The Path of the One (or why the Matrix Trilogy is genius)

[theshire]

OK, as many of you may have guessed from the quote in my sig, I'm a huge Matrix fan (as well as LOTR and the Simpsons 🙂 ), and I've become frustrated by the amount of people who don't like the movies - especially the two sequels. Don't get me wrong, I respect other people's opinions, but I firmly believe that the Wachowski brothers are brilliant writers, and that the Matrix Trilogy are three of the most under-rated films of all time.

The following is a short essay (of sorts) by me, explaining why I love these movies so much. I'm guessing that most of you will click the Back button before you get to the end, but that won't stop me trying to get through to at least some people.

In the Matrix, Neo discovers that he is living out his life in a virtual world created by machines in order to deceive us while they use us as batteries. Not only that, but he is also considered by many to be the One, who will end the War and lead the humans in their rebellion against the machines.

Then Reloaded came along, and it went on to disprove everything we thought we knew about the Matrix. Part of the problem people had with this movie is its confusing nature, yet those same people also claim that there was no plot, only excuses for needless action scenes. Nothing could be further from the truth. What were people confused about if there was no plot?

When Neo meets the Architect (in what I will admit is a VERY confusing scene first time round), the creator of the Matrix tells him that in fact Neo is not destined to end the War. His function is only to give the freed humans a religious figure to rally around in Zion (which was built by the machines), and keep them distracted from war. So even when humans are 'freed' from the Matrix by rebels, they are not truly free, as they are being controlled even in the Real World. IMO, that's genius storywriting.

But Neo has another function. He also has to enter the Source, where the code that was put inside him by the machines will be loaded into the Matrix, causing it to Reload, thus reducing the systemic anomalies that are constantly arising. It's like defragging your hard drive. But Neo is different to the previous five Ones who carried out this simple task before him: he is in love, and he is willing to give up everything for Trinity (hard to believe, I know). So much so that he chooses not reload the Matrix and save her instead, threatening to wipe out the whole system, causing the human race to become extinct.

And then came Revolutions. The main obligatory critisism this time was the lack of answers to the questions posed in Reloaded, e.g. how could Neo stop four sentinels in the Real World with his mind? The answer is that reaching the verge of the Source unlocked a part of his program that set up a wireless connection the the Source, which he could use even when not plugged in to the Matrix. This was not explained directly in the movie. Why? Because it was going to be originally, but a few ADD-suffering teenagers didn't like it when the characters TALKED TO EACH OTHER ABOUT THE PLOT, that's why. Revolutions seems rushed, and it's because certain scenes were cut to stop action-freaks getting bored. And then they complained when they didn't understand it. See the hypocricy?

So came the final fight between Neo and Agent Smith, who has spread himself all over the Matrix like a virus, and is now threatening his own system. Neo travels to the Machine City to strike a deal: he will rid them of Smith if they agree not to destroy Zion. So they plug him into the Source and away he goes. During his gruelling fight, he reveals to Smith that he is fighting for no reason other than that he chooses to, proving everything that the Merovingian said about 'causality' in Reloaded to be proved wrong. It's a wonderfully profound statement, and it takes place within four little words. Brilliant philosophical links there.

But then Smith says something strange: 'Evereything that has a beginning has an end, Neo.' It appears that the Oracle - who was taken over by Smith earlier on - is speaking to Neo through him. This causes Neo to realise what he must do next. He allows Smith to copy into him. Smith is now connected to the Source (which the Oracle says in Reloaded is the only place programs can be deleted), and the machines destroy him. Neo dies, but not before his code is inserted into the Source and the Matrix is Reloaded. Interestingly, there is no green tint in this incarnation of the system, showing us that the future is filled with hope as the machines and humans finally strike a peace.

I don't know about you, but I could never have come up with a story that complex. That's why I think it's so brilliant: not only is it a kick-ass action movie, but it has an incredible story which has its base in many different religions and cultures, with lacings of philosophy thrown in to boot. And it still doesn't tell us everything! The video game - Enter the Matrix - and a collection of Animatrix anime cartoons pad it out even further. If that's not genius, then I don't know what is.

Well, that's my rant over. And I'm interested to know: does anyone else here actually like these movies, or am I the only one? (Sorry for boring you, but I'm so passionate about this subject, I want the world to know. 😉 )

 

[the_Baron]

ummm. the matrix.


