Matrix Reloaded Review
The opinions from people coming out from Reloaded have been quite polarised. There are some people who love it, there are some people who think it’s a steaming load of dung. The primary gripe seems to be the slow pace of the movie during dialogue and the non-exciting lacklustre action scenes. The plot has been criticised as straight-forward and unimaginative. All valid criticisms, depending on what you got out of the movie. Also, if you haven’t seen the movie, there’s a trailer for Matrix: Revolutions after the credits.
Back in English classes in high school, we were always taught to analyse prose by splitting up the material into four attributes: plot, characters, themes and style. For me, the latter two aspects made the movie worth watching. I really enjoyed the action scenes – the Matrix has defined its own style of action, an amalgam of bullet time, Asian-influenced martial arts, sweeping camera angles and visual pyrotechnics all while wearing a trenchcoat. The problem is, it seems, that people have become desensitised to special effects. CGI is now at the point where anything the mind can conceive can be transferred onto the big screen. Because, if you ask the question – what could Reloaded have done better with regards to its action scenes – and the answer is quite honestly, not much. 100 replica actors on screen, actors trained in Kung Fu and the use of an array of mediaeval weaponry, wire acrobatics, guns, a car chase scene with a motorbike, explosions, it goes on and on. So. What more is there? Where to from here?
Of course, action doesn’t leave much to be discussed after a movie besides the obligatory, “Wow, did you see when X happened?! Unreal!” Which is why I think the Wachowski brothers (who are apparently very well read) decided to intersperse the explosions with a series of interminable and confusing conversations that critics have dismissed as a superficial discussion of philosophy, watered down for plebs. I think that is being too dismissive. Half the film was chatter about an array of philosophically-grounded words, thrown up seemingly randomly in the air, causing the audience to instantly tune out. However, I think the unorthodoxy of such cerebral dialog in a guaranteed blockbuster points to an intention by the Wachowski brothers to not produce another mindless action flick, and to try and stimulate the audience into discussing movie themes, in addition to movie plots. In my opinion, the Wachowskis have done a brilliant job with the philosophy. If you’re not interested, that’s cool – not everyone wants to have to think on a Friday night out – and you can stop reading here. Otherwise, it’s time for my analysis. I may or may not be reading too much into this movie, but discussions about a movie don’t have to be restricted to just the movie. I have seen the movie twice. Beware – Spoilers Ahead!
Whilst the philosophical theme in the first Matrix was all about what is reality, the themes in Reloaded were a lot less clear. Many terms were thrown up: control, choice, reason, purpose, destiny and so on. Let’s look at each of the conversations in turn (comments always welcome of course!) and stimulate “the only muscle that counts”.
Neo and the Councilor: Brief discussion of “what is control”? It’s not as clear cut as you would think. Control is sometimes an illusion, whereas interdependence may be often closer to reality.
Neo and the Oracle: This one is juicy. When Neo takes the candy, he accuses the Oracle that she already knows what he’s going to do, an accusation she accepts. Neo retorts, what choice does he have, if she already knows what he’s going to do. She replies that he has already made the choice, and that he’s not there to find out about his future choices, but to find out the reason behind making those future choices. Neo is confused. Neo reasons that if all his choices are already made (pre-determined), then why can’t he see into the future himself? The Oracle again replies that it is because he lacks an understanding of the reasons, that he cannot see into the future.
An interesting idea is developed here. It looks at the concept of destiny/fate and then decrees that choice is irrelevant. The idea is that it is the reasons and motivations that ultimately govern the choice you are going to make. In order to see the future (ie: the choice you are going to make), you have to understand the reasons behind the choice. That is, Neo can’t see the future because he doesn’t understand the reasons. The choice is “already made”, or more accurately, the choice is irrelevant and illusory. It’s a subtle but significant distinction.
Let’s analogise. You buy a magazine at a newagency and walk up to the counter. At this point let’s say you have two “choices”, whether to pay for it, or nick off without paying for it. We would be able to predict what you would do, given your motives. If you were an ordinary person, you’d pay for the magazine – you don’t really have a choice in the matter. Whereas, if you were a kleptomaniac, you’d nick off because the reason for that is that you have an uncontrollable psychological disorder. Hence, if we understand the motives behind a person walking up to the counter, we can predict what choice he is going to make when he comes to make it. In this way we can plan ahead in life by projecting scenarios and making hypothetical decisions based on our internal reasoning. Know the reasons, know the choice.
