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ORIENTATION EDITION 2003
I ORIENTATION EDITION 2003 21
Who's the cat that won't cop out when there's danger all about? Morpheus? Right on!
By Ryan Lewis were no longer enough - if it didn't Neo is truly "the One"
Daily Fim Editor have the style and flash, it wasn't Certainly the Wachowskis' penchant
worthwhile. In every facet of the mass for action becomes apparent in the Zion
MOVIE media, from movies, to commercials, scenes, because the film drags terribly
Four years ago, an unsuspecting pop- to music videos, 360-degree photogra- and loses focus in the time spent
ulace entered theaters and became phy was a must. dawdling in the sacred city. Plot
enveloped in the world of a film Always envisioned by the brothers as becomes muddled in endless questions
unleashed with nearly zero anticipation. a trilogy, the success of the first film that find no answer and the annoyingly
Those audiences viewed what has provided both the want and the means contraction-less speeches of Mor-
become part of the for the follow-ups. The public spent pheus. Superfluous scenes like
new cannon of years salivating for more, and the stu- the rave juxtaposed with Neo
blockbuster action The Matrix dios doubled the funding to provide and Trinity inter-coitus are
films. The story Reloaded newer, sleeker special effects. devoid of pertinence and,
and visuals the At Madstone, For those select few who neglected to therefore, do little more than
masses were privy wQualty 16 see the first installment, don't expect an prolong the time between
to became one of introduction. Fantastic visuals fill the each amazement.
the most beloved, Wamer Bros. Films opening scenes in bullet time intermixed Finally, Neo
most sampled and most analyzed cultur- with quick cuts of the ever-beautiful receives a message
al phenomena at the end of the century. Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) battling from the Oracle,
That same blessed thrall of moviego- agents, climaxing with a seemingly fatal and the ship
ers everywhere finally finds fulfillment bullet wound. returns to the
in one of the most highly publicized and Soon enough, the action cuts off as outer world.
anticipated sequels in cinema's history: Neo (Keanu Reaves) awakens from the Back in the
"The Matrix Reloaded." nightmare. Morpheus (Laurence Fish- Matrix, Neo
Directors Andy and Larry. Wachows- burne) and his slim numbered crew r e c e i v es
ki reset the bar for action/fighting/sci- return to the last human haven of Zion instruction on
ence fiction films with the release of to discover that the machines are bur- how to fulfill his destiny, and
the original "Matrix." Innovative fight rowing down from the surface for a final the story resumes with the
choreography and the debut of bullet battle to destroy mankind. For the first purpose of finding the
time forever changed cinema. Stiff, time, we discover that doubters exist Keymaker to open the
realistic brawls and normal explosions amongst the population as to whether door of light.
Re-enter Agent Smith (Hugo Weav-
ing). Defeated by Neo, Smith went into
exile instead of submitting to self-
destruction. Back to exact his
revenge/duty, he now has the uncanny
ability to replicate himself using any
human form
within the
Matrix. This brings about the incompa-
rable and aptly-named "Burly Brawl."
Expectations abound, this fight
sequence is nothing short of breathtak-
ing. Fans and everybody else will find
the anticipation shattered and bested
beyond what was once deemed impos-
sible, much thanks to fight choreogra-
pher Yuen Wo Ping and his team. Not
only does the pioneering Universal
Capture process make each individual
Smith snarl and grimace look unques-
tionably real, but also the battle, the
choreography and the cinematography
incomparably one-up the original.
Luckily this translates into forgiving the
fact that the scene itself is pointless to
the story other than to reintroduce the
specific anti-Neo.
New characters like Monica Belluc-
ci's Persephone, the Twins (Adrian and
Neil Rayment) and Niobe (Jada Pinkett
Smith) are more than welcomed, adding
interesting subplots to rejuvenate the
story after its initial lull. The other high-
ly-discussed chase sequence, not to
mention the altogether more-real-than-
Superman flying of Neo, and the cli-
mactic finale twist and turn "Reloaded"
into a worthwhile and meaningful exten-
sion of the Wachowskis' amalgamation
of philosophical questions, anime and
numerous other influences.
Although "Reloaded" does provide a
strong case to.stand on its own, it finds -
fault in having neither a beginning nor
a concrete denouement. Since the
brothers originally planned "Reloaded"
and "Revolutions" as one story broken
into two movies, audiences must suf-
fice with what basically serves as lit-
tle more than a two-plus hour
preview for "Revolutions."
Hopefully viewers will be sat-
isfied with the open-endedness
of the story. The onslaught of
eye-candy makes even "The
Matrix" look dated, and I
even found myself saying
"Wow!" at some points.
Even though the story
struggles through the first
hour and falls short of its intri-
cately woven predecessor, the
questions posed linger long after
the end, and the payoff makes it
all worthwhile.
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