(homer reloaded)

 

[MrMacphisto]

I agree... The LOTR trilogy is good, but it's way over-rated when compared to the Matrix. Reloaded was kind of a low point for the series, but I think Revolutions made up for it. The ending was a bit too "shiny, happy" for me, but I think the plot was sound. It definitely has more to say about life than LOTR, and it has more of a basis on reality than LOTR.

 

[theshire]

Shiny? Happy? The protagonist and his girlfriend die! Yeah, it had a corny sunrise ending, but I'd hardly call it 'happy'. I love the fact that it was not a typical Hollywood ending.

 

[AphxA]

People need to understand something about the matrix. There were things that you couldnt see in the movie that were explained in the "animatrix" dvd and "enter the matrix" video game. There was scene in "enter the matrix" that happened before matrix: reloaded.

 

[MrMacphisto]

AphxA, this is true... Enter the Matrix was a great video game (and it made me wish that Ghost had more lines in the actual movies). With the exception of the first computer generated part, I'd say that the Animatrix was very disappointing. Granted, I'm not a huge fan of anime....

 

[theshire]

I liked the first five shorts on the Animatrix DVD, and the other four not so much. Final Flight of the Osiris is the best one, IMO. The Second Renaissance shorts are also good, giving you the history of the human/machine war; while A Kid's Story gives you some background info on the Kid. The one after that (I forget its name) doesn't really relate to the story of the movies, but I think it's still good. The wierdest one was definately Matriculated. It was like an acid trip! And what was that weird monkey-thing in a jar?

 

[tommytikl]

My problem with the video game and the Animatrix

I know "The Brothers" didn't have enough time to fill in all the gaps using the movie(s) so they created the game and the Anime DVD, but as a person just seeing the 3 films AS THEY ARE...some things, plot lines, characters almost seem like throw aways or leave the viewer more confused than they needed to be and especially if they only saw the movies one each!! I saw each one twice and played the game AND own the Anime DVD and still have some questions...
The 3 movies are a great accomplishment and should be appauled for their work but I think the jump from "The Matrix" to the other 2 movies was a bit extreme and caught people off guard.

Just my two cents.


ALSO...

The main obligatory critisism this time was the lack of answers to the questions posed in Reloaded, e.g. how could Neo stop four sentinels in the Real World with his mind? The answer is that reaching the verge of the Source unlocked a part of his program that set up a wireless connection the the Source, which he could use even when not plugged in to the Matrix. This was not explained directly in the movie. Why? Because it was going to be originally, but a few ADD-suffering teenagers didn't like it when the characters TALKED TO EACH OTHER ABOUT THE PLOT, that's why.

Where did you hear about the "wireless" connection? I had not heard that point before..any info would be helpful here!

 

[theshire]

Wireless connection?

I worked that out. It's all in there, it's just not said directly. I can't remember exactly, but I think the Oracle's words were akin to: 'The power of the One extends beyond this world. It stretches from here right back to where it came from: the Source. That's what you felt when you touched those Sentinels. But you weren't ready for it. You were supposed to die, but apparently you weren't ready for that, either.'

And when Neo met the Architect Archie told him that the process of reaching the Source had 'altered his conciousness', a sign that something about him has changed now.

I think the reason that the sequels left some people clueless is because they were made more for fans who could be bothered to buy the peripheral stuff and work things out for themselves, instead of having it all spoon-fed to them. They were all planned from the beginning, it's just that the first movie was made with a solid-enough ending that if it bombed the sequels wouldn't have to be made.

Anyway, you said you had questions - ask me if there's something you're not sure on. I like to think I'm pretty clued up on the subject, but there's some things that nobody knows because not all the information is given. I hope another game or Animatrix DVD will come out which will explain it. (Actually, there is an online game called The Matrix Online coming out this year. Hopefully, it'll answer the remaining questions, but I don't think I'll be shelling out any of my money to play it. 🙁 )

 

[zyclos_b]

Yes, the story line was pretty good.

Although, I think that Revolutions could've been done a little better.

Also, I would've liked to see Neo fight those Ghost-like twins in Reloaded.
They were pretty sick

 

[cs217903]

I have to say that I was a tad bit disappointed with the final movie. And at some points in the second movie, I felt like I was playing PLaystation 2. Bad graphics, not kosher. However, the thought process behind these movies is absolutely genius. The storyline and the plot never ceased to blow my freakin mind. Every time I watch them, I find something new in it that I never figured out before, and I love movies that make me think. All in all, the trilogy is very well done, (a hell of a lot better than those stupid LOTR flims).

