So, I went and saw the 10PM showing of "The Matrix: Reloaded" last night with Cubbie. Loews was all sold out, so we resorted to Showcase East in Monroeville (It must have been like 5 years since I've gone to see a movie there).

The lasting impression I currently have is that Keanu said "shit" instead of "whoa", and that Trinity used SSH to connect to the power plant's network. (I'm a geek... shoot me) ...

Pretty much all the fight scenes sucked just as badly as it did in the last one (and there are so many of them, all so long... ) ok, maybe it got a tiny bit better, but that's cuz they hired better opponents who really "know kungfu" while Mr. Fishburne and Mr. Reeves sat on their asses for the past ~4 years. Of course there are spots here and there within each fight scene that make you go "ooooooh...", but it's so far apart and rare that none of it really lasts the way they do in movies like "The Hero", for example.

Ok, maybe I'm a bit harsh... From a technical standpoint, there definitely has been a lot of effort put in, but I personally don't care how much hardcore editing went into producing the final composite, nor do I care if the global illumination algorithm used to make the 3D renderings made it look unbelievably real... Keanu can't fight, and obvoulsy no fast forwarding or camera/computer trickery was able to make up for it. And I naturally get distracted and taken out of the virtual world of story telling when there is obviously a glaring flaw *cough* keanu can't fight *cough* (I am actually starting to think that whenever there was a bit in a fight scene that makes it look as if Keanu fights well they were actually CG versions of Keanu) I find it interesting that so far one of the worst Jet Li films I've seen is named "The One" , and Keanu happens to be "The One"... Coincidence? At least the freeway scene was pretty good even though it was really long (far more entertaining than all of the fight scenes combined). Hey, there's a complement!

Of course, just like the previous one, biblical allusions are abundunt and as you dig deeper into the mythology those W bros have patched up from various other mythologies it may seem kinda cool. So it will make you want to probably watch it over to make sure you spotted all the plot points. Oh, and if you have yet to ponder on the whole free-will VS. fate debate that has been going on for decades, maybe this movie will open your eyes up that way, too... However, from a story-telling perspective and straight-up entertainment value I think it falls quite a bit short.

Bottom line... don't go see it for its fight scenes, or special effects cuz it's nothing you'll be really impressed about given that there aren't anything really new here... Don't go see it for its story telling, or acting, either... go see it cuz you know you want to... perhaps cuz you're just a big fan... or cuz it's your guilty pleasure... or since you just don't want to feel left out when others around you start quoting from it, leaving you clueless.

Would I strongly recommend it? nah... but I won't try to stop you, either. You might want to go Matinee, tho... Or wait till the DVD comes out so you can watch all the behind the movie stories along with it. I guess my point is that I think an entire comic book series or an animated version of the same story would have been much better served than this movie.

Well, only 6 months until Matrix 3 comes out! I'll go matinee this time.