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Story by: Jack Foley
AS LONDON waits to be gripped by Matrix-mania, the US critics
have delivered their verdict...
Some have hailed the cutting edge special effects, jaw-dropping
action sequences and the fantastical nature of the second film
in the series, while others felt the film suffered from veering
a little too much into psychological/destiny territory.
We kick off with Variety, however, which stated that Reloaded
'delivers enough thrills, kicks and cool moments to satiate geeks,
fans and mere general viewers worldwide'.
Village Voice, meanwhile, wrote that 'the refreshing draft
of effervescent movie magic leaves a sludgy sediment of metaphysics.
The latter may be less than brain-buzzing; the former is something
else, thanks largely to genius fight choreographer Yuen Wo Ping'.
Newsweek declared that 'Reloaded is more of a straight-ahead
action movie than the original, and it's filled with spectacular
mayhem', while Planet Sick-Boy wrote that 'it only takes
about 45 seconds for it to grab you by the throat and slap you
across the face'.
And Premiere wrote that 'the intellectual aspirations
of this series are just window dressing. Which left this viewer
to enjoy the freeway chase sequence (which really is cool), Hugo
Weaving’s smirk, and even the PlayStationish stuff'.
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However, the negatives spoke of huge disappointment and an alarming
parallel to the direction George Lucas has taken the last two
Star Wads movies.
The Onion's AV Club, for example, wrote that 'in making
The Matrix's leaden answer to The Phantom Menace, the Wachowski
brothers seem to be afflicted with George Lucas Syndrome: They're
so enthralled by the convoluted mythology of their own private
universe that they've lost touch with its human core'.
Worse still, was Slant Magazine, which wrote that it 'arrives
with the same chilling thud that accompanied the dashed hopes
and ruined promises of the last two Star Wars movies'.
Hollywood Reporter, while not exactly scathing, wrote
that 'while upping the ante considerably in the action and effects
department, storytelling stumbles frequently this outing as the
movie stops cold for philosophical digressions about fate and
destiny and reality'.
Time, which has featured the movie extensively during
the hype process (placing it on the cover of its current edition),
was also less than impressed, writing that 'you are never exactly
bored by 'The Matrix Reloaded, but there is something alienating
about it, maybe because it fails to fulfill its possibly loony
intellectual aspirations'.
But we conclude, for now, on a positive, and the Hollywood
Report Card, which wrote that 'whether you get 20% or 100%
of the intellectualizing, & even if there's no sense in fighting
software with military hardware & Kung Fu; it's simply a marvel
to watch'.
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