 

[CaptainQuantum]

Actually, there is an online game called The Matrix Online coming out this year. Hopefully, it'll answer the remaining questions, but I don't think I'll be shelling out any of my money to play it. 🙁 )

I also am a huge Matrix fan. When I get back to work I am totally going to get Matrix Online, although I will probably have to shell out a few buck to get my PC upgraded so it will be compatible. But from the preview I saw on one of the DVD's (one of the 2 sequels), it looks to be worth it. They say on the preview that virtually every room in every building will be accessible, you can create your own character, be recruited by the Rebels, the Exiles, or the Agents, and join with any of them! On a sad note however, I read on the internet that Morpheus has already died in this post-movie Matrix world 🙁

Also shire, have you seen the 2 volumes of Matrix comics the Wachowskis came out with? I own volume 1 and checked the other out at the library. And if you haven't played Enter the Matrix as Niobe, Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) kisses Persephone (Monica Bellucci) just like Ghost did when you play him.

One criticism that I haven't heard though: When the actress who originally played the Oracle (Gloria Foster) died, and they replaced her with Mary Alice, the character lost all of her personality. Oracle was such a likable character in the 1st 2 movies, and in Revolutions and the video game she was so drab and dull.

One more thing, if you really got into the philosophical aspects of the Matrix story, there's at least a couple of book I know of that deal with this. One is called Taking the Red Pill: Science, Philosophy and Religion in The Matrix by Glenn Yeffeth (Editor), and the other is The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real by William Irwin (Editor). I took them both out at the library, but I kinda liked Taking the Red Pill better.

 

[Ticklish9's]

When the first movie came out, I remember hearing all about it and wondering what the hype was about. I'm not really into movies, so I never really thought I'd bother seeing it. However, my youth group leader finally took a group of us out to see it.

I went back 6 times.

That first Matrix movie was completely mind-blowing... nowadays you'll catch Matrix references just about everywhere and it's completely penetrated popular culture. Many of the concepts that lay behind the plot were completely original AND well-executed technically. If that's not genius, I don't know what is.

I think a lot of the hate directed at the sequels is because people expected them to be as thunderously original as the first. What they don't think about is that, prior to the release of the first movie, practically nobody had even conceived of of anything like the Matrix. To be able to pull of something equally unique and unexpected would have required an entirely new storyline.


To this day, the Matrix and it's sequels remain some of the few movies I've taken the time to see, and certainly some of the very, very few I've ever watched more than once.

 

[BOFH666]

I fall into the "Matrix great, sequels so-so" camp on this one, and there's three main reasons for that (excluding the at-times crap CGI and awful directing of the big battles, going for scale is fine but give us something to focus on or it gets tiring):

1) Somewhere between the first movie and its sequels all the characters seemed to have a charisma bypass. The Matrix presented us with a cast that actually sparked off each other. Keanu Reeves (who I normally can't stand) worked briliantly as a very confused Neo just coming to terms with the fact his life has been a lie. Hugo weaving created one of modern cinema's classic villains. Lawrence Fishburne came across as a leader that would indeed inspire his crew to sacrifice their lives. And so on, in fact I struggle to think of a duff note in the whole cast. Now, granted, the end of the world isn't exactly a barrel of yucks but aside from the "huh, upgrades" line at the start of Reloaded the 'heroes' suddenly became dull as dishwater.

2) The plot for both Reloaded and Revelations suffered from two things. First, the brothers W being unable to resist delving into pop psychology at every frickin' opportunity. Now before someone has a go at me for suffering from ADD, I got the plot the first time through (it's not exactly hard if you listen carefully) but I can't blame anyone for coming out going WTF? It's not even deep and meaningful stuff, you here pretty much the same thing from any group of first year psych students you care to listen to. Worse though, far far worse, was the huge honking hole they found themselves in at the end of the first film, namely that they'd blown their load in a movie that had conquered all and everyone involved was seeing huge pots of money attached to sequels. Neo was now, basically, invincible. He could fly, death wasn't exactly a major problem anymore, bullets just stopped dead and he could probably leap tall buildings in a single bound as well. Yeah, I know, that last one's a cheap shot, but this really is "superman syndrome", when you have a character that's practically unbeatable then building a credible threat is bloody hard and they never really manage it. Oh, and top tip to all film makers, when you KNOW this is an issue (and there's no way they didn't) DON'T DRAW ATTENTION TO IT IN THE FIRST TEN MINUTES OF THE MOVIE! "He's off doing his superman thing"...


