The Matrix was such an original movie done with such a stunning visual style that any sequel was doomed to be inferior before it was even made.
The big question at the beginning of the first movie was "What is the Matrix?". It's what sucked you into the plot. It fed on that paranoid part of us that believes that there's something going on all around us of which we know nothing. The action and visuals are what kept you riveted even after the mystery was explained.
The Matrix Reloaded has no mystery. We already know that the Matrix was a virtual world that the machines kept humanity trapped in so that they might harvest the energy created by our bodies. We already know that Neo (Keanu Reeves) is the 'One'; a person able to control the environment in the Matrix and fight back against the computer programs represented in the virtual world as seemingly invincible Agents. Essentially the original Matrix film was a complete story that tied up all loose ends except for the fact that the machines were still in control and most people were still lost in the Matrix. Only now there was the hope that through Neo, mankind had a chance of beating them.
The plot, or at least the central nugget, of The Matrix Reloaded is simple. Neo, troubled by bad dreams, seeks out The Oracle inside the Matrix. She tells him that he needs to access the Matrix mainframe if he's going to destroy the machines and that to do this he must seek out the Key Maker, who will show him how to get into it. At the same time he is doing this, a large army of machines is closing in on the human city of Zion. It then becomes a race between Neo entering the mainframe and the machines attacking the city. Lots of other things go on, but that's the basic gist of it.
Since The Matrix opened with one of the most amazing action scenes in cinema history, I counted on a similarly eye-popping moment to start the sequel. And while there is a brief action moment at the beginning, again featuring Trinity, it falls far short of the original's classic opening, and turns out to be nothing more than a dream of Neo's. Following this opening are some very long, should have been edited, scenes in the city of Zion where the plot is explained. Although I was able to do it in the one paragraph above, the movie takes about 30 minutes to do it. The scenes seem even longer due to the poor and awkward dialogue.
When the action finally does get going, it does come fast and furious. And if the movie never really contains the Wow factor of its predecessor, I think it's simply because of how high the first movie set the bar. Plus, since almost every action movie made recently seems to have stolen some of its style from The Matrix, it's no wonder that we're less awed this time around. Still, the best thing this movie has going for it is its visual style, which is still very impressive.
While not matching the first film in quality (but what could?), The Matrix Reloaded is still entertaining enough to make it worth the price of a movie ticket. You should be warned though, this movie ends very abruptly and in mid-action in an attempt to draw people into the third Matrix film, which opens this fall.
