Worryingly, the longer this movie goes on, the harder it is to care.
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Runtime: 2 hrs 18 mins
Synopsis: What if the Prophecy is true? What if tomorrow this war could be over? Isn't that worth fighting for? Isn't that worth dying for? Thomas "Neo" Anderson (KEANU REEVES) made a costly decision when he chose to ask the question that Morpheus (LAURENCE FISHBURNE) and Trinity (CARRIE-ANNE... What if the Prophecy is true? What if tomorrow this war could be over? Isn't that worth fighting for? Isn't that worth dying for? Thomas "Neo" Anderson (KEANU REEVES) made a costly decision when he chose to ask the question that Morpheus (LAURENCE FISHBURNE) and Trinity (CARRIE-ANNE MOSS) had asked before him. To seek and accept the truth. To free his mind from the Matrix. Everything begins with choice. Now, in the second chapter of the Matrix trilogy, Neo assumes greater command of his extraordinary powers as Zion falls under siege to the Machine Army. Only a matter of hours separates the last human enclave on Earth from 250,000 Sentinels programmed to destroy mankind. But the citizens of Zion, emboldened by Morpheus’s conviction that the One will fulfill the Oracle’s Prophecy and end the war with the Machines, rest all manner of hope and expectation on Neo, who finds himself stalled by disturbing visions as he searches for a course of action. We can never see past a choice we don’t understand. Strengthened by their love for each other and their belief in themselves, Neo and Trinity choose to return to the Matrix with Morpheus and unleash their arsenal of extraordinary skills and weaponry against the systematic forces of repression and exploitation. But there exist powerful figures within the Matrix who refute the artifice of choice, evading the responsibility it brings as they feed on the emotional truths of others. Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without. Meanwhile, there are exiles like Agent Smith (HUGO WEAVING), whose inexorable connection to Neo compels him to disobey the system that has called for his deletion. Driven by the humanity he once despised, Smith will consume everything in his path on his quest for revenge. What do all men with power want? More power. On his treacherous journey toward further insight into the construct of the Matrix and his pivotal role in the fate of mankind, Neo will confront greater resistance, an even greater truth and a more impossible choice than he ever imagined. You didn’t come here to make the choice. You’ve already made it. You’re here to try to understand why you made it. At the confluence of love and truth, faith and knowledge, purpose and reason, Neo must follow the course he has chosen. “What if I can’t?” he asks. “What if I fail?” Then Zion will fall. Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures and NPV Entertainment, a Silver Pictures production, The Matrix Reloaded, starring KEANU REEVES, LAURENCE FISHBURNE and CARRIE-ANNE MOSS. The film also stars HUGO WEAVING, JADA PINKETT SMITH and GLORIA FOSTER. The Matrix Reloaded is written and directed by THE WACHOWSKI BROTHERS and produced by JOEL SILVER. The executive producers are ANDY WACHOWSKI, LARRY WACHOWSKI, GRANT HILL, ANDREW MASON and BRUCE BERMAN. The director of photography is BILL POPE, A.S.C.; the production designer is OWEN PATERSON; the editor is ZACH STAENBERG, A.C.E.; the music is composed by DON DAVIS; the visual effects supervisor is JOHN GAETA; and the costume designer is KYM BARRETT. The Matrix Reloaded will be released worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures. The Matrix Reloaded has been rated “R” by the MPAA for “sci-fi violence and some sexuality.” [More]
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, Harold Perrineau
Screenwriter: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
Producer: Joel Silver
Composer: Don Davis
DVD Info
Release:
Jun 6, 2006
Reviews
There are levels on which it works, and levels on which it doesn't, but all of them hold our attention.
An unqualified triumph for the many artisans who brought to life some of the most audacious and astonishing action sequences you are likely to see for a decade.
It all adds up to 138 minutes of very high-quality entertainment: and it's not often the time whizzes by as entertainingly as this.
Bloated, pretentious, confusing and occasionally downright annoying.
'The dust-ups in The Matrix Reloaded would make Gene Kelly weep.'
Highly pretentious and overly serious yet a feast for the eyes with groundbreaking effects and action sequences.
SNEAK REVIEW: If you're looking for a deep, meaningful cinematic experience then The Matrix Reloaded is not for you. But if it's a non-stop rollercoaster ride you're after, then this movie is light years ahead of anything that's gone before.
Between the money scenes, we get characters standing at attention and burping prophecies and deep thoughts at each other.
...less a narrative than an advertisement for a cultural wave. It's all about discount Zen and black clothes, the commodification of sterile violence as Kabuki.
If you're 14 or younger in age or sensibility, you may giggle at some of the bons mots.
The Matrix Reloaded -- not unlike its predecessor -- might be hard to swallow, but it's so delicious you just can't help but want more.
Now if I can just make it until November to see how those loose ends tie up...
Entertaining enough to make it worth the price of a movie ticket.
'What made the first film so satisfying -- the detailed creepiness of human enslavement by technology -- is barely touched on here.'
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