tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post9193826201827030931..comments2023-11-05T02:01:53.847-06:00Comments on Antagony & Ecstasy: MATRIXIDE, PART 1: A STEAMING LOADTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-6919932146574654132012-06-01T10:33:47.845-05:002012-06-01T10:33:47.845-05:00I honestly can't remember how I felt about The...I honestly can't remember how I felt about The Matrix Reloaded, other than profoundly disappointed. I had loved the first movie, watched it over and over again on DVD (still a relatively new format - we marveled at the special features and digital picture!), and I bought tickets for the midnight showing.<br /><br />I don't know. I don't remember actively hating any of it, the stupid Zion rave, the Oracle scenes, the ridiculous climax. I just remember not going to Revolutions when it came out, and not seeing it until years later. The only thing this movie did was make me not want to see any more Matrix movies, but not passionately so.franklinshepardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13858074176921317138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-18991764278694518052012-05-31T21:26:21.125-05:002012-05-31T21:26:21.125-05:00I'll say this: The Matrix Reloaded did not *bo...I'll say this: The Matrix Reloaded did not *bore* me. That doesn't seem like much of a bar to clear, but Revolutions bored me shitless, so in retrospect, it has that going for it. I wasn't all that wild about the first movie, so there wasn't as much room to be let down, but hey, I mostly liked the action sequences, and that's all there is to it. The "look how DEEP and PROFOUND we are" bits did kinda make me want to go on some kinda murder spree, though.GeoX, one of the GeoX boys.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14658452994152399308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-27097284819049938182012-05-31T15:08:05.663-05:002012-05-31T15:08:05.663-05:00I still have a soft spot for Matrix Reloaded. To t...I still have a soft spot for Matrix Reloaded. To the same extent that I don't really see what was such a big deal about the original, I don't really get what it was about this film that so many fans counted as a betrayal. Both essentially amount to stylish action flicks padded with "inscrutable esoterica", to use your words Tim, that alternately ripped off Ghost in the Shell and Hong Kong action cinema. Honestly, I actually appreciate Reloaded for adding in the narrative hook that "The One" is actually itself a system implemented by the Machines. It possibilities that the first movie didn't approach, that free will can be manipulated on levels more subtle than just plugging everyone into a big-ass computer. That, and the action sequences were more grandly mounted this time 'round and Hugo Weaving's still a riot.<br /><br />And honestly? I kind of like inscrutable esoterica. Even if they don't actually say anything profound, the rambling ruminations of a stoner are fun to engage with and toy with, much the same way I enjoy reading about conspiracy theories even when I don't buy into any of them for a minute.<br /><br />Matrix Revolutions on the other hand, is <i>genuinely</i> retarded, insofar as its narrative structure completely collapses about it and the final action sequence makes the awesomely ill-advised decision to stop ripping off John Woo and start ripping off Dragonball Z.Thrash Til' Deathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01741491764040608276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-8996747084022847932012-05-31T13:42:39.874-05:002012-05-31T13:42:39.874-05:00The Matrix Reloaded was one of the biggest disappo...The Matrix Reloaded was one of the biggest disappointments of my young life. I sometimes refer to the day I saw it as the day I lost my innocence, and when I do, I'm only half-joking. I had walked out of the first one in 1999 in a state of such ecstasy, leaping and dancing and kung-fuing around the parking lot, that if at that moment my parents had been gunned down by a mugger I have absolutely no doubt I would today be running around rooftops dressed in a long black coat and sunglasses and fighting crime. So many missteps. The shift of focus from Neo's one man pseudo-spiritual crusade to the esoteric strategizing of an entire military, the ham-fisted sociopolitical commentary of making the population of Zion predominantly black and/or Hispanic, the decision to endow Neo with mysterious psychokinetic powers outside the Matrix, essentially switching the genre of the entire series from sci-fi to fantasy (and leading to the fan theory that the supposed "real world" was going to turn out to be just another layer of the Matrix, a safety net set up to catch those humans who managed to wake themselves up from the first one and distract them with an imaginary war, which I still wish had turned out to be the case, as it would have made for a vastly superior final installment). And yes, all that self-indulgent philosophizing. I always assumed what happened is that the Wachowskis read all the hype referring to their franchise as that generation's Star Wars and decided to follow suit, loading up the story with enough mythology and backroom politicizing that it would more closely resemble that predecessor. A tragedy, but not one that will prevent the first one from forever occupying a special place in my heart.Colinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04952276101161849381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-31935521863009608022012-05-31T13:00:32.917-05:002012-05-31T13:00:32.917-05:00I know I'm in the minority, but I always liked...I know I'm in the minority, but I always liked the sequel more than any of the other films in the series. That's probably due to the fact that in 1999, I walked out of the theater wondering what the big deal was. <i>The Matrix</i> was all people could talk about at my high school; I went to see it and vividly remember it being one of the very first movies that I was completely underwhelmed with, yet felt like I was missing something since it was such a cultural phenomenon. <br /><br />Yeah, the sequel is preachy and talky -- but I never took it seriously because I never took the original seriously. So I don't really care if it comes off as the Wocho Bros. being super-serious about the philosophies -- I found the film to be goofy and fun and one helluva an action film. <br /><br />I always interpreted the super-"serious" Morpheus stuff as being kind of tongue-in-cheek, but perhaps the Wocho Bros. have gone on record to say that they were deathly serious with this film's philosophical tendencies. I still prefer to see the film as a goofy summer film that -- as you cite in your piece -- has one jaw-droppingly awesome car chase. <br /><br />Now, your point about <i>Inception</i> is a good one, but I actually felt about that movie the way others felt about this <i>Matrix</i> movie. I suppose they are one in the same: movies about computer worlds/dreams. These types of movies should learn to not tell us about these worlds but SHOW us. <i>Inception</i> was impressive in that regard, no doubt about it, but there I didn't really find anything "fun" about Nolan's film the way I did about this <i>Matrix</i> film, which just seemed like goofy, summer popcorn fair. <br /><br />Oh, and I was definitely one of those people that just went and saw the third <i>Matrix</i> film "out of duty." I remember sitting in the theater and thinking to myself about half way through, "why am I here?"Kevin J. Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.com