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DVD Reviews : The Matrix Reloaded |
Review of The Matrix ReloadedReloaded starts with a familiar scene. We see green characters going down the screen. The title is shown and then more characters are shown in 3d spinning. Eventually the characters morph into a punch clock. The punch clock is shown as we see guards saying "see you tomorrow" to each other. Trinity is doing a motorcycle jump and there is an explosion Wearing her usual black leather outfit, she fights with police and appears to be holding her own.We hear, "I'm in." Trinity jumps out a glass window high in a building as her persuer jumps out after her shooting down on her. She gets hit in the chest and her mouth opens. Suddenly Neo wakes up next to her and it is obvious that everything we have seen so far is part of Neo's nightmare. Neo gets up out of bed. The Nebuchadnezzar is flying as it is controlled by Morpheus. Morpheus says they're almost there and Link asks if he is sure. Morpheus tells Link he must start trusting him. Link is told to repatch main AC to hard drives. Neo is frustrated about his bad dreams and lack of sleep. He states, "I wish I knew what I'm supposed to do." Niobe explains that the machines are digging from the Surface to Zion at 100 meters/hr. They estimate that there are 2.5 million sentinels out there or one for each man woman and child. They estimate that there are 72 hours until the arrival. Commander Lock tells all the ships and crews to evacuate and return to Zion. A car is visible as scary music plays. Neo senses something as Morpheus talks. Morpheus declares that the Prophecy will be fulfilled soon. Neo leaves the gathering. Morpheu says that one ship remain in our place in case the Oracle desires contact. Lock reminds Morpheus that leaving a ship would be disobeying a direct order. A visitor knocks on the door and says he looking for Neo. Answering the door, the humans say they have never heard of him. The visitor offers a gift for Neo, saying that Neo has set him free. The gift is Agent Smith's ear piece. Neo tells the other humans to go as agents are coming. Neo fights 3 of them with ease and notes that they are upgrades. Neo flies away at the end. The agents say that it went as expected and that it is happening exactly as before. There are 2 Smiths seen at the same time. Link is surprised that the agents came from nowhere; he observes weird code never seen before. Neo comes down from his flight and lands on a rooftop, his trademark trench coat is clearly visible. He enters a door that leads to a dark room with a red couch. In the real world the Nebuchadnezzar requests Gate 3 access as it approaches Zion. Zion Control tells the ship to stand by. They are told to go to Gate 3 Bay 7. Link happily says, "No place like it" when talking about home. As the ship is landing a man in a large robot machine can be seen. There are people everywhere as the ship lands. Commander Lock Mifune and Captain Morpheus do not seem to be thrilled to see each other as they exchange greetings. Morpheus tells Link that he wants the ship ready to go "as soon as humanly possible." Neo asks what it is between them and he learns that the answer is Niobe. He is told that she used to be with Morpheus and now she is with Lock. A young man is eager to see Neo. as Trinity says, "You know what they say about the life you save." Neo respones that he did not save his life. The young man wants to carry Neo's bag but he ends up carrying bags for Link instead. The young man says that he wants to join the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar. He reasons that it was meant to be, that it was fate because Neo got him out. Lock reminds Morpheus that he knew it was a direct order for the ships to return to Zion yet he requested for a ship to stay. Morpheus responds by saying a ship needs to stay in case the Oracle attempts contact. Lock gets upset and angrily states that not everyone believes what Morpheus believes. Lock says if it was up to him Morpheus would be removed from duty. Morpheus responds by saying he is grateful it is not up to Lock. Councillor Hamann reveals that the Council asked him to speak tonight because the people must be told what is happening. Lock tells him to make sure the people do not panic. Morpheus says to tell the truth and no one will panic. He says the sentinels will never reach Zion. Hamann asks how he can be so sure. Morpheus explains that in the last six months more minds have been freed than in the last six years. He sees the attack as an act of desperation. He says that the prophecy will be fulfilled soon, not as a matter of hope but a matter of time. Neo and Trinity realize that