The Matrix Reloaded
May 21st, 2003
As is usually the case, Liz and I waited until mid-week to see this weekend’s blockbuster movie, The Matrix Reloaded.
I have to admit that the first one was easier to get into. Surprisingly, the idea of phone booths transporting between computer generated realities and different colored pills opening up consciousness seem much more easy to digest, if you’ll pardon the pun, then merely talking about the Matrix as if it were a given. Consequently, this film is pushing a genre line between cerebral sci-fi and jam-packed action, hitting the mark for the most part, but not leaving out some want for conceptual simplicity. If you haven’t seen the first flick, don’t even attempt to follow along with this one.
Whether it’s intended or not, I definitely see more Postmodern threads running through the second story. Many, such as the belief that there is no “truth” and the rejection of certain ontological norms are used as constructs within the story itself, which one might ironically argue makes it somewhat less fulfilling to analyze. Still, it seems to know when to back off and isn’t too obsessed with its own creation in the end. The movie Dogma springs to mind as the ultimate example of a movie too involved with it’s own ruling universe. The Matrix, on the other hand, still has some flexibility left in its byte code and I hope the forthcoming conclusion can answer some of the questions still left lingering—that is if I haven’t forgotten to care by then.