighting for, while waving a big “fuck you, you cold-hearted calculating sons o’ bitches” to the machines.
So, I just saw The Matrix again… the original one… and lemme tell you, of all the numerous times I have watched that movie, this was the best time since I first saw it in 1999!
The second movie actually improved on the first one. Quite amazing. :)
The thing that struck me the most – just when Neo is first captured by the agents, right before they “bug” him – the introduction shot to that scene starts with an array of TV-monitors, and then the camera slides in through one of them, and we “hop” into the interrogation room…
I always concidered the TV-monitor location to be a surveillance room or something, but now it striked me that it looks awfully much like the architect’s “home theater”… strikingly much, actually…
Anyone else pondered over this? You think we’re there, with the Architect, watching Neo in that scene?
Good point!
The problem with the techno dance scene was that it just doesn’t fit.
The impression that I always got was that the humans in the real world were just barely able to eke out a living, just barely surviving. I also thought that Zion would be grittier. When you’re trying to survive, you’re not going to do an over-stylized dance scene with see-through clothing. Yeah, the scene might’ve been cool, but it didn’t fit.
I did like the way that the machines didn’t stay stagnant. They had recognized a threat, and were trying to do something about it. Upgrades for the agents, better security, etc.
When I said that sometimes things need to be cut so that the movie as a whole plays better, I didn’t necessarily mean cut out of the movie completely. Possibly just cut down. And I must say that I was positively bored when the French guy was rambling on and on about causality. It was too much, and too long. They made the point, and should’ve left out the whole thing with the hot girl and the cake.
In all honesty, I need to see the movie again. I had a hard time paying attention to it the first time (I fucking hate it when I’m in a crowded theater, surrounded by 12 year olds).
I thought that was hilarious. Not only was it a fun scene, the character was really outrageous and out there. And also they explained why chocolate is seen as an afrodiziac :)
And I think you are reading too much into the dance scene, Mike.
Anothing thing is that it was too Blade-esque. Of course, we Americans aren’t all that crazy about techno/electronica/synth/whatever, so maybe that’s it.
Re: when Neo talks to The Oracle, I don’t think it had anything to do with “Oh, see, It’s the matrix, so it’s not supposed to look real.” In the first film, the outdoor scenes looked like they were outside (part of this is that a large portion, if not all, of the daytime outdoor scenes were actually shot outdoors). The cinematography in the rest of Reloaded ins’t bad per se, but is inconsistent with the first film. For example, in The Matrix, all the scenes that take place inside the matrix have an overly green cast and shot with shorter lenses, and all the scenes taking place in the real world had a blue cast and were shot with longer lenses. In Reloaded, many scenes in the matrix had a normal cast (witness the scene where Neo talks with The Oracle), as did many of the ones in the real world.
It might seem like nitpicking, but when the first film sets such high standards for practically everything (vfx, art direction, cinematography, sound, editing, and the way all of the elements mesh so well and are so consistent both within themselves and with each other), you should do your damndest to at least meet those standards in the sequels. Especially when so many of the people working on the sequels also worked on the original film.
And because I just now remembered it, what is the deal with the guy who fought Neo right before Neo saw The Oracle? That whole fight seemed pointless (and underwhelming) to me. I mean, he had to have known that Neo was Neo (to keep this comment spoiler-free, I won’t say why), so why did he fight him? I think it was a, “Well, we should have another fight scene in there somewhere” kind of decision.
Lastly, Mike, don’t be so elitist about the whole thing… Disliking something because it’s popular is lame, and liking something because it isn’t popular is even more lame.
I’m not reading too much into the dance scene.
I’m not trying to be elitist, I think I’m being real in terms of how will and who won’t ‘get’ the Matrix. And I hardly dislike something because it’s popular, I usually dislike something because it’s bad or simply doesn’t appeal to me. And I certainly don’t make an effort to enjoy things that aren’t popular in any effort to be different. You’re reading your own things into what I said.
I said (rather, I meant): Matrix can be seen in two ways. It can be watched as an action movie. Most people will do this and then leave the cinema, probably never looking back. Or it can be read into if you know the language it speaks. For people who know the language it speaks, it feels like it’s made specifically for them, and that heightens the sensation of the movie, which I’m sure you can agree on. Now when it so happens that the people who just go to see an action movie don’t like it, it’s so much nicer to be one of those people who can read it.
Make of that what you like, I hardly deem it elitist.
As for the use of sets in Reloaded vs. Matrix, see my above comment about change in perception of what the Matrix is.
While I did notice the use of lenses in the first Matrix, I didn’t pay it enough attention in Reloaded to comment on it, I’ll make sure to do that next time see it.
Your English teacher(s) and should you have had one, art teacher(s) should have taught you that you can never read ‘too much’ into anything. That’s what analysis is all about. I promise you that I am not reading too much into anything.
I think you guys are reading too much into each others potsts… :) Discussion is the exchange of knowledge and opinions, not an attempt to change the counterpart’s opinions.
Hell, to deny our own impulses, is to deny the very thing that makes us human. ;)
Cheers!
He started it.