they have at least 24 to 30 hours in Zion while the Nebuchadnezzar charges. People are watching Neo everywhere he goes. A woman says her daughter is on the Icarus. Link is greeted by kids when he comes home. They yell, "Uncle Link." He says hey to Zee who is upset because the Nebuchadnezzar seems to be away from Zion more often than the other ships. She goes on to say, "If Dozer knew how I felt he wouldn't have asked you to do this." At this point I remembered Dozer from the first movie. He was Tank's older brother and he was shot by Cypher who betrayed everyone and turned Morpheus over to the agents in the first movie. Link goes on to say, "Some promises can't be unmade." Zee goes on to say that it is not fair. Link asks her if she thinks it is fair that he is here and Dozer is not. She worrily says, "I lost 2 brothers to that ship. Im afraid of it. I'm afraid it's gonna take you too." It is at this point that I concluded that Tank must have died as well. Even though he was able to get up and shoot Cypher after Cypher had first shot him, the wound Cypher sustained must have been a serious one. Link explains that he won't be lost because of Morpheus. Zee answers by saying that Morpheus is crazy. Link says that Tank and Dozer believed and that he is starting to believe as well. The conversation ends with Zee telling Link to be careful. Hamman finishes his opening prayer and he prepares the crowd for someone whom he says has not spoken here in a long time. The crowd cheers loudly as Morpheus prepares to speak. Niobe is shown watching as Morpheus says the following: "Zion! Hear me! It is true what many of you have heard." He goes on to say that an army of machines is coming. He tells the people that they have a difficult time ahead but that they should shed their fear of it. He tells them that he is truthfully unafraid, not because of his beliefs but because of the path behind him. He reminds the crowd that they have fought for 100 years and that after a century of war they are still here. He finishes the speach by yelling, "Tonight... let us send a message to that army. Let us be heard from red core to black sky. This is Zion and we are not afraid." The crowd erupts into loud cheers after hearing Morpheus. Morpheus appeared as a strong leader when he gave the speach. His tube holes were clearly visible. The drums are beating seductively and there is dancing everywhere. Niobe tells Morpheus she remembers when he used to dance. He responds saying, "There are some things in this world that will never change." Lock calls Niobe. Morpheus then adds, "Some things do change." Neo and Trinity sneak off as the crowd enjoys Rave type music with a rhythmic pulse. The scene seems to show humanity and expression. Neo and Trinity are in a bed inside a cave with candles lit. It is at this point that the movie keeps switching from Neo and Trinity to the crowd. We see the happy crowd living life to the fullest by dancing. We are switched to the bed, where Neo and Trinity are kissing. The camera moves closer and we see the tube holes on Neo. We are switched to dancing. We are switched to Neo and Trinity as the camera moves close. Dancing. Neo and Trinity. Dancing. Neo and Trinity. Dancing. Neo and Trinity. Dancing. Neo and Trinity. Trinity's mouth is open. The open mouth is similar to the open mouth she has in Neo's nightmares after she gets shot. Neo has his nightmare dream flashback as he sees her lying in bed with her mouth open. Trinity asks Neo what is wrong and he says, "I can't lose you." She holds his hand and says she is never letting go. Neo looks vulnerable as the tube holes can be seen vividly on his back. Trinity also has a tube hole showing. Trinity and Neo go to bed. Morpheus is alone as he says good night to Zion. A phone becomes of interest as a roof is shown and a window crashes. A startled individual says, "Oh God." Agent Smith has now become consumed by his ego as he answers, "Smith will suffice." Smith puts his hand in the person and then takes over his body, the words Thank You, My Pleasure are then heard. The phone rings and Smith answers it which appears to bring him out of the Matrix and into Zion. Neo senses it. He wakes up. Neo goes outside and sees the offerings people have left. He runs into Councillor Hamann and they agree that they both could use some company. The Councillor tells Neo that he hates sleeping. Neo says he has not been able to sleep lately and the Councillor assures him that this is a good sign, it means he is in fact still human. Councillor Hamann asks Neo if he wants to see the engineering level and Neo agrees. Hamann explains that people usually don't go down to this level unless there is a problem. He admits