I would pay $15.00 to watch this movie

    Before I watched this movie, I read a review of it in "The New Yorker" magazine. As is typical with culture magazines like that, the review was perceptive. The review brought up many interesting points of reference such as Phillip K. Dick, Harvard, and whatnot. And, as is usual in magazines of that ilk, the review was critical, and it was complete bollocks.
    Go see this movie. If you haven't seen "The Matrix Reloaded" yet, stop reading this review and go watch it.
This is one of those rare films which coalesces as the movie progresses. For the first two-thirds of the movie, the movie seems interesting, but not profound. And then it hits you in the face and you are left feeling stunned. But don't let that stop you from watching, because you will not stop being hit in the face until the end of the movie.
    In "The Matrix", the Wachowski brothers created a world. In "The Matrix Reloaded", they gave their world a population; character, if you will. The real gist of the first movie was the qualitative, visceral difference (rather, the lack of such a difference), between reality and what our senses tell us. The difference between man and machine, servant and master. The character Cypher in "The Matrix" blurred those lines. "The Matrix Reloaded" smudges those lines until the whole world is painted a smudgy grey.
    This franchise is not living up to its promise; it is exceeding that promise. The natural reaction of every jaded, crusty old moviegoer when sitting in the theater waiting for the sequel to begin is "I hope this is as good as the first film." Rarely does a sequel live up to that standard and, in even more rare instances, the sequel surpasses the first. Such was the case with "The Empire Strikes Back", "Final Destination 2", and "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". Such is also the case with "The Matrix Reloaded".
    The breakdown: The acting is solid, and the introduction of Jada Pinkett, Monica Bellucci, Lambert Wilson and Harold Perrineau Jr. as recurring characters makes me very happy, as all are solid actors. The plot is superb, the dialogue is good, the sound is great, the direction is awe-inspiring, the soundtrack is forgettable, the editing is choppy in spots, and some of the special effects are a bit shifty in spots, but overall they will overload you with sheer niftiness. Some may argue the last point with me, but just check out Keanu's face in some of the fight scenes.
    One thing I greatly appreciated in this movie was the addition of multiple layers of deception. At the end of the first movie, you were left with the answer to a question, which gave you a sense of certainty. At the end of "The Matrix Reloaded", you are left with more questions than ever before, and doubt is the flavor du jour.

    “The Matrix” was a movie that was about a world and the people in it, and it promised us that the people in the world would be able to significantly affect that world. “The Matrix Reloaded” shows us that the world is much more powerful than we ever imagined it to be, but so are the people in it.

    The best part of this movie was the introduction of characters which were programs, but not necessarily part of the overall machine plan to enslave humans. This made the world much more complete and interesting than the rather black and white world we are introduced to in the first film.

    The love aspect in this movie was quite refreshing as well. We still have a relatively uncertain Neo (outside of the Matrix), and Trinity is basically his ground. He seems to want her by his side at all times, and she willingly mothers him for the bulk of the movie. This rather one-sided relationship is completed near the end of the movie, as Neo gets the chance to save his lover’s life. Recall in the first movie how Trinity brought Neo back from the dead while he was in the Matrix and she was in the real world. Well, in this movie, Neo brings Trinity back from the dead while they are both in the Matrix. It’s really very touching and nicely done.

    OK, I guess I have to point out some of the negative aspects of the movie. Zion. Now, the politics and stuff that goes on inside of Zion is interesting, but the general population of Zion is mentally disabled. I mean, we get this great view down the huge cylinder that is Zion, and it seems like everybody and their uncle is hanging out on the radial catwalks. Overkill. I mean, leave that sort of nonsense to George Lucas. And then there’s the underground rally/human affirmation ceremony. It would have been OK, except that it looked as if the kids from Thunderdome had decided to throw a rave. It just looked silly. Don’t get me wrong, the dancing was nice, but the natural rock cavern was silly looking, as were the too-dirty costumes. As one person in the theater said, why don’t they have a washing machine?

    And that was the worst aspect of this movie: the people of Zion looked like Dennis Hopper's oil rig people in "Waterworld". Oh well, the movie is still amazing and everybody ought to go see it, the naysayers be damned.