What use is this though? Predicting reasons is often as difficult as predicting choice. To this, we turn to the Merovingian.
Neo and the Merovingian: The Merovingian rattles off a spiel about causality and how it governs absolutely everything (chain of causality). There is no effect without cause.
Slotting this back into the “choice” ideas above, we can see that choice is no longer a “cause”, for the effects flowing from the choice are not actually initiated by that choice. They are initiated by the reasoning behind the choice. In effect, reason becomes the cause, and choice an effect of reason (and all the subsequent consequences flowing from that).
That still doesn’t really help poor Neo understand why understanding reason is the key, as opposed to understanding choice.
Neo and Agent Smith: Agent Smith gets freed, turns into a virus, and before he attacks Neo, he states that “purpose” is the only thing that matters. Purpose drives, binds, defines and so on.
How can we understand reason then? Following the reasoning of Agent Smith, we are who we are. Purpose drives us in life, and it is our purpose that defines our motivations and reasoning process and thus our choices. The Keymaker also stated this – when he dies he said “it was meant to be” because he was who he was. In the movie, many characters have purposes, whether they are conscious of it or not. Neo, for example, is The One, and his very being determines his life path. So, purpose defines reasons which define choices.
So from this bit of philosophical trickery, we can reason that fate and destiny is entirely pre-determined by who we are. We don’t really have a “choice” over what we do, it is determined by our purpose – something inherently ingrained into our being. I say trickery, because it doesn’t really prove anything. Whether fate or destiny is predetermined or not is really quite irrelevant. The distinction is debated because people like to feel in control (compare with Neo’s comments about fate and “being in control” in the first Matrix). People don’t like the idea that their path is laid out, their choices already made for them. However, all the ideas above dispense with the very concept of “choice”. Choice is illusory, therefore, fate is predetermined.
(Also compare with the first Matrix movie where Rhineheart (Neo’s boss) says to Neo, “The time has come to make a choice, Mr. Anderson. Either you choose to be at your desk on time from this day forth, or you choose to find yourself another job.” Does Neo really have a choice in that matter?)
Neo and The Architect: Less about philosophy, more about plot. This guy’s speech sounded like a textbook with all its big words and gratuitous use of “ergo” instead of “therefore”. Basically he said that the Matrix is a computer simulation that has undergone several versions. The first version failed, despite the Architect creating a “perfect world”. The second version failed, despite the Architect creating a world defined by misery and suffering. He couldn’t figure out why humans kept rejecting the simulation, but the Oracle did. She discovered that human minds rejected a simulation in which they didn’t have choice – even if that choice was merely at a subconscious level, or even merely illusory. The current version of the Matrix therefore gave a measure of “free will” to its inhabitants. However, this only worked on 99% of people. The 1% of people rejecting the simulation (presumably due to them discovering they really didn’t have “choice”) went to Zion. Once this errant population builds to a critical mass (quarter million humans), the machines start to get worried and reset the Matrix (something which has happened five times in the past). Neo is supposedly the “reset button”, whose actions will bring one of these cycles to an end. If he refuses to do so, the Matrix will crash as humans mass reject the simulation, or something like that.
Neo is given a “choice”, which is influenced by his inbuilt affinity for mankind (but especially Trinity), which makes his actions predictable. However, we don’t know how much of what the Architect is saying is bullshit, or who to trust, or whether the “real world” is not just another simulation, or why Neo suddenly has super powers in the “real world”. We’ll find out in six months I guess.
OTHER NOTES
– Niobe: Mythological queen of Thebes who had her 14 children killed when she contested Diana.
– Persephone: Wife of Hades. Returns to Earth every year and brings about Spring. Implies renewal – symbolising a new cycle of the Matrix?
– Merovingian: The Merovingians were a dynasty of Frankish kings (5-8th Century).
– Seraph: The first in the order of angels. The Asian dude who protects the Oracle.
– See also this page.
– A “keymaker” or “key generator” in the computer world is a program that is used to bypass security features on software (eg: disabling shareware nag screens or usage time limits)
– Trinity’s hack into the power plant’s Unix server is as legit as you’ll find in the movies. See this Register article.
