<Rainbow Heron>

Friday, May 16, 2003

Matrix Reloaded

First of all, I've been getting roughly 5 hours of sleep per night for the past 2 weeks which means I am close to dead right about now...if I hadn't taken all of those naps today that is. But back to yesterday: The Matrix Reloaded opened yesterday as I'm sure all y'all are aware. I almost never make it to a movie on it's opening day. I can only think of maybe 4 movies that were exceptions: ESB: SE, ROTJ:SE, Harry Potter 2 (first screening ever), and now Matrix 2 (second screening excluding yesterday's previews).

So what did I think of Matrix 2? Let me watch it again and I'll get back to you. Why? I'm too darn sleepy to remember each and every single point I found to be absolute coolness or absolute bullshit like I was able to with HP 2 and AOTC. I'll tell you this tho:

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!
First off, the bad stuff:

#1- TOO MUCH SEX! We SO do not need to see all of Zion engaging in a slo-mo sexy mosh pit where towards the end everyone is sweating so much that you can SO tell the women aren't wearing any bras. At the same time, we do NOT need to see Trinity and Neo engaging in...well...engaging. The fact that these 2 scenes cut into each other all the time (maybe that was a poor choice of wording?) is both a blessing and a curse. It's too much sex for a 3-5 minute spree (lasted WAY too long) but by putting them together, that was 3-5 minutes LESS than it would have been had they seperated them. That's 6-10 minutes spared all together had they completely cut it, which I'm certain the tv will do come next year or so when the small-screen gets permission to host it.

#2- The F*cking Frenchie. Believe it or not, this has NOTHING to do with Iraq altho the Time article made the small quip anyway (yes I bought it before I saw the movie but I read it only today). My problem with Mr. Frenchie is that he's horny and he's...well...I don't like him. He sends a supersexy patron of his resturant a cake which causes...it begins with an "O" and the spfx guy must have had a digital fettish or something cuz the camera turns her into Matrix code and then pans between...*ahem* and in Matrix code terms, "shows it". I don't know about you but as a woman sitting in a theatre with guys around me, I felt rather upset about it. Later on, Frencie's wife refers to the lipstick (aka he's cheating on her) and then says that she (the other woman) wasn't kissing his lips. I think Dad was the only one in the theater who didn't appear to get that and I sure as heck wasn't gonna explain it to him.

#3- Philosophical BS. As if the first movie didn't already make allusions to about a million different religions (take it how you will), but then they twisted it further here. That was a bit much for me, especially when folks in Zion start bringing Neo baskets of food and pleas to help free their loved ones. The latter I can certainly see cuz Morpheus and others free others too, but Neo's Mr. Celebrity here cuz he can manipulate the Matrix (tell ya later) and sure enough, there's a large load of "offerings" outside the door waiting for him after he and Trinity are..."finished" with their afrorementioned encounter. I thought people in Zion were starving.

With the exception of the philosophy stuff (which is central to a lot of themes and characters), they could DEFINATELY get rid of those 3 sex instances. No wonder it's rated R, even tho it got that based on the fight scenes and not the sex or language.

NOW FOR THE GOOD STUFF!!!!

#1- Agent Smith is back! "MR. ANDERSON!" he screams when he and Neo meet again. It's funny at times to think that this guy also plays Elrond but it also shows how great an actor this guy is cuz they're so different and Agent Smith is just TOTALLY Agent Smith! The fight with the 100 Smiths? I knew it'd be cool and DANG IT'S SO FREAKIN' COOL!!!! They could have a whole hour of that as far as I'm concerned!!! And Neo would make a great Jedi Knight with that pole there. I'm no fan of wrestling, but I was sure acting like it while watching this- this fight kicks some VERY SERIOUS BUTT!!!! This alone is worth the price of admission!

