wabm'aaIiyiU a ww.michigandaily.com 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. 4Pja AMERICAN CENTER TRAVEL Very special rates on 40 different airlines *Cruises Discounts * Group Travel *Vacation Pkg * Tours "We specialize on Int'l fare, Lowest fare to Your Home" Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa Lowest Price Complete Travel Service International or Domestic Call for Best Price! 800-356-1030 27777 Franklin Rd. Southfield, MI 48034 mike.act@wspan.com micki.act@wspan.com Tel: 248-350-1030 Fax: 248-350-2025