– Backdoors, same as in computers
– Lots of religious references: Offerings to Neo (and how one woman says to him something about “Jacob on the Moses”), addressing the masses of Zion, etc
– A lot of people think it’s stupid how Neo restarted Trinity’s heart. But it sorta fits in well. In the first movie, he comes back from the dead. In Reloaded, he resurrects someone else. Now what does that sound like?
– Morpheus’ faith in the prophecy under adversity is interesting. What happens when faith is confronted by something incontrovertible that shatters is? Do the truly faithful keep on believing? Can something that shatters faith be incontrovertible?
– There’s a tribute to Brandon Lee and Gloria Foster. When Agent Smith is walking towards Neo after the Oracle meeting, he walks through a flock of crows which fly towards the camera, just like Brandon Lee in The Crow. Incidentally, Brandon Lee died before filming of The Crow finished (accidentally shot). Similarly, the actress who played the Oracle, Gloria Foster, died before the Matrix: Revolutions completed filming.
– When the Nebuchadnezzar goes down, Morpheus says “I have dreamed a dream. But now that dream is gone from me.” Compare with Daniel 2:3 (King James Bible), “I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.”
– There are a lot of black people in Zion (they dance better?). There are quite a lot of Asians in the movie too.
Update: This page is linked in the comments, but it’s very good, so I’ll repeat it here — http://www.corporatemofo.com/stories/051803matrix.htm. It excellently and astutely links mythology and religion with the movie and has some great insights.
QUESTIONS
– What does the plaque on Neo’s Zion apartment say? It looks like it’s in braille.
– What exactly does the Merovingian say when he swears?
– Surely there are many more tributes to other movies in Reloaded. What are they?
– Ditto for foreshadowing statements and external references.
12:34am (GMT +10.00) tomorrow 
Maybe I missed it, but did you talk about the character Bane? (I think that was his name.) We see him cut his palm twice and then walk up behind the crew, supposedly trying to stab someone. Is it Neo or are we just automatically assuming that and it’ll turn out to be someone else? Who is Bane? Before that we see in Neo’s nightmares that Agent Smith overtakes someone in the Matrix and has the opportunity to get out. I forgot what the person looked like that he took over, but could it have been Bane?
He’s obviously going to play a big part in Revolutions. We’ll then find out exactly what role he plays, but until then… it’s fun to guess.
I think you’ve misread the Merovingian. The underlying cause for action may be “reasons”, but behind reasons there is also a series of causes (which are also effects) which extend backward infinitely. Each event is an effect that has arisen inevitably from a series of prior efficient causes (hence causal determinism is true). The Merovingian was arguing for causal determinism, not the supremacy of reason (in fact, it seemed to me that the Merovingian actually dismissed reasons as illusions — a human way of grappling with the fact that we desire free choice [that is, we desire to break the chain of causality, to act without necessity] while we are actually determined). Perhaps I’ve misread you (?) but I think you have it wrong here.
As for the whole movie, I think the whole thing (much like LOTR, in fact) was a meditation on freedom versus causal determinism. People have faulted Reloaded for not being of the same caliber as the first. Yet we should remember that the first Matrix (thematically) was a series of metaphysical awakenings (each corresponding to a greater level of awareness) by Neo. In Reloaded, Neo has begun to realize that blind faith in the Oracle is tantamount to faith in causal determinism (in this way, the whole movie serves as a sort of metaphysical awakening — an awareness that causal necessity [of the sort which the Oracle represents] actually demeans humanity).
Eh, rereading your post, it seems like we actually agree more than my post suggests.
I agree with you that the movie was engrossing because of its philosophical emphasis (though this is also why people tend to fault the movie). Funny, but I don’t remember people faulting Rashomon or Ran for their philosophical bents. At the risk of sounding like a snob, the problem with the sequel seems to be that the first Matrix appealed to a wide bourgeois audience. The sequel seemed to displease that audience (what? No plot? Weak!). That’s life.
Nate, I think you’ve put what the Merovingian said more accurately than I have. You’re correct, he did ultimately dismiss human reasoning and thus choice as illusory. Perhaps this also ties in with the Architect when he mentioned that because Neo was “irrevocably human”, he would not understand some of the precepts behind the Architect’s assertions – about choice and the way things must be.
