Matrix Schmatrix

I’m probably the last weblog writer on earth to see The Matrix Reloaded. I was in fact much later getting around to seeing the original because, to be honest, I just wasn’t that pushed about it. (I didn’t bother until its final week of theatrical release — and I was working at the cinema at the time!) But it was quite entertaining, the special effects were, of course, astounding, and the story wasn’t too bad either. In contrast, The Matrix Reloaded is a waste of space. Sure, you can play the old ‘middle of a trilogy’ card all you want, but that still won’t excuse the fact that it’s a very boring and monotonous piece of work. Here’s why: ==

• The fight scenes — particularly that too-obviously-computer-generated scrap between Neo and the army of Smiths — are far too long, useless padding for a story that isn’t big enough for fill two hours. Great for computer artists and programmers to wank over, maybe, but not for me.
• The pseudo-mystical overtones are so overcooked, it plays at times like a parody of the original. This is probably just an attempt to add more depth and colour to the cult of The Matrix, but the ambiguity was partly responsible for its allure in the first place.
• The twins were completely squandered. I’m sure that most people had been expecting them to play a bigger part in proceedings, but altogether they must have only had ten minutes of screen time, tops. That’s just not on.
• The cod-philosophical verbal diarrhoea from the mouth of the ‘architect’ near the end of the movie would have been funny if it weren’t actually supposed to be all serious and revelatory and whatnot. It could have all been said in one simple sentence: free will is an illusion because all of our choices are determined by both outside forces and our previous decisions. There, that wasn’t that hard, was it? But they had to go and complicate things, to make the idea appear much more profound than it really is. It’s all bullshit, really. And I should know; I’ve got a degree in philosophy.
• And by the way, the ‘architect’ is NOT GOD! OKAY?! Enough with the Judeo-Christian symbolism: The Matrix saga from the beginning has been much more about humanism. Anything that might point to a religious reference has just been lifted to create an independent mythology, something for the human characters in the film to grasp onto in order to comprehend their situation. That’s what I think, anyway. It would be such a cop-out if it turned out otherwise.

== Trim the fat, can the bullshit, and you’ll have yourself a movie that might be worth shelling out the readies for. As it is, well, let’s say I’m not exactly holding my breath for Revolutions. But that’s just my opinion - what do you think?

Sun 01 Jun 2003 at 15:05   ·