Matrix: Reloaded Mini-Review

[John Galt]

I watched the movie last night and I have to say it was brilliant! I enjoyed it beyond all expectations and thought it was much better than the original (which I also enjoyed). For those reading this, I won't include any major spoilers, but I thought I'd write up a mini-review.

I can't think of a movie that so well combined form and substance in such a successfully symbiotic way. The style, pacing, mood, and atmosphere are integrated in a way so beyond the silly raining-means-someone-is-gonna-die sort of way. The ebb and flow of the movie is part of the plot. Going along for a ride in movie takes on a whole meaning (and I'm not taking about the "action" elements which were amazing, but not my cup of tea).

None of this is to say that the substance is lacking in its own terms. Sure, you need a little geek-dom appreciation for the complexities of computer programming and have to actually care about contradictions in theories of free will, but the movie explores incredibly developed themes without preaching easy answers. Even the scenes that are over-the-top and cheesy address the major themes from pathetic (pathos) angles.

(And this a total tangent of interest to probably only me, but) This movie has the single best cameo of any movie I've ever seen. Anyone can have a major movie star show up in a movie and get token laughs or applause from the audience. How many can have a Critical Race Theory scholar/Princeton professor randomly show up so that maybe 2 or 3 people in the whole audience even notice. Cornell West shows up in the council scene with a couple lines. His presence is so appropriate in what is sure to be the highest grossing movie ever with a majority black cast. I loved it.

(Now back to the review) The conclusion to the movie (not the actual end) is brilliant. The scene where we find out a lot of what is going on is incredibily conceived and executed. It is even more fulfilling then the first movie when discovering exactly what the matrix was. It has been a while since a movie has really left me excited when I left the theater (Adaptation was close, but nearly on this level), but Reloaded was truly amazing even with a few warts. Truly astounding!

Edited for spelling.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Im glad you like d the movie ....I saw a screening on Wednesday and am impressed .

[Qwikshot]

Take the red pill, the red pill!!!

[Franklinnoble]

Originally posted by John Galt

...in what is sure to be the highest grossing movie ever with a majority black cast.

How do you figure?

The male lead is white. The female lead is white. The major bad guys are all white (were there even any black agents?)

[sabotai]

I thought the cast was evenly split between black and white. Which begs the question. Are there any hispanics in the future?

[John Galt]

Originally posted by Franklinnoble
How do you figure?

The male lead is white. The female lead is white. The major bad guys are all white (were there even any black agents?)

I didn't say that the leads were black (with the exception of Morpheus), but overall I think the cast - mostly Xion residents - is black. I could be wrong, but that was my impression.

[Franklinnoble]

Originally posted by John Galt
I didn't say that the leads were black (with the exception of Morpheus), but overall I think the cast - mostly Xion residents - is black. I could be wrong, but that was my impression.

Right... an all-black population led by a small group of white people. Sounds like the man tryin' to keep all the brothers down.

[Daimyo]

Why would we even be having a discussion that involed the racial make up of the cast?

People actually pay attention to that sort of thing now-a-days?

[Travis]

Where's Undercover Brother when you need him?

[John Galt]

Originally posted by Daimyo
Why would we even be having a discussion that involed the racial make up of the cast?

People actually pay attention to that sort of thing now-a-days?

Hollywood sure does - the way movies are created, the audiences they are marketed for, and what race should play what roles are all driving forces in movie creation. The roles for black men are still limited and even moreso for black women. Asian men may suffer the worst as they are almost never considered for male leads on TV or in the movies. Hispanic roles are also few and far between. I thought the Matrix did a great job in having a diverse cast and had blacks in an array of leadership roles in the movie - that is something unusual in today's movies.

[Qwikshot]

Originally posted by John Galt
Hollywood sure does - the way movies are created, the audiences they are marketed for, and what race should play what roles are all driving forces in movie creation. The roles for black men are still limited and even moreso for black women. Asian men may suffer the worst as they are almost never considered for male leads on TV or in the movies. Hispanic roles are also few and far between. I thought the Matrix did a great job in having a diverse cast and had blacks in an array of leadership roles in the movie - that is something unusual in today's movies.

What and Star Trek didn't?

[Qwikshot]

Come to think of it, most science fiction films tend to be more racially diverse than other films...Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, Star Wars, Matrix, etc...heck, even the Fifth Element had a black president, and Chris Tucker is hilarious.

[John Galt]

Originally posted by Qwikshot
Come to think of it, most science fiction films tend to be more racially diverse than other films...Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, Star Wars, Matrix, etc...heck, even the Fifth Element had a black president, and Chris Tucker is hilarious.