3) There are plot holes you can drive a supertanker through. As an example, the 'wireless access to the sentinels' thing. The explanation is probably right but come ON, this is the machine future where the metal menaces are super intelligent and they haven't managed to invent a decent firewall yet? For that matter, why the hell do they need Neo to go and fight Smith when Smith infects the whole Matrix, surely a good antivirus programme would have much the same effect? Why is the Matrix linked to the source anyway, there's no practical reason for it, just upload whatever data you need to a holding area and have one of your cool red-eyed metal minions swap cables to connect the holding area to the source AFTER you've pulled the Matrix cable out the back. And so on. If you've got even a basic understanding of computers these are major plot holes which utterly destroy the suspense of disbelief.

Want some more? Okay, how exactly can Neo 'wirelessly' control Sentinels with just his squishy human brain? The power to do that might indeed be in there, whatever code he needs could be shoveled into his cortex (lord knows he doesn't seem to be using that particular space) but you still need a transmitter and some sort of power supply (or a LOT of weetabix). Even if you presume that the machines implanted a teeny tiny transmitter somewhere in his body it would have got fried along with the sentinels in The Matrix when the EMP went off (if the machines could shield devices from EMP then surely they'd build their hunter/destroyer robots with that technology). Why can Neo see the real world as code even when his eyes are extra crispy? Again, not possible without some technological goodies helping out the regular human bits. How come Neo never, ever, not even once, tries to 'blow up' an agent the way he did Smith in the first film? Why doesn't Zion have some handy dandy EMP's built into the docking bay, connecting corridors, temple, living quarters etc? Why, if the machines can organise events to ensure the One sees The Architect at just the right time AND if they can turn human wetware into a wireless link can't they hard code a "go to THAT door dumbass" command into his brain? What exactly was the point of introducing Merv and Persephone in part two for absolutley no pay off whatsoever? For that matter, why would a machine culture maintain an environment where hacking is simple, nay encouraged, when it's probably the only real threat to them? And why try to look for meaning in a movie where the central premise - humans as batteries - is utter feldercarb? How come none of the humans learn from Neo's example and go into the Matrix with more guns than the entire western world strapped on? Why, for that matter, if they know enough pop culture to reference Superman doesn't some bright spark code up some Wolverine style gauntlets to really ruin the day of the next agent that thinks hand to hand is a good idea? If a puny human hovercraft can get above the cloud layer that's forcing, FORCING I TELL YOU, the machines to use humans as a power source can the machines not just build big floating / flying solar collectors to get up there? I seem to remember the clouds having a negative effect on the machines but, seriously, they've had centuries, you'd think they'd have worked it out by now. Heck, a long pole with a solar panel on the top would do the job!

Now here's the thing, normally I have no problems with movies that leave some things unclear for the viewer to decide. But with the Matrix they went to a huge amount of effort to introduce the storyline (all in separate products with separate price tags of course) that leaving big chunks of storyline unresolved, or worse resolved by conveniently forgetting chunks of the story that had already gone, was a cop out plain and simple. For that matter, why in the name of all that's holy didn't they attach The Last Flight Of The Osiris to the movie as a pre-flick feature? Or found time to include it in the movie with the crew watching the package that was dropped off just before the Osiris bit the dust.

The worst thing of all for me is that I love the first film. It's fresh, exciting and is one of the best action scripts of the last twenty years. There's virtually no wasted space, the plot's always moving along and the characters come across well. Everything since then, the animatrix, Reloaded, Revalations and Enter The Matrix, has actually knocked my enjoyment of the first film down a little bit. That's not to say everything else was bad, they're enjoyable entertainment at the very least, but if this mess was the best they could do why oh why couldn't they have left it alone?

 

[MrMacphisto]

I thought the CGI was what made Revolutions so awesome. It beat the heck out of The Return of the King. I do agree that the twins from Reloaded should have shown up though.... They rocked...

 

[Red Jester]

I think the reason that the sequels left some people clueless is because they were made more for fans who could be bothered to buy the peripheral stuff and work things out for themselves, instead of having it all spoon-fed to them. They were all planned from the beginning, it's just that the first movie was made with a solid-enough ending that if it bombed the sequels wouldn't have to be made.