The fun thing in the next Matrix is seeing how Neo will break this cyclical chain of causality. Bane/Smith, as Landon pointed out, will no doubt have a role in this. Smith’s viral presence seems quite anomalous in the system – more so that he’s made the transition into the “real world”.
Don’t know if you’ve seen this Stu but I thought you might find it interesting: http://www.corporatemofo.com/stories/051803matrix.htm
Great post. Here’s an interesting thought for you: much of what was said about choice harkens to French existentialist Simone de Beauvoir’s work. One of the tenets of her philosophy is that choice is illusitory because our “choices” are predetermined by our environments, previous actions, etc.
“What exactly does the Merovingian say when he swears?”
Reuben knows, he couldn’t stop laughing.
Racist producers! How come the French Females are portrayed as nympho’s, and their males as fags?
I like Dawn’s post the most (it sounds the best) :)
Can “illusionary” and “illusitory” be used interchangeably?
However, I would like to posit an elucidation as to how Keanu/Neo expunged the electrodynamic kraken. For indeed, one can safely postulate, that what happens in the matrix occurs independently of the so called “Real-World”.
For the Plebs out there (like myself)…aka… “You can’t play Quake3 and think that if you get Quad Damage you get to keep it in the real world… even if you are a L337 player”
Ergo, it was not Neo/Keanu that bluescreened the sotongs, but another power.
For the Buffy fans: “Anya killed the white rabbit!”
Reub’s comment on the Merovingian: “Can’t remember exactly… if you can find the line I can translate. From memory, “wipe my f-ing a rse with silk” or something like that.”
Perhaps someone with a good memory could spell out what the Merovingian said in phonetics. :)
Thanks Stu for the update credit, if that was one; don’t want to overstepmy bounds here. But you’re right about that site, it’s darn good.
Just wanted to add this as well: http://www.theantitrust.net/articles/viewarticle.php?articleid=108
Dawn:
I haven’t read any de Beauvoir, but I have read some Sartre, and considering their personal relationship (and the fact that she is an existentialist), I find it hard to believe that she was really a Humean (i.e. a causal determinist). Definitionally, existentialism was about the absolute and inescapable *freedom* of man (it affirmed the dignity of man rather than denied it; as Sartre said, “Existentialism is a humanism”), free choice (even when our actions are a result of inertia), and indeterminism. Might want to check your sources.
The casting call for the extras a while back in Newtown ran for a few blocks. Asians, hispanics, aboriginals, africans, islanders and ethnics. Anything but caucasian. Still no idea why most of the guys had muscley arms. Damn their cut hides.
you sure got a lot to say.
why not say it to someone that wants to hear it?
Yes unnamed, speak for yourself.
Some people are just plain offensive.
Dear Moderator just remove the post :)
*WooF*
really enjoyed the related readings.
I am still confused on how Neo “The One” resets the Matrix. Why are some humans selected from the Matrix to rebuild Zion?
Hey, can someone find out what the line was from the Merovingian ‘cos now I’m getting bugged ‘cos I can’t remember for the life of me exactly what he said.
I really enjoyed Reloaded. The action scenes were incredible and I didn’t find it slow at all. There were a few things I didn’t quite follow though. In particular, shouldn’t Neo have been able to effortlessly defeat any enemy in the Matrix? After all, no matter how sophisticated any of his foes were, they are only programs. Neo should not be bound by any constraints at all as he is aware that none of it is real.
However, we’re left thinking that the ‘real world’ is another matrix. In that case, maybe Neo still is bound in what he can do to some extent. With respect to the scenario presented in the films, it makes sense that the matrix would be structured within another matrix. That way any ‘freed minds’ would still be under control.
It will be very interesting to see what happens next.
I realized once playing the Enter the Matrix videogame that the name of the character that Smith “catches a ride on” into the real world is indeed Bain. The captain of his ship is named Malachi. I know the name sounds familiar from the bible but I’m not too up on my religion these days. Could someone enlighten me as to the significance of these names? Thanks a lot.
