“The Matrix Reloaded”
Warner Bros.
Written and directed by Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski
Produced by Joel Silver
Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett Smith, Gloria Foster, Monica Bellucci, Harold Perrineau, Lambert Wilson, Adrian Rayment and Neil Rayment
Rated R
(out of four)
When “The Matrix” premiered four years ago—to a less-than hyped March opening—it surprised audiences with its schnazzy, innovative special effects and a mind-bending story that actually put the effects to good use. The world we live in is a computer program that manipulative robots use to steal human beings’ energy, so the people who know how to manipulate it and see things differently might experience the equivalent of cool-looking slow motion and a camera that moves around a person who’s frozen in mid-air.

Of course, as with all great cinematic innovations, the technique was soon being used in all the B action films, all the parodies and several commercials for various food products for no reason at all.

And if you can never quite capture the feeling of seeing it for the first time, “The Matrix Reloaded” reminds us that while anyone can use the effects, not very many people can use them well.

The Wachowski brothers (Andy and Larry) conceived, wrote and directed this huge success, which came with a rabid cult following. The visual wizards were then expected to turn in a sequel, which was fortunate since they’d always envisioned a trilogy, which will conclude this winter with “The Matrix Revolutions,” shot at the same time as “Reloaded.”

If there was a flaw in the first film, it was that at the end of more than two hours, it felt like the story hadn’t really gone very far after the initial redefinition of the universe. The fight scenes were astounding, but it seemed like the story was just getting started.

“The Matrix Reloaded” again features a healthy amount of fight time in between the philosophical stuff, although now the hero, Neo (Keanu Reeves), who is “the chosen one” and is expected to lead the humans out of the Matrix, has honed his super-cyber-human abilities, most notably giving him the ability to fly.

These powers lead to several scenes in which Neo kicks ass against an assortment of “agents,” including the sinister Smith (played perfectly by Hugo Weaving), who was taken out of the…I don’t know, agency…after Neo defeated him, but has now developed the ability to clone himself and is out for some sort of revenge.

Since Neo has special powers, his fight scenes can become repetitive, so its more exciting when his girlfriend Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and his mentor, Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) go on an epic highway chase scene featuring both old and new characters, whom I won’t reveal, with familiar and new powers. The scene plows through a series of techniques and spectacle, and it might be hard to top it in the next film.

The first 20 minutes or so consists of the Nebuchadnezzar, Morpheus’s futuristic ship, and its crew visiting the underground city of Zion, the only remaining human city in the real world. There’s a lot of exposition to get out of the way, possibly because the filmmakers didn’t know they were going to make the whole trilogy when they started and had to fit all the back story into this film. For a minute I had horrible flashbacks to the new “Star Wars” movies, but after a Zion party cross cuts with a steamy love scene between Neo and Trinity, the film gets rolling.

With this film, the philosophical discussion centers around the conflict between fate and choice, and whether or not we ever make the choices we make or if we’ve already made them. Several characters bring this up, including the Oracle from the last film, a creepy guy with a French accent who is actually a program that’s no longer necessary and some more surprising characters.

The ending tries to work in more philosophy than the last one, although, as a character says, “You’re still human, so you might not understand it all.” Still, it’s a fun ride.
jeremy@red-mag.com