#2- The freeway chase. High octane, lots of fighting, majorly cool...but not as cool as Neo v Smith. But that's just *my* opinion. :-)

#3- The rogue prgrams. This appeared to deviate from the first movie a bit but I'm sure if I watch it again, it won't feel so out of place. I still "got" 99% of the movie the first time, but the bit about Bane took the Time article to get it. Now I've got to watch the movie again (hey, I wouldn't mind!).

#4- NO STROBE LIGHTS!!! WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

#5- SPFX: they are SO gonna get the Oscar for that!!!! I dare say it's giving ILM a VERY SERIOUS run for the money! Watch yourself George...

#6- More Matrix shots. That scrolling code stuff- you can actually see more of it and the inner gears of a clock and other stuff with it! I was SO hoping for that, altho while there was a lot of it, there wasn't nearly enough for me. But again, that's just me. :-)

#7- Trinity and Neo are even. That makes sense.

#8- Tank is gone. :-( If only the guy weren't a hothead and got arrested. Altho that new guy is a trip.

#9- The Senate Chamber...uh, Zion counsel that is. *ahem*

#10- The million-tv room with the architect contains scenes from the first movie when he's first discussing Neo himself. Look for it- REALLY cool!

#11- No Alice? There HAS to be a human behind the Matrix. This is a personal theory, but with all those Alice in Wonderland/Looking-Glass land allusions they made in the first film, it's a real wonder (npi) that they didn't do more of it in this film. I was SO hoping they would. They did have "rooms" with lots of doors at times tho (but more than one key).

#12- Da bomb. I thought it was supposed to destroy the entire Matrix when it went off and Neo would have to get that number of people (how many was it again? It was more women than men I remember that one...) out before it all crashed? I knew Neo was gonna have to crash it at some point, if he doesn't I'll be disappointed. But maybe I need to watch that scene again? I'm a bit confused on that one.

#13- Oracle. She's still a trip, but I'm still not entirely sure as to how the Oracle is the "mother of the Matrix". Must be the concept (npi) thingy there. I also can't help thinking if Oracle is a pun on that OS of the same name. She's still got those colors, candy, and cigarette.

#14- The Birds. I KNOW those birds are a specific kind and they have some symbolic significance. I just can't ID the bird. Smith walking thru them as they flew off made me think of a music video the way it was styled.

#15- The Spoon. The "orphan" who sent it to Neo must've been that same kid. We don't see him, but we sure do see that spoon! :-D

#16- The Groupie. This guy hangs off of Neo in Zion all the time apparently and thank goodness they didn't always show him cuz he'd get SO annoying SO quickly.

#17- The Force. I had a feeling that if Neo can see the Matrix, then surely he can sense it too. Apparently when Smith destroyed Neo and then Neo destroyed Smith, a little bit of each got into the other. Can anyone say Harry inherited some of Voldemort's powers here? But yes, Neo was able to stop some sentiels (squiddy) IRL at the end. It's about dang time! Put him in a coma tho (part of the cliffhanger).

#18- Version 6.0 Like AOL, the Matrix has versions. We know the other Agents got upgrades (gotta love that quip!) but apparently so did the Matrix. They're in Version 6 and not only that, but so is Neo!!! I need to see that scene again with the architect, but like the Time article, I had to wonder if he wasn't lying thru his teeth the whole time. I like how they had Neo's internal emotional reactions plastered all over those million tvs.

#19- Neo's outfit is COOL!!!! I want one of those... ;-D

#20- We could do without the Morpheus/Niobe thing. It didn't really go anywhere anyway and we could have done without it since it was so not important in anything really. The ONLY time it seemed to make any matter was in 2 places and 2 only: the bad blood between Morpheus and the Commander, and Niobe's volunteering to go after Morpheus's ship.

#21- Shipwrecked. Morpheus's ship gets destroyed. :.-( I was wondering when we'd be seeing a crew having to return to Zion on foot.

#22- The control tower. Rather, it's a bunch of freed folks hooked up to something that looks like the loading program (that all-white thingy that's not the Matrix but is in the computer) and they're using it for traffic control. Cool! I was wondering if they'd ever do something like that.