Hi…i’m brazilian and i’ve seen Matrix Reloaded 3 times…
Yes, Bane is definately Smith…
I’ve got an observation, but I don’t know what can it be…
When Neo/M/T go visit the Merovingian, we can clearly see the number of the floor: 101 …I don’t know if thats intentinal, but it is stamped right in the middle of the screen…besides, 101 may be a binary code for the number 5 (so what?! lol)
Oh, remembered something (back to Smith)…have you seen the Revolutions trailer? It just doesn’t show Neo or Bane awake in the “real world”…I mean, maybe they don’t wake up from the coma…maybe they keep plugged on the Matrix to settle this battle in there…I don’t know…..i wanna sleep….lol….
Take a look at the earth’s population. As worldwide, asians, and blacks outnumber caucasians, it would make sense that a large number of them would be prominent in Zion, derived not only from one continent but from the whole world. Notice how many indians there were? Think of India’s population. There ya go.
I dunno if I answered anything…but it made me feel temporarily smart..so there.
Boo – 101 is also Neo’s apartment number in the first Matrix. He also walks into Room 303 at the end of the first film. 101 is probably a reference to The One.
Hheheh… I like Grey Pilgrim’s statements! :)
I think that in all likelyhood, Neo and Trinity would either be Asian, Indian or African.
eheheh… maybe the other “ones” weren’t caucasian.
*wOoF*
I definately would prefer that asian goddess from the Osiris….=)
She is the One for me….lol
Oh, I’ve got 2 more questions:
.When N/M/T go see the Merovigian, there’s a close on a guy leaving the table, and he looks at Neo…who’s he?!
.If the Machines have levels of survivig and could stand Human’s extinction, why don’t they just destroy Zion and the Matrix?
The Merovingians were French kings who were believed to be descendents of Christ. Neo is the Saviour, of course — so is the Merovingian one of the previous Ones? Well, at one point Persephone tells Neo that her husband “used to be like you”. And, yes, as .boo and Stu point out, the Merovingian is on Floor 101, whilst Neo used to live in room 101…
Just a quick note… The bit with Agent Smith walking through the crows isn’t a reference to Brandon Lee or the Crow. It’s borrowing from the Hong Kong style of John Woo which always had his heroes and villains for reasons known only to him, walking, running, fighting, jumping, flying through flocks of birds.
The people who did “The Crow” got it from John Woo, the same place as the Brothers W.
Jordan – I believe that the “director’s trademark” that John Woo is known for is the appearance of a dove (flying away). Perhaps also the sideways/forward outstretched dive with a pistol blazing in each hand.
Yes Nick, I’ve concluded that too….certainly the Merovingian was one of the previous Chosen Ones… Other evidences of that are:
.He forces Neo to see that he hasn’t got any choice. “Choices are ilusions created by those who are in control”…that is, he hasn’t got any choice, once the Machines have planned everything, and made Neo believe he had right of choice…
.Morovingian says, too, that Neo was after the Keymaker just because he was told to do that…maybe in this speech, he’s trying to tell Neo not to trust the Oracle.
.Persephone, as Nick pointed.
.101 floor, as I’ve said before.
.The Merovingian tries to keep the Keymaker…maybe hoping that the Machines will wouldn’t be acomplished.
Sorry ’bout the possible bad english…as I’ve told, I’m Brazilian…;D
I saw the Matrix in Imax, which was the third time for me total, and I have had a realization. My new theory is that the mother of the Matrix that the Architect speaks of is most definitely not the Oracle, but rather Persephone. He says that the flaw was discovered by a woman who was trying to find out about a particular aspect of the human psyche, and this would lend itself to Persephone because when she kisses peopole, she feeds of their emotion and feels things no other program is capable of.
Also, I’m not so sure I believe that the Oracle is completely tied into the machines system of control as it is said she is. She simply tells the truth, and she could not see past the events that aare to take place at the source. One reason for my quesitoning of this comes from the first film, in which Trinity reveals towards the end that she was told by the Oracle that she would fall in love with the One. Since the machines cannot control the One, he is vulnerable to human emotion, and while in all the prior instances his affection was a general one towards humanity, now he loves Trinity. This is the reason he doesn’t go into the source and restart the cycle over again. I’m not sure of the full ramifications, but something tells me that the Oracle had to know that leading those two towards love would finally signal a true end to the Matrix as opposed to a restart like the 5 prior programs. This is why the Merovingian tries to delete her(in the video game the Oracle is shown in a different shell, due to her being sold out to the Merovingian by some unknown hater, possibly the man being ushered away from the table as Morpheus, Neo, and Trinity come to sit down and chat), because she is leading Neo towards a true end where the Matrix will be no longer, and he will thus have no more existence.
