Review of The Matrix Reloaded (2003) by Jason T — 09 Aug 2014

Every scene that does not involve action in this film is so stilted, I'm surprised I could stand it 11 years ago when this film came out. I remembered enjoying it quite a bit. Mainly because if the film's centerpiece action sequences. One involving a lengthy freeway chase, the other a exciting weapons battle inside the foyer of a chateau. The second scene mentioned probably still stands as one of the greatest wire fu battles of all time, a great use of props and geography.

The plot involves stopping the war between the humans and machines before the human stronghold of Zion is overrun by a horde of multi-eyed octopus-like machines. In order to stop this invasion, our heroes need to make contact with the "Architect", a program that helped shape the Matrix into what it is today. In order to find him, they need the "Keymaker", a program held hostage by a very French fellow (program) named the Merovingian.

Throughout most of this movie people stand in front of each other delivering dialogue as stiltedly as possible. You can hardly blame them, most of the dialogue is the most overblown pseudo-phillosophising you have ever heard. I dare your eyes not to roll to the back of your head listening to the hot air being spewed in this film. The Wachowski's are not Sarte, although they may think they are.

There are two characters who do stand out in this monotony of monotone voices, Gloria Foster as the Oracle and Lambert Wilson as Merovingian. Wilson especially delightfully chews up scenery as the French loving program who has the Keymaker imprisoned. During this segment, the film breaks free from its' self-serious stupor and becomes the great action film it could have been for 2 hours and 18 minutes. I believe the decision to bring back Agent Smith to the second and third films was a bad one. Why couldn't the Merovingian be the main villain of the second two movies, with those creepy twins as his sidekicks? As it is, Hugo Weaving seems shoehorned into the movie as a distraction to the main story. Grade: 6.5.