I agree Sci-Fi is usually better, but most Sci-Fi isn't mainstream like the Matrix. And the original Star Trek didn't have a lot of diversity in leadership roles (although it did have the very first on-screen interracial kiss). Also, Planet of the Apes is a little weird because all the humans were white and blacks were apes.

[Qwikshot]

Originally posted by John Galt
I agree Sci-Fi is usually better, but most Sci-Fi isn't mainstream like the Matrix. And the original Star Trek didn't have a lot of diversity in leadership roles (although it did have the very first on-screen interracial kiss). Also, Planet of the Apes is a little weird because all the humans were white and blacks were apes.

Wasn't the one movie set in the future where the apes riot...that one had African-Americans present as part of the leadership. Granted there is another level with Planet of the Apes was that it was about racism but there were several races of apes with their own problems. So I don't think it was weird, and I don't think that the apes were supposed to just represent African-Americans (I knew someone would do such and that is wrong).

[Qwikshot]

I think Trekkies and Star War fans worldwide would disagree John.

Here is my problem with this view. The movie world is not the same as the real world...people go to movies to escape from the real world...why add token characters to a movie just to have a racial element?

We shouldn't have to identify with a character due to a person's skin color...I think Morpheus is cool, I'd be him over Neo anyday. But add an empty character to a movie for the sake of having a racial character, and who is the audience going to identify with?!?

[Subby]

I actually thought seeing Cornell West on the Council was distracting..."Hey...that's Cornell West".

But then in the pitch blackness of that theater, a slight, smug smile crossed my lips as I realized that probably only two or three of the Joe Six Packs in the theater even KNOW who Cornell West is!!!! And I was one of them!!!!

Score one for black actors AND work-skipping-cracker-psuedo-intellectuals....

[tucker342]

I'm so excited for this damn movie...

[sabotai]

"...why add token characters to a movie just to have a racial element?"

Because if they didn't, Jesse Jackson would bitch about it.

[John Galt]

Originally posted by Qwikshot
I think Trekkies and Star War fans worldwide would disagree John.

Here is my problem with this view. The movie world is not the same as the real world...people go to movies to escape from the real world...why add token characters to a movie just to have a racial element?

We shouldn't have to identify with a character due to a person's skin color...I think Morpheus is cool, I'd be him over Neo anyday. But add an empty character to a movie for the sake of having a racial character, and who is the audience going to identify with?!?

My point is precisely not to add tokens. The problem is that Hollywood thinks "race" when it markets and creates movies. They don't call for auditions of "actors" - they call for certain attributes including race. I thought it was great that Denzel played Lincoln Rhyme (a white character from the book) in Bone Collector - ask him though how often that happens. And look at how Hollywood markets "black" movies. The fact is that race does matter and encouraging diversity in characters (ie having blacks in leadership roles in the movies) is important. Movies aren't real life, but they send powerful signals about the world we live in.

[BishopMVP]

Originally posted by John Galt
(And this a total tangent of interest to probably only me, but) This movie has the single best cameo of any movie I've ever scene (sic).

Don't you mean Roy Jones Jr.?

I heard Cornel West was in it, but I don't know who he actually is and all along I thought he was playing Morpheus' political enemy. Oh well, I don't like pompous people anyway.

P.S. - I also liked Monica Bellucci's cameo

[sabotai]

Hmmm....John Galt = Jesse Jackson? Just maybe...

[AgPete]

Hmmm...after reading John Galt's review, my expectations may have risen for this movie. I've been reading a lot of negative reviews about it and while many critics have an agenda to tear down any mega-hyped movie, in general, a good movie will always have a consensus among reviewers. (e.g. The Lord of the Rings series)

Roger Ebert wrote this about the Matrix:

That will not prevent fanboys from analyzing the philosophy of "The Matrix Reloaded" in endless Web postings. Part of the fun is becoming an expert in the deep meaning of shallow pop mythology; there is something refreshingly ironic about becoming an authority on the transient extrusions of mass culture, and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) now joins Obi-Wan Kenobi as the Plato of our age.

It sounds like Ebert missed the message though after reading your post John Galt. I hope I'm pleasantly surprised by the movie. Loved the first one and can't wait to watch the second. Sounds like I just need to take a break from reality and enjoy the movie for what it is. Ebert usually seems to do this when reviewing his movies which is why I usually read his reviews. He doesn't take movies too serious and just enjoys them for what they are. BTW, he gave it 3 and 1/2 stars.

[IMetTrentGreen]

a lot of movie reviewers won't get the deeper threads in the movie. most people won't, period. i didn't, except for the free will thing. the wachowski brothers are waaaay to smart for most of us