I don't understand

[andrewducker]

I wasn't as dissapointed by Matrix Reloaded as many people were. The first one wasn't a revelation to me (I actually preferred The Mummy, which I saw in the same week), and the second one seemed to take the mythos and broaden it nicely. I didn't get sucked into the hype about it being the most incredible movie of all time and so I enjoyed it as a fun action movie with a fair number of references thrown in for good measure.

The one thing that concerned me was whether they'd be able to tie up the various threads they created in the first half of the movie into a decent whole by the end of it. The new trailer, here, doesn't exactly settle my anxieties, but it does, very much make it look as if they're at least going to try.

As I hoped, there's going to be an arrangement of some sort between Neo and the Machines over Mr Smith, who is something new that the machine's plans hadn't taken into account. The machine's still seem to be attacking Zion however, so I suspect that Neo has to finish Smith off in order for the Machine attack to be called off.

The Meringovingean is back, and I'm hoping we'll get an explanation of who he actually is (possibly a previous Neo, possibly a rogue program), which would hopefully also explain what exactly the Architect was saying and the basis for the whole Matrix metaphysic/history.

We see Neo taking out machines in the real world, carving a swathe through flying hunter/killers, so it looks like the ones that fell at the end of Reloaded weren't just a coincidence, he actually does have powers in the real world. This could be because the real world is another layer of the Matrix, or it could be because, well, if you can affect digital reality with the power of your mind then of course you can kill robots by thinking at them.

Let's not forget that The Matrix online RPG is due out at the end of the year, is set after Revolutions and is set in The Matrix. This would tend to indicate some kind of return to the status quo at the end of things, and possibly that Neo kills Smith and returns things into the 'proper' place in a cycle which is finally explained to him, allowing him to see that it is in fact necessary.

Or maybe not, I might have to wait for November :->

Comments

[wordofblake.livejournal.com]

So you weren't disappointed in the Matrix Reloaded because you were disappionted in the Matrix.

So you must see why people who enyoyed the Matrix could be disappointed?

I was

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Why?

[wordofblake.livejournal.com]

Because nothing amazing happened, because it tied up a few loose ends but did not introduce any stunning new directions, because people dancing in Zion was just stupid and made me want the machines to wipe them out

I'm sure the third one will be better

[diffrentcolours]

Yeah, but it had Monica Bellucci in rubber. Frankly, that makes up for everything bad in the film.

[allorin.livejournal.com]

See, apart from the fact that it was over-long, I don't see the problem with the people in Zion dancing. It was a little heavy handed, but it was essentially a juxtaposition of the fact that technology has reached its zenith with self-replicating AI, and humanity is plunging back to its most primal roots. And why shouldn't they dance, anyway? Why fight for a future if you can't actually enjoy life at all?

[wordofblake.livejournal.com]

If I'd wanted to watch people dance I'd have gone to a nightclub.

It went on for *ages* and did nothing for the plot. People should/could have been *doing* something useful instead.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I'm far from certain why anyone was disappointed with Matrix Reloaded. I greatly enjoyed the first film - it didn't surprise me except for the fact that it was an intelligent action picture instead of the typical mindless action picture. Matrix Reloaded added interesting details to the world and looked like it was setting up for an ending to the series other than the one I feared (Neo being the leader of his people in a newly and inexplicably re-greened planet where all of the machines were dead). Avoiding that level of idiocy made me happy and the introduction of rogue programs and multiple factions among both the machines and the humans gave an interesting (and sadly unusual I action pictures) complexity to the world and I love good world-building.

This could be because the real world is another layer of the Matrix, or it could be because, well, if you can affect digital reality with the power of your mind then of course you can kill robots by thinking at them.

Or it could be that the machines and becoming more human and the humans are becoming more like the machines. My hope is that the reason Neo can do this is that part of his mind is not always running in the Matrix, so he can always affect the electronic world even when he is supposedly (but not actually) offline. I'm definitely eager to see more about the Merovingian, definitely an interesting character and I'm interested to see how much he ends up fitting his name. It's nice to see a US-made film that is not made by nitwits, so that one can actually speculate about why various names were used, instead of knowing that the reason was that the writer and director were idiots who simply thought those names were cool.

I very much liked the first film and I enjoyed the second one even more, especially since my major complaint in the first film was at the human body count the free humans chalked up and this was greatly reduced in the second film. I'm very much looking forward to the last film and expect to enjoy a great deal more than I will the last LotR film.

[kpollock.livejournal.com]

The first one had cool action and costumes and FX. Pretty much what I go to see films for (if you don't know why I'm not going into it here. Summary: My brain is too active and my husband watches films expressly to switch his brain OFF). Story was pants.

2nd one was a bit dull despite FX, but worth a giggle at the white suited god/programmer saying "I designed it and built it and it was PERFECT!" (not 100% accurate quote, but words to that effect). I laughed out loud (and I laugh very loudly) at that bit. Cornwall didn't know what hit it :-) It's still one of the funniest things I have ever heard.

[allorin.livejournal.com]

Look at it this way - less screen time for Keanu.... ;+)