I dont know, these are just some theories. I’m sure that Revolutions will reveal even more than any of us can possibly forsee, but speculation is entertaining and one of the few diversions until November. Club Hel(correct speling, Norse underworld. “You cannot save him, but Trinity can, and she will have to fight her way through HEL to do it” -Oracle in Enter the Matrix), which is the upside-down fight with the bondage guys in the trailer, could be the raddest thing ever. I’m thirsty for some double gun action since they kinda cut down on the gun ballet for Reloaded. That quick shot of Seraph warming up the dual pistols gets my heart pumpin.
JOhn, I dunno if your theory may be the true, but it is certainly very well defended…good arguments…=D
Well, I have a new and great (I think =P) realization…it’s about the extra-powers Neo uses outside the Matrix…
When Neo encounters Smith in the park, the ex-agent tells that somehow, when Neo killed him, he left kind of a part of him inside Smith…This allowed Smith to control part of Neo’s domain, and enter the Human’s world too.
But, if you think about it, Smith have killed Neo too (“with certain satisfaction” =P), even before the “impossible” (Neo kill Ag.Smith) happen.
So my theory is this: When Smith killed Neo, he left a part of him too, inside the One. Because of that, Neo was allowed to control part of Smith’s domain, entering the world of the Machines!
That goes like the Yin-Yang…Smith would be a part of the Machines inside the human’s world, and Neo would be a part of the humans inside the Machine’s world…that’s why they have to battle 1on1 as we saw on the Revolutions Trailer…
Well, that’s my theory….in my opinion, that’s better than believe in a “Matrix inside the Matrix” (that possibly, would lead the trilogy to a stupid end).
.boo
If you add the credibility of the Amimatrix into the plot lines, it opens up some leaps in conciousness and evolution withing the humans as related to the matrix. Having the boy self-substantiate, and the possibility of revolting machines, the world tilts a little more. I have heard the comments relating the Bane/Smith hand cutting to experiencing pain for the first time. I’m not so sure it’s that or a more convuluted theory. My thoughts start to conjure up a Smith/Neo link via the blood. Hence the “something’s different”. Or it could all be a causality issue. Oh well… I must say, the scene with Neo dropping the Sentinels had the same thudding …WOW… as in Unbreakable when Willis’s character kept lifting more and more weight.
Hey .boo, I’m not sure the Merovingian could be a previous “One” for three reasons. First, he told Neo that he had “withstood his predecessors.” Also, according to the Architect, all the previous “Ones” chose to go back and rebuild Zion. While they may not have been motivated by love exactly, obviously they cared about humanity. The Merovingian shows no concern for mankind at all, and he refuses to give the Keymaker which would help Neo. In fact, he did everythying in his power to keep Neo from saving mankind. And lastly, the Merovingian is a program. How could he be the One unless the Architect created a program from the previous One’s mind, sort of like ghosting a hard drive? If this were the case, then the previous One who would have been ghosted would still be dead since he was only human and the ghost version of his mind would still be merely a program.
as far as room 101, floor 101, etc., anyone ever read 1984 by orwell? room 101 is where the thought police brought you to break you, using your worst fears. just a thought :P
mike
Does someone can explain how Neo stopped the sentinels at the end of the movie? My first thought was that the “real world” was still inside the matrix, does it seem right to you?
101 is a binary code for number 5, and five its the symbolic number of humanity in many cultures, isnt it?
101 is a binary code for number 5, and five its the symbolic number of humanity in many cultures, isnt it?
101 is a binary code for number 5, and five its the symbolic number of humanity in many cultures, isnt it?
sorry, my ie is not working :(
I thought that the hovercraft that saved Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity did an EMP blast. That’s what “stopped” the sentinels at the end of the movie
Any possibility that the humans won vs the machines, and have trapped the machines/programs within the “outer” matrix to make the machines “think” they won? (the “humans” in the movie would actually be programs-within-programs) Of course, this could be expanded indefinitely in theory… maybe the machines won and trapped the humans in an “outer, outer” matrix…
Check out the July 23 program on existentialism: http://www.livingroomradio.org/