No! No! Don't Take Both Pills...

Darkmoon's Rants #2

This is one that irritates me. Reviewers that say that the Matrix Reloaded was far worse than its predecessor, or, worse yet in my eyes, void of any sort of story, for which the creators cover this up by using vast amounts of special effects.

Yes yes, I know the movie came out 3 months ago (by the time of this writing) but dammit, I'm irked. When I'm irked, I rant. My website, deal.

Okay, so the movie was very heavily action based. I've heard a lot of people relate the martial arts used to philosophy, especially esoteric stuff from Asia... and while all that may be true, I don't know it, nor did I know it going into the movie, so while ubergeeks can enjoy picking out every nuance of the movie... it really matters not to me.

No, I look at the action like I would action in any superhero movie, cool stuff to spike the plotty bits, and a way to draw people into the seats. I mean, lets be honest, it's easier to draw people in with groovy action sequences than by having to characters go off on long monologues for hours in the trailer.

Getting back to what little point I had, there's action for a reason, and plot for substance. We're treated to a lot of plot in this movie, and I will admit sometimes it drags a little, especially in the opening 30 minutes. And there's that much criticized rave sequence... It doesn't play the best, true. I didn't really feel the need for it at all... But I do realize the allusions to show both profane and holy love (that takes a bigger explanation than I wanna go into).

I keep digressing, and I hate that. Look, there's a lot of content to go through in the first 30 minutes, And honestly, I think that's what everyone gets hung up on. I can just hear them in the theater going "when's the action start?"... cretins.

So then we get into the movie, and the spike the bits of plot with over the top action sequences, some which play out better than others, again which raises criticism.. But you know what, show me someone else doing anything that looks nearly as good as that? Anyone?

People complain that the movie doesn't make you think like the first one does... I mean first they want action, then they want plot, and I really think they want it in that order... Bah! I thought a lot about the movie after I left the theater, and I was discussing it for days with my fiance. You had to think during the movie to understand what came near the end. It builds, and if you're sitting there wondering what just happened, you'll miss it. It goes quick when it starts, and you gotta hold on for the ride, cause they drop a lot on you and they want you to think about all of it.

You will notice I kept the information spoiler free. I am not discussing any of the details on the site. You wanna hear about who I think the Architect was? IM me.