#23- Fashion show. Where did they get all those clothes? They mentioned in the Time article that they grow their own stuff but where to they get the dye and the fact that everyone seems to have more than 1 outfit? In the first movie, the colors you wore have significance, how there are more colors to be had. There was an interesting shot where Morpheus, the commander, and the counsellor were in the same room, someone came in, and then there was a shot of those 3 together and they were wearing red, yellow, and blue. Primary colors. Very nice.

#24- And then there were 4. Morpheus is still looking to fill positions of the crew killed by Cypher and he's not done yet.

#25- Power and control. This is a common theme for this movie and I got sick of it after a while. It's the big issue/debate that starts with the counselor and Neo in the engineering section (cool to see, and since Neo can see how the Matrix works, this was a heavy conversation if in meaning only). It occurred to me later, that "control" could also mean Control as in the computer command and it wasn't until while typing this out that "power" could also be alluding to the fact that humans are batteries. The whole war is about controlling the humans so that the ai get the power. Literally in both senses. While watching the movie I got annoyed with this a bit, but now I get it. Sadly, the characters didn't. Then there was that whole bit about choice too...

#26- Terminated. I'm sorta but sorta not hoping for at least a pun on this word as it is a part of computer terminology. Maybe it's because T3 comes out this summer or that the destruction of the power plant reminded me of T2. Hmmm, power again...

#27- Outside the city. Those tricky keys can lead you to strange places if you put it in the door, turn the key, open it, and then close it on someone. Neo ended up in the mountains at one point. First time we've been out of the city (with the name City).

#28- Room 101. Or Floor 101. Either way, that's how you get to Frenchie. Remember that room number was Neo's in the first movie?

#29- Heavy Metal. I don't care for it but I see why they use it.

#30- Bullet time. Neo stops a hailstorm of bullets at one time. And then bullet time gets used and used and used several times at slower motion. I dare say I got a wee bit tired of it.

#31- The twins. Ghosts in the machine. Cool! I wonder if Neo could do that.

#32- "He's doing his Superman thing". Even flew in the clouds with the moon in the shot. There's a shot in the original Superman movie like this. Consider it an Easter Egg even tho the shot's not identical.

#33- More computer names. No one has last names in Zion and most everyone's names are computer terms or hacker names. There are a few small exceptions tho.

#34- Blue screen/Green screen. Still doing the color filter. I guess life is too glum for rainbows. :-(

#35- No cats this time? No animals? Except for the birds, I can't see any more animals. Is everyone in Zion a vegan (makes sense)? But where are the animals in the Matrix? Not enough heat or electricity? Not worth it? Not animal lovers? Where are the critters?!?!

#36- I could SO watch a bunch of cool stuff on that million tv screens in the architect's room. I'm certain the architect must be either the original ai or a human. Makes no sense for him to be only a computer program. They can't build large OS.

#37- More deaths. This time a semi-gory death of another ship blasted to heck by a sential while everyone was in the Matrix. The scrolling code and the dripping blood on the computer screen is a very powerful image and I'm sure the symbolism groupies will love that one.

#38- Viral Agent. I found it fun that in the last movie, Smith classified humans as a virus. Now, Smith infects both machine and man very similarly to -you guessed it- a virus!!! :-D Why exactly is he no longer an Agent? And how did he aquire that skill? I don't see how that was Neo.

#39- Staying behind. Morpheus's ship went against orders and stayed behind longer than the others...when? I can't tell any difference other than the dialog. When did they stay behind?

#40- Zion! Of course the whole thing is cool! Loved the shot of all the lights in the quarters area going out. Morpheus (whose name refers to the master of dreams -yeah symbolism) even told Zion "sweet dreams"! Aw!

Hopefully that's it for now and I remembered more than I thought I did. Trust me, there's a WHOLE lot more than this! Overall: GREAT FILM! GO SEE IT!!!

posted @ 8:41 PM  |   0 comments  |