Yeah, not so much. The Matrix was a perfect film, at first confusion, then they slam a great plot on you, then the climax with some kickass CGI, and then an ending that left everybody happy. But guess what? It made a lot of money and people loved it so they brought the directors back for a sequel. (A trilogy no less, original.) Then the directors brought back bullettime (which is no where near as impressive as it was in 1999) and a lot of fight scenes which seem to last longer than the entire first movie. However it would still be a solid film if they cut out the bullshit philosophy they lay on you every 5 minutes. That whole purpose and choice thing is psychology 101 stuff and just blands up the entire second film. You can join the ranks of people who call it "psychologically deep" but its really just wannabe smart. People watched the sequels for over the top action scenes and Revolutions delivered somewhat. But I assure you the sequels weren't written until well after the first movie came out. You can tell this by how closely the second two sequels tie into each other and how little they tie into the first.

 

[Ticklish9's]

Hmmmm... after reading your post, BOFH, I have to agree. The first one was absolutely epic; the other two can't measure up, not just because it's a hard act to follow but because of genuine plot holes and cop-outs.

There's a certain suspension of disbelief that is part and parcel of most movie going experiences. Part of the genius of the first Matrix was that this suspension of disbelief was almost entirely eliminated - we could have been computer programs watching the damn thing. The second two simply didn't meet the same standard.

 

[BOFH666]

I thought the CGI was what made Revolutions so awesome. It beat the heck out of The Return of the King. I do agree that the twins from Reloaded should have shown up though.... They rocked...

Don't get me wrong Mac, some of it was indeed very good, the problem was it was inconsistent. The one (heh) that always stands out for me is the first fight between Neo and multiple Smith's in Reloaded, there's at least one point where the digital Keanu steps in and looks almost 2D. In fact, now that I think about it, that seemed to be a common problem, all the robot CG was great but they didn't quite nail the humans. There's another example right at the end of Revolutions (yeah, I keep calling it Revelations, wishful thinking I guess ) when Neo and Smith take flight, just doesn't look right. Again, it sounds like such a petty thing to be complaining about but the problem is the first film didn't make those mistakes, setting the bar very very high. When the sequels fall short of that bar it's all the more obvious and makes it that much harder to suspend disbelief.


The other problem with the CG in both films that I mentioned earlier is there's often no 'focus' for the audience. This isn't so bad on a TV screen as most of us have sets small enough to let us watch everything at once, but in a cinema it can become very tiring trying to follow a battle from wide shots without something to use as a reference point. Also, and I know this is just personal taste, I thought they did some very poor choices in terms of colour pallete in the sequels. Now, that might sound like a petty complaint but it's a big problem at times. Example: the Neo/Smith aerial battle at the end of Revolutions. If you're going to have two people fighting in and against a backdrop of grey stormclouds they NEED to have a relativley bright costume to help us pick them out against that background. The cinema I was in doesn't have the brightest projector of all time and it really was very hard to make out what was going on at times. Same thing for the Zion dock fight, it needed some more variation between sentinel, human walker and background to help out the audience. Now that doesn't mean you have to have dayglow orange stripes on the walkers or dress Neo in a clown suit but make subtle changes to distinguish between characters and sides.


Uh, actually, now that I think about it isn't there a freakin' HUGE, double underline bold flashing text HUGE, hole in the plot? Let me see if I get this right:

The first two matrixes that were created failed because humans rejected the program. The solution was to give them a near-unconscious choice as to whether or not they accepted the matrix or chose the real world. 99.9% accepted it, 0.1% went for a life of earth tones, mass orgies and superpowers in a computer game. Now, the One is created to act as a rallying point for those that went Real, to focus them, to give them belief and keep them in one place (Zion). When their numbers get too large, and the systemic anamoly in the matrix gets too great, the machines hit the great big reset switch in the sky, fire up The One program and all is sweetness and light. So, uh, why allow the humans that choose the real world to live? They're not creating power, they're not needed for the matrix reboot, they're a danger to the machines and if the One should happen to get his (or her) freak on everything falls over. Surely the logical process here would go:

Red Pill -> Real World -> Dazed Look -> wild ride from your pod, via a water slide, to a mincing machine -> high protein slurry for the 99.9% of humans that aren't a pain in the diodes.