that he doesn't care how some things work as long as they get the job done. Hamann finds irony in the fact that the machines on this level keep them alive yet there are other machines coming to kill them. They discuss power to give an end and wheter humans have the same power. They think of those plugged in and say that we are plugged into them. They talk about control. Neo says that they could shut down the machines in engineering if they wanted. Hamann comes back saying this could bring down lights, heat and air. Neo asks if the point is that we need them and they need us. Part of the theme of their conversation seems to be about control. The true meaning of control is saught. Hamann says there is no point after Neo presses him. He asks Neo to tell him what is on his mind. They talk about the fact that there are so many things that are not understood. Hamann points to a recycling machine. He admits he has no idea how it works but he does understand the reason for it to work. He compares this to his understanding of Neo. He says that he does not understand how Neo does what he does but more importantly, there must be a reason for him to be able to work the way he does. Hamann says that he hopes we understand the reason for Neo to work before it is too late. Link gets the news that it is time to go. He explains that the ship needs an operator. Zee gives him something to wear for good luck. She makes him promise to keep it with him. He says ok and they kiss and say bye. We see Bane cutting his hand as scary, evil music is heard. He appears to be trying to get to Neo while hiding a knife. He cannot get close so he just says good luck. Neo is given a gift from one of the orphans, it is a spoon. This goes back to the first movie where the little girl taught Neo that the trick of bending the spoon is easy once you realize that the spoon does not exist. Lock confronts Hamann, as he is angry that the Nebuchadnezzar was cleared. He aks if he is still in charge of defense, saying he needs every ship. Hamann assures Lock that he is still in charge. However, he adds that the ship was cleared because he believes their survival depends on more than how many ships they have. Neo goes back into The Matrix. There are Jesus type ornaments in a crowded area. A man meditating asks Neo if he seeks the Oracle. Neo asks, "who are you?" The man responds that he is Seraph and that he must apologize for this. They begin fighting as their is a drum noise in the background. Seraph says, "Good." He explains that the Oracle has many enemies and that he had to be sure that Neo was the one. Neo tells him he could have just asked. Seraph answers saying, "No. You do not truly know someone...until you fight them." He tells Neo to come as the Oracle is waiting. They go through office type doors. Neo asks how these back doors work. Seraph answers, "One position opens a lock and another position opens one of these doors." Neo asks if he is a programmer and he answers no. He says he protects that which matters most. They go outside and see a bench, the Oracle is sitting while she feeds the birds.
Next we begin the famous Burly Brawl fight which was shot in Alameda, California. The wind is blowing as we see shoes on the screen. The birds fly and Agent Smith arrives calling out, "Mr. Anderson, did you get my package?" Link notes that the code is not reading like it is coming from an agent. Smith asks Neo if he is surprised to see him and Neo replies no. Smith goes on to say, "then you're aware of it." He clarifies by stating, "our connection". He says he does not fully understand it but that, "perhaps some part of you imprinted onto me...something overwritten or copied." He goes on to say that it is irrelevent, that reason is what matters. He explains that he killed Mr Anderson, that he watched him die. He then knew what he was supposed to do, but he didn't. He was compelled to stay. He explains that because of Neo he is no longer an agent, he is now unplugged. Neo sarcastically says congratulations. We now see that Smith is able to copy himself. One Smith says that without purpose we would not exist. Another says it is purpose that binds us. Another says that they will try to take from Neo what he took from them, purpuse. One of the Smiths tries to penetrate Neo with his hand, telling him it will be over soon. Neo fights it off. A major fight breaks out and Neo inflicts a lot of damage by getting ahold of a pole. The Smiths dogpile on Neo but he is able to throw them off. Eventually Neo flies away. In the real world they ask Neo if he is all right. He says that there were a lot more Smiths because he could copy himself. He goes on to say that it when Smith put his hand in him