This week one of the most anticipated movies of the year, hell, in the last few years finally hits the big screen. To say that I was disappointed with “”The Matrix Reloaded”” would be a ball faced lie, as I didn’t walk into the theater all giddy with excitement like everyone else. I walked into the movie hoping it would be good, but I honestly didn’t have any expectations for it (negative or positive).
I’m one of the few people who did not get blown away by the original “”The Matrix.”” Sure the “”The Matrix”” broke new ground in digital effects and the action scenes did kick ass, but the story was stupid, and it had Keanu “”Whoa”” Reeves as the lead character.””The Matrix”” look and visual effects have been ripped off so many times in the last few years, that the filmmakers and fans of the original knew that “”Matrix Reloaded”” had to top it’s predecessor in order to truly succeed. Especially with not one, but two sequels in a single year, we’re expecting to be awed and floored by what they’ll come up with next. Writer/Directors Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski try their damnedest to push the envelop with “”Matrix Reloaded”” – you have to give them points for trying – unfortunately, they fall flat on their ass almost every time. I kept waiting for something to happen, an incredible moment, some major plot development, or point behind it all, and after about an hour and 40 minutes, I realized that I wasn’t going to get it. What’s wrong with “”Matrix Reloaded”” you ask? Almost everything. Let’s start with the script. After sitting there watching this thing for 2 – 2 1/2 hours I didn’t feel like I was watching a movie, where logic matters. I was watching a film that was nothing more than an excuse to get from one fight scene to another. It felt disjointed, fruitless (hey there’s a word I’ve never used in a review before), lifeless, ponderous, and most of all – just goddamn pretentious!!Every word uttered was spoken as if it was coming from God himself, but delivered by some half asleep midnight baker. If you asked me what “”The Matrix Reloaded”” is about, I would be hard pressed to tell you. Luckily that’s why we have IMDB. Here’s what I gathered together, you see there’s this place where all the humans who rejected living in the world of “”The Matrix”” are now living in this desolate, ugly looking place called Zion. Sure they have choice, and they know that Zion is the real world, but I kept asking myself, why the hell would they want to leave a world like “”The Matrix”” to live in squalor like Zion? The rebel leaders (Cornel West is one of these leaders, his cameo gave me a good chuckle) estimate that they have less than 72 hours to plan a defense before they all get wiped out by the machine’s Probes.Meanwhile Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) is spouting off about some prophecy that is destined to be fulfilled. Do we find out what this prophecy is? No. All we know is that there’s a prophecy and that Neo is the one who will fulfill it. When did Laurence Fishburne become such a caricature of himself? I mean really, he looked overweight (don’t ever take your shirt off in another film again) and spoke as if everything he said was the most important thing in the world. His performance was borderline irritating, but at least it had some sort of life to it. Reeves, CANNOT ACT!!!! Please do not put him in any more movies. Let him go and play music with his bad garage band. He makes the piece of wood known as “”Vin Diesel”” seem like a Shakespearean actor. Reeves’ Neo displayed absolutely NO emotion. He just stood there as if he couldn’t care less or be bothered with whatever was going on. But he looked damn cool and good while he did it. I would rather just get a poster of Keanu as Neo, than sit there and watch the next film in the trilogy, “”Matrix Revolutions.”” The poster would have more life in it than Reeve’s onscreen performance. If the movie’s lead doesn’t care what’s happening on the screen, why the hell should an audience? Neo’s love interest “”Trinity”” Carrie-Anne Moss also returns, and while Moss looks good in the black leather, she’s not given much to do in this. Again, just get her poster, you’ll be happier.There are other people in this movie and new characters, but they are all inconsequential and pointless to the plot (again what little there is) and not worth mentioning. One would think that the only reason Jada Pinkett-Smith is even in this movie is because of who her husband is. Yeah, I said it. The woman can’t act her way out of a paper bag. She just stood there and vamped.Every bit of dialog seemed more like a 10 or 15 minute monologue with one character talking, and talking, and talking, cut to shot of Neo’s reaction shot (which is Keanu’s patented blank stare), more talking and talking and talking (cut to my blank stare and watch check). What were they talking about? Choice. Almost every monologue, excuse me, dialogue, in the movie was about the same GODDAMN THING!!!!! “”We have choices to make.”” “”Fate is something that we all have to face.”” “”What is Destiny?”” I’m like shut up already. I get the point, move on to something else or another topic! Don’t give me 6 or 7 variations of the same 15 minute speech. Jesus!Of course this being “”The Matrix”” universe, all the incessant monologues have to be broken up with way cool fight scenes, and again the movie disappoints. The fight scenes, looked weird, and felt lifeless. Primarily because almost each and every one went on just way too long, and eventually they became repetitive. As nothing innovative happened in them, it was just a series of everyone punching, and NEO blocking and then flying away to end it. Yeah the first time he fights, and then flies away, he looks damn cool. But then there’s this fight scene that he has with Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), the first two minutes of which looked pretty damn cool, but then it quickly disintegrates into being absolutely ridiculous, with Neo being forced to fight 20 or 30 clones of Smith, and once he defeats the first round of clones, here comes another 100, and another round, and another round, it just becomes utterly unbelievable. The bad CGI of Neo fighting these clones is laughable. If I wanted to watch a video game, I would just get “”Enter The Matrix,”” the film’s CGI shots of the actors fighting are really bad, and obvious. He ends this 10 or 15 minute malee by simply flying off. I simply shook my head and said “”huh?”” Why the hell didn’t he do that to begin with? Almost every fight sequence would start off great, and have some cool moments in them, but they just went on too long.So how does “”The Matrix Reloaded”” end? With yet another 10 minute monologue about choice and destiny. I kid you not. As I said, I admire what the Wachowski brothers were trying to do with this film, and the movie does look expensive and “”well made.”” Yes it’s only part 2 of a 3 part trilogy, but each piece of a trilogy needs to stand on its own two feet, while progressing the greater story. This movie does neither. It ends up being a 2 1/2 hour wet noodle. Final Grade DEM Review byMichelle Alexandria5/14/03