The Matrix Reloaded

Reloaded is a completely different film than the first Matrix. It seems as if it wasn’t even made by the Wachowskis, but rather by James Cameron in cooperation with Paul W.S. Anderson. Cameron is brought to mind by the bombastic set design in Zion, Anderson by some of the excessively digitalized visual effects (Neo’s face during the fight with the Smiths is a bad joke). The content is for nothing – whereas the previous film’s dialogue got its charm from the interesting idea of a parallel world, the dialogue here just messes around with words in a pseudo-intellectual way. The fistfights combined with the exotic techno soundtrack are very elegant and all the action on the highway is fantastic. And the nice costumes and detached humor (Frenchman Lambert Wilson and his vaginoscopy) are also pleasing. Beyond that, however, The Matrix Reloaded is just a synthetic formalistic diversion and fashion bubble. (20/05/2003)

In my day, I grossly underestimated the film, or rather overestimated it. I searched within it for more than a perfect post-cultural encyclopedia, richly overwhelmed with meanings and inspirations, narcissistic in its visual beauty. That was a mistake. The Matrix Reloaded can only be enjoyed if you accept it in this lightly coated yet childishly honest position. Years later, I saw a film that seemed to contain within it all the beauty (narrative, thought, visual) of all the magnificent epic works of fantasy. It's a real imaginative charge, unbridled by any self-criticism, guided only by a love of pop culture as a whole, and also by an excellent idea that turns the first film into a fairy-tale coloring book. Reloaded is a more mature but no less stimulating experience. What was encoded in Star Wars for generations before that, the Wachowskis offer in the cinematic language of the new millennium. I sincerely feel sorry for those who do not appreciate it – the most conspiratorial feeling of a person who feels at home in a green world. (25/01/2004)

It's incredibly easy to criticize this film, especially when compared to the first one. It's extremely blockbuster-like and almost mainstream, and its stylization may not appeal to everyone. In my opinion, it should be evaluated together with the second film because they don't make sense without each other. The first film can stand alone; the series could have ended with it. However, the second film needs Revolutions. I am satisfied with the result. The only thing that annoys me is the nonsensical philosophizing, which reaches its peak in the third installment. (26/01/2014)

Once in a while I watch The Matrix: Reloaded because it still has power, even two decades later, but it's always missing something – and I can never describe exactly what it is. Maybe it's the magic of something new, or a certain innocence that works in the first film even after multiple viewings. Here the biggest problem is shared by the dark and overcomplicated Matrix Revolutions, which, at least as I perceive it, only shares a bond between the main duo and the action side. There are unfinished ideas, precise action scenes (often just to have some action present), clumsy dialogue, aging special effects, or the overly dramatic and now truly idiotic interlude with the Merovingian. Surprisingly, even after all this time, I still insist on what I said about the film back in 2003. If the second and third installments were one whole, if unnecessary philosophy and excessive fighting with machines were omitted, or if the path to the source material had ended as it should have, this could have been a cohesive, more optimistic, and overall better story. (13/07/2005)

I remember the second Matrix film as something that disappointed me, because part of the promotion was, among other things, a strong targeting of Monica Bellucci, who really can't be the main reason to see Matrix Reloaded. However, in retrospect, it is not that much worse than the first film. It's just that the party time at the beginning still seems so inorganic. Especially considering how Neo and Trinity's relationship is written like it was out of a fairy tale. (05/07/2020)