it felt like it did in the hallway of episode 1 where Smith emptied his gun in him. He says that it felt like dying. In Zion Lock explains to the council that Zion is facing the single greatest threat of their time. They ask if there has been any word from the Nebuchadnezzar. Lock says there has not. They ask for a ship to be dispatched. Lock says it could take days for a ship to find them. The older lady in the council says that 2 should be sent. Lock says that this is insane. He asks the council to forgive his frustration. They explain that Lock does not need comprehension on the decisions of the council. Lock asks them if they are asking him to order 2 ships. The older council woman says that since the captains are present, they can answer themselves. She asks for 2 volunteers. Soren of the Vigilant answers. Bane then tells his captain that they should go. The captain tells Bane to shut his hole. The older council woman asks if ther is no other? Niobe of the Logos steps up. Lock asks Niobe what she is doing. Niobe responds, "what I can." Lock asks her what is going on and she says, "some things never change Jason, and some things do." As Morpheus, Trinity and Neo are on the way to get the keymaker, Morpheus asks Neo what he sees. Neo replies that the code looks different and that there appear to be explosives on every floor. They see Merovingian. He says hi to Neo by recognizing him as the One himself. He greets Morpheus by calling him legendary. Finally, he tells Trinity he has heard so much about her. The twins with dreadlocks are seen sitting. Merovingian explains that he like French wine from 1959. He says that French is the best language for cursing and he demonstrates. They tell him that he knows why they are her. Merovingian then says, "the question is, do you know why you are here?" He says that the keymaker is not a reason. He tells them that they were told something and they obeyed. He stresses causality, referencing cause and effect as well as action reaction. He tells them that choice is an illusion created by those with power. He then tells them to watch the woman eating the dessert. Explaining that he wrote the program himself, Merovingian tells them to watch the womon and look out for a rush and heat and her heart. He reveals that she does not understand and that the why and reason are gone. He says she is completely out of control. Bringing up causality again, he says we are all slaves. Finally, he emphasizes the "why" before telling Neo to inform the fortuneteller(Oracle) that her time is almost up. He says bye and tells his wife Persephone that he drank wine so he has to go to the bathroom. Neo, Morpheus and Trinity start to leave in the elevator. Before they get to the bottom floor, Persephone appears. She tells them to follow her if they want the keymaker. She complains that she is sick and tired of this, that Merovingian used to be different, like Neo. Persephone offers to give them the keymaker if Neo gives her a passionate kiss, as if he was kissing Trinity. They ask why and she says, "you love her, she loves you." She says she once know that feeling and she wants to remember it. She wants a sample. Neo agrees and Persophone says that he has to make her believe. The first kiss is not what she wanted and she says to forget it. Neo tells her to wait and he takes his glasses off and gives her a passionate kiss. Persephone says, "Yes. That's it. I envy you but such a thing is not meant to last." She takes them throught the kitchen to a staircase. They enter a room with 2 vampires watching a vampire film on tv. Persephone explains that these 2 programs are from on older version of the matrix and that like many older programs, they caused more problems than they solved. Explaining why Merovingian keeps them around, she reveals that they are difficult to terminate. She shoots and kills one with a silver bullet and tells the other one to go tell Merovingian what she has done. She makes a point of telling him that Merovingian is in the ladies room. They enter a dark, damp rook where the keymaker exclaims, "I've been waiting for you." persephone Merovingian Persephone what is going on and she answers cause and effect. Merovingian asks her what cause and she answers by saying he is still wearing lipstick(not on his face). He says it is nothing but a game and she replies that this is too. The implications are interesting. It seems he went to the bathroom to pleasure himself with the cake woman and Persephone knew exactly what was going on the entire time. Merovingian says, "let us find out where this goes." He tells the dreadlock twins to get the keymaker who yells that he cannot go back. Morpheus and Trinity try to save