BTW, always liked this: http://www.denounce.com/matrix.html

 

[theshire]

BOF, don't pretend the first movie is squeaky clean. Trinity brings Neo back to life with a kiss??? What the hell??? That's no more feasible than anything in Reloaded.

 

[Red Jester]

blah

99% of the people in the Matrix accept the programming on a subconsious level. The people who reject it couldn't be allowed to stay in the Matrix because they'd ruin it for the others or something, so the machines flush them out and they end up in Zion which the machines allow to exist so that they have a place to keep the defective humans. It would be more logical and efficient to simply kill them all when they break free but maybe the machines have a heart. Anyway, this whole program rejection thing is supposedly what creates the "one." Then when it gets too dangerous to keep them around, the machines reset the Matrix and reset Zion with new peeps. The biggest problems in the Matrix lie in its background. I have a lot of problems with the setup of the story but explaining everything would take longer than Trinity's death scene.

 

[BOFH666]

BOF, don't pretend the first movie is squeaky clean. Trinity brings Neo back to life with a kiss??? What the hell??? That's no more feasible than anything in Reloaded.

Please re-read my posts, I already commented on the BIG problem with the first movie (humans as batteries) and never said there weren't plot holes in the first film. The difference, IN MY OPINION, is movies 2 and 3 set out to be this great big rollercoaster of explanation (hence the psych 101 stuff) which makes the huge, glaring plot holes less excusible and makes me less likely to simply buy into a concept.

Let me give you an example, Neo stopping the sentinels at the end of Reloaded. When I first saw that my reaction was something like "ooookay, intersting, can't wait to find out what's going on there." When we got the non-explanation in Revolutions it was a massive let down and just doesn't stand up to logical analysis WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE MOVIE. It's like... why do lightsabres stop at a point x inches from the hilt? I don't know (before Dave says it, I know it's explained in the literature, just focusing on the films here) but neither do I care because I will accept it within the rules of the Star Wars universe. In the Matrix universe the explanation of Neo being able to be jebus in the real world breaks at least one 'law' of that universe and makes no real sense in the comparisons to a modern computer system that the movie continualy makes. Ironicaly one of the most popular explanations before Revolutions came out, the Matrix within a Matrix concept, WOULD have been consistent and made FAR more sense than the 'official' explanation.

Reviving Neo, while extremely unlikely, is just about possible within that universe, heck write it off as whatever makes the One special being triggered by the 'death' of the host in the Matrix and the gap for Trinity's speech being the boot up time if you like, that works. There's certainly nothing (other than the editing) that directly links Trinity kissing Neo to his revival whereas when Neo saves her in Reloaded we get a matrix-style shot of him reparing the damage. Now subsequent movies do a LOT to change that to Trinity 'saving' Neo by her actions and in fact that's one example of the sequels making the first movie fractionaly worse.

Anyway, you asked for opinions, I gave mine along with examples. Believe me, I WANTED to like the sequels very badly, I missed the first film in cinemas and was really looking forward to visiting that universe on the big screen. But whatever made The Matrix special is simply not there in Reloaded and Revelations. ALL my favourite sequences from the trilogy are in the first movie, even though what came after was so much bigger. I think a lot of it has to do with the first film, despite having that epic backdrop, being a very 'small' story in a lot of ways. The lobby fight is still my favourite big action sequence from all three movies, the Neo/Smith battle in the tube station is far more engaging than the burly brawl or final showdown. That's not to say the sequels stink like the rotting remains of a killer whale washed up by a lighthouse after a shark attack, in fact I've got both films and the Animatrix sitting on the shelf and Enter The Matrix in my PC Game collection. They're good popcorn movies but the first movie, IN MY OPINION, is lightyears ahead of them.

 

[theshire]

I think you're in a minority, BOF, in that you understand the movies and don't like them (at least not as much as I do). Usually the hatred comes from total incomprehension. And the fact that you know what you are talking about makes it an interesting thing to read.

But my opinion still differs vastly from yours. I can't watch Reloaded and NOT see an absolutely brilliant film. Originally when I saw it, I was not a Matrix 'fan'. I had seen the first movie and liked it, but that was it. Reloaded, however, totally blew me away. I remember when the Burly Brawl finished, my brother leaned over to me and whispered, 'Well, that was the most amazing thing I've ever seen.' And it was. As was the bullet time head-on crash of the two lorries. Initially, that was what made me love it so much.

