[sackofcatfood]

[w_over_w]

We're going to Saturday's 10:30AM matinee. You're right about sequels and hopefully this one won't disappoint. Some of the critics nit-pickey reviews are really bothering me.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

No.

[Fred Mertz]

I never saw the first one. Was it any good?

[absalom01]

Just got back from the 7:00 pm show. Was a lot of fun, is not appropriate for the young-uns, and was not as predictable as I had feared.

BUT, I figured it had to fall short of the original, given the "surprise" nature of that picture. That said, it's uber-cool stylistically, and devoid of any pretense of a message.

Just my 2c.

[Vince Ferrer]

Yes. I was disappointed, although I guess it was worth seeing. At least we don't have to wait long before it gets wrapped up this fall. Manage your expectations.

[AntiGuv]

Not yet - because I need to rewatch The Matrix dvd first as a refresher. Went & saw X2 today and noticed there were a lot of return Matrix Reloaded viewers in line who were talking about having seen it already the first night. So, that's a promising sign!

[ikka]

It is a bit of a head-fake. At first I thought it sucked, but after a while I realized that at those points where Neo is "phoning it in" it is because of the head-fake.

Watch carefully at the end when they are out of the Nebuchadnezzer and the robotic Sentinels are coming at them. Then stay through the entire credits to see the Matrix:Revolutions trailer.

[Salamander]

"There is no sequel"..........;)

[Dominic Harr]

Saw it, loved it.

A fun romp, the plot moves, a lot happens.

Good effects, if you like that sort of thing. ;-)

And it looks like the story is going a whole new direction again, from the looks of the preview of Matrix 3 at the end of the credits.

The credits are long, maybe 15 mins, but at the end is a trailer worth waiting for, in my opinion.

Says a lot about where the story is going. I think they filmed them together and are releasing them this close together for a reason -- they're really one complex story.

[jagrmeister]

I just saw it. From my standpoint, the plot was slow, the dialogue wasn't crisp (or that thought-provoking) and the fight scenes were somewhat repetitive. A few scenes stood out as gripping. Judging by the audience reaction (remember, opening night is populated by fans, not average theatregoers), the Matrix fans enjoyed the movie. So I'd give it a 5 of 10, but if you're a Matrix fan, you'll probably get more out of it.

[CaptIsaacDavis]

SOME TIPS

-- Watch closely for room numbers (101). A reference to 1984. From George Orwell's 1984: 'You asked me once,' said O'Brien, 'what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world.'

-- Try not to watch the fight sequence between Neo and the Smiths too closely -- you will see Neo's glasses go on and off for what seemed like 30 times!

-- Watch for Neo's plugs -- he has all of them in most scenes in Zion (even though the first flick started with the Neb. crew removing them!).

-- Note the 6th iteration (after the first failed) -- that is, the 7th iteration (or 7th "day" to create...).

-- They clearly set the stage for Revolutions by opening up discussions of the balance of POWER and relationships between man and machines.

Question: where are the kids in Zion?

FINALLY

-- If you want to see the movie trailer and some sequences from the REVOLUTIONS episode to be shown in November -- DON'T Leave the theater too early. Wait a miserable 9-10 minutes watching all those credits and listening to that Anarchist Rock noise -- it comes up at the very end.

[pupdog]

I saw it tonight with 92 of my closest friends. :-)

It was, in my opinion, absolutely remarkable. It seems that not everyone agrees with that, so don't take my word for it. But me and my wife are going to see it again as soon as I can. Then I'm going I'm going to sit outside a theatre for 6 months waiting for the final installment...

[Miami_U_Redskin]

Saw it, liked the scenes in Alameda.

[DoctorMichael]

Warning! Spoiler/Criticism follows!

The special effects of 'RELOADED" were jaw-dropping; the scenes were all beautifully lit (I was particularly impressed by the lighting in the Oracle's scene, very LSD-ish); and the movie was stunning in its cinematography. However, I too was disappointed in the plot which plodded along at points, was full of really bad dialog in others, and was full of metaphysical blather in still more.

Where the genius of the original was that it seemed effortless in weaving the featherlike story, plot, action, religion and metaphysics into a tight knot............RELOADED was leaden.

Yes, gap-toothed Cornel 'Commie' West was a member of the ruling body (Dream on, a$$hole) and, yes there was the scene at the end where Neo was in a room with video-screens as walls and the images very subliminally showed Hitler and George Bush in the wink of an eye (I guess to 'link' them in the viewers mind).

Also, most of Zion's inhabitants were present-day minority-members. I don't know whether this is because 'white-collar whitey' was favored by the machines as a better source of electricity and blacks and hispanics were ignored or that there is some predjudice by Morpheus et al. in the people that they 'free' and that live in Zion. Nontheless, there is still a dicontinuity here in my mind..........it is the Demon-rats (90% of blacks vote Democratic) that want to be plugged into the system and want to be blissfully taken care of by their 'wellfare-pods' financed by Hitlery et al. THIS is the part of the metaphor that glaringly stands out. However, as a dirty-white-boy, maybe this is my 'Jar-jar-Binks' or the 'clonal-origins'- (re: hispanic complaints) -of-the-mindless-storm-troopers, moment.

There ARE a few good sequels. Aliens, Godfather II and The Empire Strikes Back come to mind. IMHO........The one thing that a good sequel must have is something in the plot that is as revelatory as the first movie that enables it to stand on its own as a story:
1) The allusions of Ripley's Motherhood ("Keep away from her, you bitch') when she fights the Queen alien;
2) Michael Corleone's orders to kill his own brother Fredo that illustrates his ruthlessness and descent into depravity;
3) Luke's revelation of Darth Vader's fatherhood ("I am your father").

There was nothing similar to a "I am your father" 'moment' in RELOADED.

Still worth the viewing.

[Helms]

Saw it 2pm 5/15 and enjoyed it. It is what it is, science fiction and metaphyscis.

[GSWarrior]

I hope the dialog is better than the original.

"I'm going in."

"You can't"

"I have to."

"Then I'm going with you."

"You can't."

[Revolting cat!]

Matrix Reloaded. Has Anybody seen it?

Nobody's seen it, nobody's going to see it.
(Also, the paper reports this morning that it's showing in FRANCE, at Cannes. Boycott!)

[LanPB01]

I strongly disagree with anyone that equates the sequel to even being close in quality to the original. Perhaps the third movie will tie everything together, but as of now, I'm very disappointed. The sequel just doesn't work as a stand-alone movie.

[Freakazoid]

I just came home from seeing this turkey. I was hugely disappointed. I love The Matrix. It was the first DVD I bought when I got my first player and I've about worn it out.

The Matrix: Reloaded is dreadful. Don't get me wrong, the action and effects are spectacular. The story? The execution of it? The orgy like "Dance Party"? The orgasmic cake? The lousy score? Violins? Oh yeah, don't forget the waspafarian twins. (OK. I kinda liked those guys.)

This movie is a mess. What were the Wichowski brothers thinking? Or drinking?

Too many characters, too many inconsistancies. Remember in the first movie how all the little sockets were removed from Neo just after he was rescued? Guess what? They're back in this movie! What's up with that?

The ending is abrupt but I can deal with that. I don't need the end of a movie wrapped up nice and neat and I know the third installment is coming soon.

As "Tank" said in the first movie, "Major boring sh!t"

What dreck!