Rating- * * * * * (5/5)
“The prophesy has been fulfilled.” I was looking for a Matrix quote that could adequately sum up my feelings on the film and serve as the first line to what will undoubtedly be one of my most difficult reviews to write. We have heard for so many years from so many Hollywood producers how their new film would be the end-all be-all for film lovers. The Hollywood hype machine has delivered mostly empty promises and overstatements…until now. For once, the hype was true. For once, a producer’s claim that his film would forever change the way movies are watched and made was not a pile of bull. I went in equipped with a knee-jerk instinct to doubt the hype but came out wide-eyed and blown-away beyond my wildest dreams. I’m sure by now you are all well-aware of the enormous hype surrounding this film and the basic storyline of the first film so I won’t bother telling you things you already know. In case you don’t follow the Hollywood press machine quite as avidly as me, Joel Silver, the producer of The Matrix and its two new sequels made some quite outrageous statements in the days preceding the release of Reloaded, namely that it will not just raise the bar of visual effects but prove that, as the spoon boy would say, there is no bar. I must admit I thought he was completely insane to make such comments that could obviously never be true, but I’m happy to say he was right. In terms of visuals, there is no film that can even touch The Matrix Reloaded. I mean nothing even close and that’s including the incredible advances of The Two Towers. It’s quite obvious from the look of this film that the advances made in visual effects by the production team were such that they gave free reign to anything the Wachowski brothers could possibly dream of. The key fight scenes are simply remarkable and will undoubtedly go down as some of the most famous action sequences in cinematic history. I will do you the courtesy of not mentioning all of them but most impressive are the fight between Neo and the Smith clones and the incredible car chase sequence that is almost 15 minutes long and yet never drags for a second. Neo’s fight with the Smiths in the park is particularly interesting because the first half of it is done with actual actors and wirework while the second half is done almost entirely with CGI. While the wirework done here and elsewhere in the film is flawless and astonishing to watch, the CGI fight sequences are executed with such mastery and realism that they can’t help but be the best part of the film. I assure you, you will not blink during Neo’s fight with the Smiths. There is also a mix of live action and CGI in the car chase as well, ending with one of the most spectacular shots I think I’ve ever seen on a movie screen. The visual mastery this film possesses can not be overstated or over-hyped. This is without a doubt the most visually advanced film ever made in the history of the cinema up to this point. It’s a simple fact and cannot be debated. As far as the story goes, I have to say I was a bit baffled. There are some incredible developments that we discover in the film but the dialogue is so fast-moving you almost wonder if those guys from The West Wing wrote it while walking down a hallway. The story takes a few turns that are very unexpected and change the nature of the film quite significantly if in fact they remain true when Revolutions is released. There is also quite a heavy dose of philosophy thrown into this movie, or should I say pseudo-philosophy, and it can be a bit much to handle for your average action fan. If you can get a hold of what’s really going on in this film and what is revealed to us, the implications are quite startling and in fact might change the way you look at the first film. This film is definitely meant to be viewed in the context of both its predecessor and its upcoming sequel and, as the filmmakers have already stated, you must remember that this is only half of a film. It does not stand on its own as an independent motion picture and thus I struggled in coming up with a rating. Can I really give a perfect rating to a film that is incomplete? My solution was a bit complicated but I believe the fairest way to assess the film; I have judged this as what it is, the first half of a film. As the first half of a larger project, this film is flawless and in fact exceeds my wildest dreams for the series. I desperately wanted the Wachowski brothers to take chances with this film and I’m glad to see they didn’t allow themselves to be influenced by overenthusiastic fans (a.k.a. the wrathful society of nerds out there, including Harry Knowles and all the boys at AICN). You may have seen more than a few negative reviews of this film and I think I understand where that negativity comes from. Without ruining the story, the Matrix storyline takes a markedly darker and more hopeless tone in Reloaded than the bright, optimistic tone of the original film. Heroes fall, illusions are shattered and hopes are dashed. These are things we might not enjoy in an summer blockbuster but they are realities and they are concepts worth taking advantage of. While it may not appeal to their original fan base, what the Wachowskis have done with Reloaded is to take a new direction with material that would otherwise have been quite trite and dull. What they’ve done is a brave achievement. For me and millions like me, this film is The One. It is the film that will save us from the tyranny of the brainless, the film that has guts enough to give a middle finger to the obsessive nerds that wait anxiously to criticize every detail. Please take this review with the understanding that I do reserve the right to come back and revise it after Revolutions is released, since that will tell me much more about the significance and relevance of the events in this film. But for now, this film deserves recognition for its unrivaled technical achievements and its narrative boldness. Believe the hype. This is the movie to see this summer and no matter what you think of the story, you won’t be bored, which in itself is a greater achievement than most movies these days can hope for.