But when I started looking up theories on the Net, I began to appreciate it even more. You talk about Philosophy 101, etc, and I think it's more than that. True, in Reloaded, they shove it down your throat with not much subtlety and with little room for expansion in the viewer's mind (it's worse in M1; it just happened less). What I think is so well done is the fact that Revolutions takes all that and uses it without telling us that it's using it. The themes of causality, predetermination vs. choice, etc. are all rounded off in the third movie, and it's up to us as viewers to recognise where this is happening. Once this becomes clear, you can also go back and apply these ideas to the first movie, and that in turn makes watching that one an even richer experience. I think of it like a really complex and artistic tapestry.

Another complaint I read above is about the CG, particulalrly in the Burly Brawl. True, there are some moments with almost video game graphics. But remember that these were the most realistic CG humans ever created at the time, and the directors had the guts to show them up pretty close and in broad daylight. Then you have something like the battle of Zion, which has amazing CG. So the special effects aren't a reasonable criticism in my opinion.

At the end of the day, this does come down to opinion. All I really know is that at some base level I was exhilarated by Reloaded in a way that I hadn't ever been by a movie before. I loved every second of it. I was disappointed by Revolutions at first - and I still think it is the weakest of the three movies - but I have come to love it.

Yet I became a Matrix fan by virtue of Reloaded; I wasn't turned off the series by it like a lot of people were. If anything, Reloaded has had me talking and appreciating the way movies are made more than any other movie I have seen. I estimate that in the six months between the releases of Reloaded and Revolutions, there were only about three days when I didn't think or talk about the series. THREE. OUT OF ABOUT 180. As a film, it is flawed (but IMO I can't think of many faults), but as a work of art I think it's genius - especially when coupled with the other two in the series.

If that's not a matter of opinion I don't know what is.

 

[MrMacphisto]

Don't get me wrong Mac, some of it was indeed very good, the problem was it was inconsistent. The one (heh) that always stands out for me is the first fight between Neo and multiple Smith's in Reloaded, there's at least one point where the digital Keanu steps in and looks almost 2D. In fact, now that I think about it, that seemed to be a common problem, all the robot CG was great but they didn't quite nail the humans. There's another example right at the end of Revolutions (yeah, I keep calling it Revelations, wishful thinking I guess ) when Neo and Smith take flight, just doesn't look right. Again, it sounds like such a petty thing to be complaining about but the problem is the first film didn't make those mistakes, setting the bar very very high. When the sequels fall short of that bar it's all the more obvious and makes it that much harder to suspend disbelief.

The last fight between Smith and Keanu was a bit too much like Dragonball Z, but aside from that, I thought the multiple Smiths fight was kind of like comic relief. You can imagine how much fun the computer artists had with that one. It is true though that there were glitches here and there....

Uh, actually, now that I think about it isn't there a freakin' HUGE, double underline bold flashing text HUGE, hole in the plot? Let me see if I get this right:

The first two matrixes that were created failed because humans rejected the program. The solution was to give them a near-unconscious choice as to whether or not they accepted the matrix or chose the real world. 99.9% accepted it, 0.1% went for a life of earth tones, mass orgies and superpowers in a computer game. Now, the One is created to act as a rallying point for those that went Real, to focus them, to give them belief and keep them in one place (Zion). When their numbers get too large, and the systemic anamoly in the matrix gets too great, the machines hit the great big reset switch in the sky, fire up The One program and all is sweetness and light. So, uh, why allow the humans that choose the real world to live? They're not creating power, they're not needed for the matrix reboot, they're a danger to the machines and if the One should happen to get his (or her) freak on everything falls over. Surely the logical process here would go:

Red Pill -> Real World -> Dazed Look -> wild ride from your pod, via a water slide, to a mincing machine -> high protein slurry for the 99.9% of humans that aren't a pain in the diodes.

BTW, always liked this: http://www.denounce.com/matrix.html

These are interesting points, but I thought the reason why the humans were surviving outside of the Matrix was because the Matrix collective didn't know where Zion was. It wasn't until Revolutions that they figured out its exact location. The One was essentially bait for the computer to find Zion with.

 

[NG02]

I think that the Matrix SERIES(which includes animatrix and enter the matrix)was pure genious. Any movie that is so powerful that it make you actually second quess your primary way of living is awesome in itself. Im pretty much a fan of any movies of this sort and others(ie: LOTR, Blade, Batman, and even Rocky).