out, damned spoon!

**Matrix spoilers follow**

so, i saw the matrix reloaded on friday night, and after the commotion of the weekend, i hadn't gotten a chance to write about it. which is not to say that i'm necessarily in a position to do so intelligently yet, mind you, but i suppose i'll try. i've wasted many a spare cycle thinking about this movie (indeed, it kept me awake far too late on friday night, even though it was already 3am). stupid brain doesn't know when to turn off. and really, i'm kinda torn as to what to think.

at first, i really was kinda turned off by the direction the story took, in addition to the structure of the movie, but i think that was just a reaction to the way it veered off from what the end of the first promised. now, though, after pondering it, i am impressed and intrigued by the potential directions that the whole thing could go, but yet somewhat disappointed in the overall movie itself. in a nutshell, the first movie was wicked fun, a great ride with enough meat on the story to satisfactorily chew on for a bit. this one, for better or for worse, kinda feels like work; a rewarding and worthwhile effort, but also not the kind of thing you'll drop in the dvd player on a random afternoon. nearer to babylon 5 than to star trek (not to insult the first movie by comparing it to the dead, beaten corpse that is star trek).

anyway, i still need to see it several more times, i think, so any kind of cohesive commentary will have to wait, but here's a few talking points:

the bad:

--the end of the chocolate scene. you know what i'm talking about. we got the point, then they had to show it to us in green and black. as gratuitous as the pudu jokes in the phantom menace or the dwarf-tossing joke's return in the two towers.

--morpheus's speech. laurence fishburne lost some of his mystique by giving that speech. as cool as his speaking voice is, his shouting voice is almost equally comical, which made his speech at the beginning pretty useless. the content was predictable anyway.

--the first 45 minutes, or, holiday in zion. lots of talking that set up precious little about the plot that was to follow. councils and committees and stuff like that. i don't remember because it didn't really matter to the plot.

--the rave scene. went on a bit too long. i actually don't have much of a problem with it, but others certainly have seemd to. the sweaty bodies make a point, elegantly, even, but like the rest of the opening act, it's just tedious.

--abandonment of the end of the first movie. at the end of the first movie, neo was going to show the world exactly what was going on by flagrantly defying the matrix' rules. what happened to that plan? (explained better here)

--if morpheus is such a fringe figure in zion, why was smith & co. so hot to get him in particular the first movie.

--the cutting of the scene where they plan their infiltrations. scenes inside and outside the matrix, cross-cut with the plans they speak of actually happening (and failing). confusing as hell.

--urgency. as in the fights mostly lacked it. the only one that delivered was the highway scene, which, coincidentally enough, was missing neo. remember exactly how awesome it was when neo turned and fought smith at the end of the first? how it was so clear he was fighting for his life and had chosen to do so? he lost his fear, and we lost that sense of desperation. the fights in the playground and the place with the swords and at the beginning with the other non-smith agents were also peripheral actions with no real bearing on the plot. so, regardless of how cool they were (they were), the payoff for all that thinky-ness is diminished, because the action is just a side dish, for the most part.

--the music. where was it, and why the fuck was dave matthews in the credits? where's the propellerheads? hell, i'd've been glad to hear rage against the machine (dislike them, but they are perfect for the end of the first movie). nothing much to hear, really. sad.

the good:

--the plot. it's interesting as hell. certainly has given me a lot to waste my time thinking about. as evidenced by voluminous forum posts on slashdot and the macnn forums, it's not just me. is neo indeed just the feedback loop on a closed system (cool!)? did his choice at the end even matter (given the architect's statement of irrelevance)? is there a matrix within a matrix (mr. reeves has apparently said no), is zion part of the matrix (a subtle semantic difference, i guess), or has he acquired truly special real-world powers (a lame thought, imho)? were all the other special people we've met thus far former iterations of the one from previous matrices? is the architect truly hiding in the john hancock tower, and why did i get arrested for sneaking in wearing a trenchcoat and sunglasses? did smith copy himself into a human brain, or did he merely escape from the matrix program out into a higher-level program? wouldn't his ability to copy himself support the second-matrix theory in addition to neo's ability to sense the machines? is neo comatose because he's woken up in this yet as-determined really real world? and so on. goodness knows that's not an all-inclusive list of questions, but i don't know when i've been so happy to have a movie give more questions than answers...

--the highway chase. using real cars (in a wonderful future where everyone drives GM products!) on a real highway makes a real difference. don't use CG for stuff that can be done in real life. good. the results show, and that sense of speed has not been properly captured on film since return of the jedi. about the only disappointment was that the agent-jumping-on-car shot would have taken people's breath away if it hadn't been given away in the trailer.

--the neo vs. smiths fight. fun, but too long, and, as i mentioned before, irrelevant. it's a jackie chan-style good time, though.

--the return of the spoon. cute.

--the discussion with the architect... very cool. sets up a lot of the stuff mentioned above, but the handling of it is cool. it simultaneously punches you in the gut by pointing out that the heroic exploits against the machines have all been planned for, while still making it clear that neo is a new and different kind of emergent behavior in the program.

--link. some people complained about him; i rather like him.

ah, damn, too much to talk about. there's a good chance i could change my mind about half of this after seeing it again, but it's kinda weird to be so frustrated both in a good way and a bad way by a movie...