Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more

 

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Director: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

The Matrix was the post-modern pop product, an action movie simulation for style conscious Generation X-ers primed on Nintendo and Baudrillard. Deconstruction was the name of the game. But like Alien and The Terminator before it, The Matrix was also a lean, concept-driven science fantasy movie which so surpassed box office expectations it demanded a mega budget sequel. Reloaded begins with the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar heading for the subterranean city of Zion, where the humans are bracing themselves to repel an army of machines, and ends in much the same place. In between, Neo (Reeves) seeks to fulfil The Prophecy and find The Source. If it sounds programmatic, that's the point: we're all bit-players in the video game of life. Still, it's disappointing that Level 2 is basically more of the same: literally so, in the case of Agent Smith (Weaving). It's a design marvel - actors included - but for all their techno trix, the Wachowskis' attempts to elaborate character are painfully trite. The second half recovers lost ground, but even the 'out of this world' action scenes are beginning to seem a little... abstract. Worryingly, the longer this movie goes on, the harder it is to care.

Author: TCh 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.