Heather and I saw an advanced screening of the Matrix Reloaded last night. Each showing of the film that night was sold out at the theater.
We arrived about an hour early and managed to find some ok seats although we ended up being off center. During the showing of the previews they kept having technical problems – first the focus was bad, then the sound was screwed up, then the film snapped. This served to create an irate audience. Fortunately the management of the theater was quick to fix the problem and they announced they would keep a projectionist in the booth for the entire film just in case. Fortunately there were no further problems.
Given the level of hype and general expectation surrounding the movie I won’t be surprised if it is met with mixed reviews. Personally I thought it was brilliant – expounding on the philosophical groundwork laid in the prior film by challenging our beliefs in the concepts of destiny and free will and exploring the idea of faith.
It reminds me very much of Frank Herbert’s novels Dune and Dune Messiah. The ending of Dune parallels the ending of the first Matrix film where the central character fulfills a messianic role and overcomes his enemies. Dune Messiah go on to explore the failings of that messiah and challenges our assumptions about the situations and characters previously established. The Matrix Reloaded is very similar in this respect and this is the reason I believe the movie will find mixed acceptance with audiences. Perhaps Neo our everyman who becomes a messiah isn’t as special as we thought. His struggle with finding the right course of action illustrates this. I found this to be thematically similar to Paul’s own struggle in Dune.
I thought the effects and acting were good. I got a good laugh out of seeing Trinity using ssh on a terminal. It is nice to see that some tools never seem to fall out of style even after hundreds (thousands?) of years.
As far as the ending of the movie I wasn’t sure what to think. I plan on seeing it again (probably later today) so my perception of this might change. Right now I was thinking that the “real world” Neo and the others exist in is simply another layer of simulation. If 1% of the population can’t accept the simulated reality of the Matrix what better way to control them by providing them another simulated reality they can accept? Giving them the illusion of fighting for freedom is something to occupy their time and distract them from the fact that their world is still nothing more than an illusion. It is plausible that the entire idea of humans as batteries is simply a red herring to throw humans off the real purpose of why they are kept around.
Stay through the credits (they seem to go on for five plus minutes) as there is a trailer for the Matrix Revolutions that follows them. It was worth waiting for since the film ends with such uncertainty.
I agree with you, mostly. Well the mostly being that I am not familiar with all things Dune.
I probably won’t see it again until the DVD, but it was a great movie and did just what it set out to do.
You are right though, overly high expectations could be what is causing the unhappy reviews.
Another possible reason for the ending. Some how Neo is still connected to the Matrix and that is why he can stop the Sententials. But another layer to the Matrix would make sense. I have one question, did i pick up that everyone in Zion was killed?
Derek,
I thought everyone in Zion was killed the first time I saw the movie as well. The second time I watched it was clear that only the 5 defensive ships were destroyed (seemingly by the human Smith setting off the EMP charge early as it is implied) and that Zion is not “yet” destroyed.