Went to see this Friday night. Going in I wasn't sure what to expect. I liked the first movie, but I'd heard that this one was much more action oriented, which turned me off. After seeing it, though, I was impressed.
Now, there was a fair amount of stuff that I would have had no trouble cutting out. The two parts that come to mind are most of the Zion sequences and the Neo-Smith fight scene. The Zion section just seemed to be a whole lot of nothing, especially the orgy/sex scene. As for the Neo-Smith scene, well, I don't know about everyone else, but I don't think there was ever much doubt Neo would win, or at least (as things went), get out of there unharmed. If Neo had been in danger, or had actually wiped out all of the Smiths, it might have been interesting, but as it was, there didn't seem to be much point in it, other than to showcase some CGI effects.
All of that said, I really liked the progressions of the storyline. Although at least for me, things weren't as clear after a first viewing as they were for the first movie. There are still a few things that still have me going "what???"
Thoughts?
The Matrix: Reloaded
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All of that said, I really liked the progressions of the storyline. Although at least for me, things weren't as clear after a first viewing as they were for the first movie. There are still a few things that still have me going "what???"
Generally agree with your comments, as I elaborated on over on the blog. The fights were less intense and more "spectacular," and the Zion stuff was a little overstuffed.
I did go back and see it a second time (my wife wanted to see it, and she was out of town the week it premiered), and it made more sense the second time through. It was sort of a "Sixth Sense" effect, where on the second viewing you see the connections to the revelations at the end.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW...
Is Zion part of the Matrix? Quite possible, but I kinda doubt it. Just a gut instinct. There was a lot of talk (from the Oracle and the Zion council member) about how the humans and machines must live in balance to survive. I'm suspecting that whatever happened between Neo and Smith in the first movie "opened a door" between the humans and machines. Smith gained the ability to enter the "real world" by taking over a human and exiting the Matrix, and Neo has apparently gained the ability to influence machines in the "real world." Neither is entirely what he previously was, and I'm convinced this has something to do with the ultimate outcome.
There's speculation out there that Neo is actually a program, designed to help deal with the "systemic anamoly" the Architect referred to in the Matrix. Again, while this is certainly a reasonable guess, I don't think it's the case. I think Neo, by "merging" with Smith, has become something different from the five Neos before him. And Smith is different from anything in the previous versions as well. (In an early scene, Smith says, "Everything is happening exactly as it did before." Then a Smith clone appears and says, "Well, not exactly.")
Fun stuff to speculate on, anyway.
Ryan