The Matrix Reloaded  MAY 15 2003  

[No real spoilers] After reading this breathless article about the Matrix Reloaded in Wired last month, I was very much looking forward to the movie and in particular, the special effects. In the end, I think the Wachowski brothers failed in what they were trying to do with the movie, which is disappointing. The completely computer-generated effects (e.g. in the Neo vs. 100 Agent Smiths fight) looked, well, completely computer-generated. The fish in the Finding Nemo preview looked more fish-like than the humans in the Matrix Reloaded looked human-like. The technology they used was 1.0 (or maybe even still in beta) and it showed...give it a few years and then we'll have something.

The other disappointing thing was the tone of the movie. The Matrix Reloaded would have worked a lot better as an action movie that took itself a little bit seriously (taking a page from the fun X2 flick) instead of a drama interspersed with action. The movie was too weighty and took itself too seriously. I don't mind weighty movies, but the subject matter just didn't warrant all the seriousness. Neo is Jesus. We get it, but it's not compelling enough to build a whole movie around.

What did you think? Post your reviews (or a link to your review) in the comments. [Warning, potential spoilers in comments]

Update: The number of comments in this thread (931 to be precise) made it a bit unwieldy for people to read and comment on (as discussed here), so I archived the thread (as a 1.22 MB HTML file) and opened a new thread so that the conversation may continue if the participants wish.