More thoughts on the dance scene:
It takes place in the most organic, natural set in the movies so far. All other sets are either machinemade (the matrix itself) with strict angles and squares ad infinitum, or they’re manmade (Zion, the Nebuchadnezzar and the sewers). With the exception of the make-out spot of Neo and Trin (are we seeing a pattern?), it’s also the location that’s held the warmest lighting, making it the most humane and homely of the locations.
Speaking of Nebuchadnezzar, I noticed in the original movie it says on the name plate “Made in the U.S.A. Year 2069”, or something… any lore on that? Nebuchadnezzar was a real ship, during the wars, or something?
Clarify that last sentence please, do you mean where the name originates from, or if the Neb was part of the first war?
From what I understand, the neb was never meant to be a battleship.
OK, I’m aware of the REAL mythology behind the name, but the “Made in the U.S.A. Year 2069” on the name plaque of the Nebuchadnezzar, IMHO hints that Morph and his crew have taken the name plaque from some relic from the real world, from before the robots nuked everything, slapped it on their hovercraft, and named their hovercraft “Nebuchadnezzar”. So what “something” was that? Where does the name plaque come from? What vehicle/location was named “Nebuchadnezzar” in the U.S.A. in the year 2069?
Do I make more sense now? ;)
Could just be a really old hovercraft. :)
Having watched The Matrix: Revisited DVD more times than is probably healthy :), I’m pretty sure that the Nebuchadnezzar is just supposed to be a really old ship.
That’s why its internals look like they’ve been taken apart and put back together countless times; because, over the 130 years the ship has been in operation, they have been.
Basically, the idea in the first film was that the humans would take whatever equipment/ships/whatever they could find, and use the hell out of it, wasting as little as possible.
Yeah, I definetly never got the idea that it was meant to be anything more than that.
Heh, post 32 in this thread! :P What’s your record?
33 :)
Well, im not going to as much detail as you guys, but i saw it today and for me I enjoyed it a lot. Thats all.
I wont go on about how the close ups of peoples faces were framed intensely from chest to eyebrow, or the way the lighting was ‘off’, or how the dance scene was cool but a bit like a music video, i just found it cool and i would like to read more on the whole concept of the matrix.
However, unfortunatly us 56k’rs cant download the latest animatrix or trailer to frame rape, but i can still enjoyed it without having to search the dark corners of the internet for tidbits. If a film doesnt hold up on its own its, well, not really all there.
Kind of like the whole star wars thing, it requires extra curricular activity to understand it fully. anyway…
J.
Anyone stay until the end of the credits then? hehe.
No. But I’ll be sure to next time.
Yup, we stayed, people were stampeeding out while we sat zen-like, eyes fixed at the silver screen :)
we stayed, waiting for a trailer…what we got was a f…… teaser….dammit…want more!!!
Yeah, it’s not all that long. Though I have a theory based on a minor observation I did when I went to see it again today.
POSSIBLE SPOILER, POSSIBLE BULLSHIT AHEAD!
In the scene where Neo faces off with Smith, you notice how there are Smith’s everywhere around him? Well notice the windows as well, in the buildings behind them, there are Smiths everywhere.
Has Smith taken over the Matrix or something along those lines?
Oh, I loved it equally much second time around, almost more so. I don’t think my compatriots were quite as amused as I was, but hey, you can’t win them all. I can definetly see why people might not necessarily love this movie, though I’m well satisfied :)
Simon: I’ll be back in Denmark when Revolutions is out, we should hook up, if not for the premiere then for a marathon (including the Animatrix! Speaking of which I want to see Flight of the Goddamn Osiris!).
We should hook up for both!! Imperial….mmmm….nice!!!
Havn´t seen any of the animatrix movies but i havn´t heard anything bad about it yet…only good. Maybe because its only ‘geeks‘who would want to spend time and money on it ;)
I wasn’t much of a fan of Second Renaissance, which is the history part of the series.
Flight of the Osiris is fu***** awesome. You can really look forward to that! And to top it off (this will sound SO geeky) – it’s the first time I’ve ever been turned on by a CG character…
Yeah, just go ahead and laugh – you’ll see what I mean! :)
Oh I so want it now!!
holy goddamn monkey slap.
what a good film. i’ve thought about all the previous comments. some i agree with some i really dont. but to be honest, i just really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. i need to watch the first one again, and then watch the reloaded again. i really liked how they tied in the stories of the animatrix stuff and the game.
someone slagged off the music at the end though! thats rage against the machine buddy!! the same with the first film too. i wonder if they will have rage on the credits of film No3?!
I glad you liked it. In regards to the music, it might be Rage, but it’s definetly not one of their better tracks. In fact it sounds like mostly all their other music :(
true mike. you have to listen to a lot of rage against the machine to be able to pick out what songs are diffrent. they follow a fairly tight strong structure.
infact, if u didnt know already RATM are quite political. they support some very important issues, (mostly being anti american government issues)…it might make some intresting reading or whatever to you!www.ratm.com
i wonder why the Brothers choose RATM for the end credits music? their song choice is intresting too.
in the first film it was “wake up”. i guess refering to neo’s awakened state. in reloaded its “calm like a bomb”, which i guess refers to neos personality and explosive powers..