the keymaker and Neo indicates that he'll handle the rest of Merovingian's programs by saying, "I'll handle them." Merovingian sees this as egotistical and he tells Neo that his predacessors had more respect. After Neo causes their bullets to drop in front of him, Merovingian admits, "okay, you have some skill." Merovingian tells his men to kill Neo and the fight ensues. At one point Neo blocks a large blade with his hand and as a result his blood spills. Merovingian observes this and tells them, "he's just a man." Neo then takes care of Merovingian's men Finally, Merovingian tells Neo, "I survived your predacessors and I will survive you." He disappears out a door. When Neo goes after him through the door, it leads to mountains in the middle of nowhere. We see the dreadlock twins after the keymaker in a parking lot. Eventually Trinity drives the car out of the lot and a log chase begins. Neo sees the dreadlock twins but when he goes through the door to get to them he is once again in the mountains. Trinity gets Link the operator who tells here there is an exit at the Winslow Overpass. Morpheus tells Trinity to get on the freeway but she reminds him that he told her the freeway was suicide in the past. Morepheus says, "Let us hope I was wrong." The fact that Morpheus used the word hope was no accident. We see the significance of hope throughout the movie. The agents state that the exile (keymaker) is the primary target. The dreadlock twins pursue in a cadillac SUV. During the freeway chase, an agent jumps on the roof of a police car and onto the hood of Trinity's cadillac. Eventually the agent falls off. An agent hits Trinity's tire. so she looks for an off ramp. Her car is rattled with bullet holes. Morpheus causes the twins to tip over because he takes a knife to their tires. He then shoots the unerbelly of the exposed SUV causing a large explosion. Eventually Trinity gets on a bike with the keymaker. There is no need to hotwire it because the keymaker has a key. Morpheus and the keymaker end up on the top of a truck where Morpheus tries to protect him. An agent gets on the truck with Morpheus and the keymaker. Morpheus fights the agent but eventually falls off the truck. Fortunately he lands on the hood of Niobe's car. The agent tells the keymaker that he is, "no longer necessary." the keymaker replies, "we do only what we're meant to do." The agent says that he is meant for one last thing, deletion. Morpheus kicks the agent but then another truck hits them and Morpheus and the keymaker are suspended in the air. Neo flies through the air and saves Morpheus and the keymaker. The keymaker tells Neo and others that there is a building Neo must go to but no elevator can be used and no stairs can be taken. The building has many doors and hidden places. One door is special because it leads to the source. Like all systems the building has a weakness, it is based on the rules of electricity. There is a power station and an emergency system center. Both places must be secured at the same time so that the power is out at exactly the right time. He tells them there will only be a 314 second window for the One. He says he must know this because it is his purpose. He goes on to say it is the reason he is here and it is the same reason they are all here. Trinity senses that something is wrong with Neo. She says, "I know something is wrong you don't have to tell me." They then hold hands. The keymaker emphasizes that, "all must be done as one." Back on the Nebuchadnezzar Link puts on the necklace he promised to wear. They keymaker says that if one fails they all fail. The timeclock that we saw in Neo's dream at the beginning of the movie is shown again. The guards are doing the midnight shift change as one tells the other not to count sheep while on duty. Morpheus tells the others that this is not an accident and not by chance. He says he does not believe in chance. He sees 3 and purpose. He says that this is fate and destiny. Neo asks trinity to stay out of the matrix no matter what and she agrees. Niobe asks Morpheus what if he is wrong. He replies that if he is then they could be dead tomorrow but that this scenario is not different from any other day. He says, "this is a war and we are soldiers. Death can come for us at any time in any place." He then tells them to consider the alternative. He says the war could be over tomorrow and asks the rhetorical questions, "isn't that worth fighting for? isn't thatworth dying for?" Things go well at the power plant but not at the emergency system center because their ship is destroyed so they die in the matrix. Trinity goes into the matrix to take care of the emergency system center. Neo, Morpheus and the