May
15, 2003, 8:45 a.m. Reloaded The Matrix
returns.
By Thomas Hibbs
hat
if the prophecy is true? What if tomorrow this war could be over? Isn't
that worth fighting for? Isn't that worth dying for?" Thus speaks
Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) in the The
Matrix Reloaded — the Wachowski Brothers' much-anticipated
sequel to The Matrix and the second entry in the trilogy to be
completed with November 's release of The Matrix Revolutions. Morpheus
delivers these lines on the eve of a battle with a massive machine army,
programmed to destroy all the citizens of Zion, the city of rebel humans
who have accepted the truth about mankind's enslavement by the Matrix.
To the objection that proceeding with battle now risks loss of life, Morpheus
responds, "This is a war and we're soldiers. Death can come to us
at any time."
If you find Morpheus's
counsels timely for a contemporary America at war with terror, wait till
you see what the Wachowski brothers have done with the Merovingian, an effete
Francophile powerbroker. As sequels go, The Matrix Reloaded is highly
entertaining; it certainly whets the appetite for the finale. There are
some terrific battle scenes, a captivating car-chase scene, and a number
of humorous verbal exchanges, some of which involve Agent Smith, whose growing
gift for deadpan irony makes him an almost attractive character. But, as
is the case with most sequels, Reloaded lacks the punch and gripping
narrative of the first.
The problem is not
just that it has the feel of a transitional entry. Reloaded seems
to have adopted some version of the rules of the sequel, so humorously
spoofed for the horror genre in Scream
2; in this case, the mandate is longer and more intricate fight
sequences accompanied by longer and more intricate discussions of the
philosophical issues that have made The
Matrix a staple in college Intro to Philosophy classes.
The battle scenes
are often magnificent, a high-tech mix of Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon with occasional doses of Belushi-style samurai
slapstick. But the complexity of these scenes, reminiscent of a Buzby
Berkeley musical, too often diverts attention from the battle to the choreography.
The entry has more of the feel of a high-powered video game, which is
of course exactly what The Matrix is, only with real-world consequences.
The deeper problem
is that neither the battles nor the philosophical discussions seem as
integral to the movement of the plot, to Neo's progress in his quest,
as they did in the first film. Given Neo's Superman ability to fly into
space at nearly the speed of light, some of Neo's battles are utterly
unnecessary. For example, when a huge horde of Agent Smiths surround and
attack him, he engages in a lengthy fight before escaping by zipping off
into space, something he could have done when he first encountered the
enemy. The same is true of the film's many verbose philosophical musings,
which seem designed solely to meet the expectation of fans religiously
devoted to its mythic and philosophical themes.
But my guess is that
most sane fans of the first film were drawn in, not so much by its philosophical
insights, as by its captivating plot. In the first film, viewers shared
Neo's journey and his bafflement and uncertainty as he entered the rabbit
hole to be taught Morpheus's unthinkable truths about mankind's enslavement
to the Matrix. We watched and wondered as Neo learned that he was the
One, the savior come to fulfill the prophecies of the Oracle. Then there
were the training sessions, Neo's mastery of bullet time and his growing
confidence in his ability to fight as a rebel warrior against the Matrix
— all of which led up to the climactic battle with Agent Smith.
In Reloaded,
Neo may still be the One, but he's no longer neo, a novice. He has begun
to transcend his teacher, Morhpeus who continues to express blind faith
in the Oracle. At the center of this film is a conflict between the piety
of Morpheus and the hardheaded realism of Commander Lock (Henry Lennix),
who is now married to Niobe, Morpheus's former lover. Neo is increasingly
independent of both of these leaders of Zion. In his encounter with the
Oracle, Neo is much more suspicious about her trustworthiness. And the
status of the Oracle, her allegiance, is in serious doubt by the end of
the film. In fact, the most interesting philosophical suggestion, one
that sets up a crucial puzzle for the plot of the next film, is that the
very impulse to rebellion against the Matrix may itself be a product of,
or at least susceptible to management by, the Matrix.
In spite of his doubts,
Neo obeys the Oracle's advice to find a character known as the Keymaker;
in order to gain access to him, the gang has to go through an underground
power broker, the Merovingian (Lambert Wilson), a Francophile who fits
very nicely the stereotype of the cheese-eating-surrender monkey. Wallowing
in sensual luxury and intoxicated by his own specious theories about the
supremacy of causality over choice, the Merovingian is an effete buffoon.
Nonetheless, he manages to get off one of the best deadpan lines in the
film; after his minions fail to capture Neo, he counsels them to kill
him. With a mere raising of his hand Neo fends off hundreds of bullets
flying at him from automatic rifles. The Merovingian pauses, nods, and
concedes, "OK, you've got some talent."
One of the welcome features of the sequel is its regular and effective
use of comic relief. But the bad guys seem to get all the best lines,
which is a problem for a film that wants, above all else, to defend the
complexity and distinctiveness of humanity. At the heart of the Wachowski's
human world is the love between Neo and Trinity. Although events toward
the end of the film make a convincing case for their devotion to one another,
the super-hero lovebirds continue to fail to generate sufficient passion,
despite a scene in which they have sex in the midst of a sort of Bacchanalian
feast in Zion.
As I said above, Reloaded is wonderfully entertaining, well worth
the price of admission; moreover, its failing stand out precisely because
of the standards set by the first film. Still, if the finale fails to
generate more genuine passion between Neo and Trinity, Revolutions
may find us rooting for the increasingly endearing Agent Smith.
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hat
if the prophecy is true? What if tomorrow this war could be over? Isn't
that worth fighting for? Isn't that worth dying for?" Thus speaks
Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) in the 
