I love the Matrix and don't think I was alone in my amazement at the trailer we saw for Matrix Reloaded with leather clad Trinity (Phwoar!!) plummetting out of a skyscraper in full “bullet time” mode.
So it amazed me that Matrix Reloaded was such a let down. The more glimpses we get into the world of the Matrix the more shallow the whole thing appears.
Showing Zion is a big blunder because it appears to be nothing more than an underground shanty town populated with Rastafarians and stuck up beaurocrats.
There are so many scenes that exist for no other reason than to be “wow” worthy (and are not even that). Neo fights dozens of Agent Smiths- why?! Just fly away!. There is a 4 minute long rave scene that grates beyond belief.
So 30 minutes into the movie the sinking feeling hits and nothing that happens afterward relieves it.
Reloaded becomes a mere parody of the original- pretentious, flat, lacking in likeable characters and it begs the question- why was the original so good? What did it have that this didn't? And then the realisation hits.. Guns.
Reloaded has no super slo-mo, ultra-cool gunfights. You know- like Blade did a full year before The Matrix's “revolutionary” bullet time. That's when the disappointment really hit me. This sequel somehow makes the original a lesser movie. Having said all that there are some scenes to admire. Anything with Monica Bellucci is good. The chase is good- not great, T3 and Bad Boys 2 both have better ones. The virtual climax the Meravingian triggers in the restaurant diner is funny. Other than that it is all a bit lifeless and as much as you feel you should be going “Oooh!” and “Aaah” at the all too few action scenes, you just can't muster 'em up.
Let's hope the Wachowskis ditch the philosophy and deliver a high-tech, nuts out action finale in Revolutions.