keymaker see agent Smith. Smith tells Neo he is using all his muscles except the one that matters. Neo asks Smith what he wants and Smith replies, "everything." One of the Smiths tells Morpheus, "if you can't beat us join us." as he sticks his hand inside Morpheus. Neo saves Morpheus from being taken over. Trinity finally gets the grids offline. The keymaker opens a door but is shot before they go through it and away from Smith. He says, "it was meant to be. Morpheus, that door will take you home. You will know which door, hurry Neo." Neo walks in the door with light and sees the architect. The architect says, "I created the matrix." He tells Neo he is there because of an unbalanced equation, an anamoly not beyond a measure of control. He reveals that the Matrix is, "older than you know." Telling Neo that they are on the sixth version, he states that the anomaly is systemic. Neo realizes that the problem is choice. Meanwhile Trinity is shown fighting with an agent as she tries to get away. The architect reveals that this is the sixth time that Zion will be destroyed. He tells Neo he must choose between 2 doors. The door on the Right takes him to the source and allows him to take 16 females and 7 males out of the Matrix to start a new Zion. Failure to enter this door kills everyone. He sees that Neo's attachment to humanity is different from the other Ones because Neo is in love with Trinity. right saves zion The door on the Left takes him back into the Matrix where he can temporarily save Trinity but it leads to the death of Neo's species. The architect says, "she is going to die." The architect describes hope as the greatest strength and the greatest weakness of humans. Neo replies, "if I were you, I would hope that we don't meet again." We only see the left door on screen as Neo is walking away but we do not see which door he enters. Trinity ends up out a window falling towards the ground like in Neo's dream. She gets shot but before she hits the ground Neo flies towards here and carries her away. She exclaims, "Neo, I had to" He says, "I know. The bullet is still inside." He reaches in and takes it out. She starts to die and he says, "Trinity. Trinity... ...I know you can hear me. I'm not letting go. I can't. I love you too damn much." He kisses her and she comes back. Back on the ship, Link exclaims, "I can't take this." Trinity tells Neo, "I guess this makes us even." Morpheus says, "I don't understand it. Once the One reaches the source the war should be over." Neo says they have 24 hours to save Zion. He tells Morpheus, "the prophecy was a lie." He says the One was another system of control. He tells Morpheus, "you said it yourself, how can the prophecy be true if the war isn't over." Neo tells them a bomb is coming and they have to leave. They run from the ship before it is destroyed. Neo reveals that, "something is different, I can feel it." He reaches up his hand, and the sentinels drop. Neo then collapses. Another ship picks them up. The other ship reveals that the humans are not doing will against the sentinels. An EMP was released before they were in position and the sentinels slaughtered many humans. They found one survivor in the coma. We see that the survivor is Bane (Agent Smith) and he is lying down in a coma across from Neo. |
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Check out our Matrix Reloaded Posters: Review by Amazon.com reprinted with permission - Considering the lofty expectations that preceded it, The Matrix Reloaded triumphs where most sequels fail. It would be impossible to match the fresh audacity that made The Matrix a global phenomenon in 1999, but in continuing the exploits of rebellious Neo (Keanu Reeves), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) as they struggle to save the human sanctuary of Zion from invading machines, the codirecting Wachowski brothers have their priorities well in order. They offer the obligatory bigger and better highlights (including the impressive "Burly Brawl" and freeway chase sequences) while remaining focused on cleverly plotting the middle of a brain-teasing trilogy that ends with The Matrix Revolutions. The metaphysical underpinnings can be dismissed or scrutinized, and choosing the latter course (this is, after all, an epic about choice and free will) leads to astonishing repercussions that made Reloaded an explosive hit with critics and hardcore fans alike. As the centerpiece of a multimedia franchise, this dynamic sequel ends with a cliffhanger that virtually guarantees a mind-blowing conclusion. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition. |
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DVD Reviews : The Matrix Reloaded |