Other Titles • The Matrix Reloaded • The Matrix 2 • The Matrix Reloaded: The IMAX Experience
Synopses for The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
1.
Considering the lofty expectations that preceded it, The Matrix Reloaded triumphs where most sequels fail. It would be impossible to match the fresh audacity that made The Matrix a global phenomenon in 1999, but in continuing the exploits of rebellious Neo (Keanu Reeves), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) as they struggle to save the human sanctuary of Zion from invading machines, the codirecting Wachowski brothers have their priorities well in order. They offer the obligatory bigger and better highlights (including the impressive "Burly Brawl" and freeway chase sequences) while remaining focused on cleverly plotting the middle of a brain-teasing trilogy that ends with The Matrix Revolutions. The metaphysical underpinnings can be dismissed or scrutinized, and choosing the latter course (this is, after all, an epic about choice and free will) leads to astonishing repercussions that made Reloaded an explosive hit with critics and hardcore fans alike. As the centerpiece of a multimedia franchise, this dynamic sequel ends with a cliffhanger that virtually guarantees a mind-blowing conclusion. --Jeff Shannon
(91 votes)
2.
Two Hot Movies. One Low Price.Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as a time-traveling T-101 Terminator in this smash hit directed by Jonathan Mostow. With dazzling effects, bravura thrills and a story that boldly spins into the unexpected, this is an event spectacle to see and see again. Matrix Reloaded Sentinels swarm. Smith clones. Neo flies...but perhaps not even a Chose One gifted with astonishing new powers can stop the advance of the Machines.
Neo. Morpheus. Trinity. They're back for the powerful second chapter of The Matrix Trilogy, and exciting new allies join them in the struggle against foes who are cloned, upgraded and closing in on humanity's last enclave. Back, too, are the Wachowski Brothers, and producer Joel Silver, expanding their vision with a spectacle that rocks the senses, probes the heart and shapes filmmaking's tomorrows. What is the Matrix? The question is not yet fully answered. And it leads to another: Who created the Matrix? The answers lead to more worlds of bold possibility - and to a destiny that passes from revelations to Revolutions.
(75 votes)
3.
In the second chapter of the Matrix Trilogy, Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburn) continue to lead the revolt against the Machine Army. In their quest to save the human race from extinction, they gain greater insight into the construct of The Matrix and Neo's pivotal role in the fate of mankind.
(79 votes)
4.
What if the Prophecy is true?
What if tomorrow this war could be over? Isn’t that worth fighting for? Isn’t that worth dying for?
Thomas “Neo” Anderson (KEANU REEVES) made a costly decision when he chose to ask the question that Morpheus (LAURENCE FISHBURNE) and Trinity (CARRIE-ANNE MOSS) had asked before him. To seek and accept the truth. To free his mind from the Matrix.
Everything begins with choice.
Now, in the second chapter of the Matrix trilogy, Neo assumes greater command of his extraordinary powers as Zion falls under siege to the Machine Army. Only a matter of hours separates the last human enclave on Earth from 250,000 Sentinels programmed to destroy mankind. But the citizens of Zion, emboldened by Morpheus’s conviction that the One will fulfill the Oracle’s Prophecy and end the war with the Machines, rest all manner of hope and expectation on Neo, who finds himself stalled by disturbing visions as he searches for a course of action.
We can never see past a choice we don’t understand.
Strengthened by their love for each other and their belief in themselves, Neo and Trinity choose to return to the Matrix with Morpheus and unleash their arsenal of extraordinary skills and weaponry against the systematic forces of repression and exploitation. But there exist powerful figures within the Matrix who refute the artifice of choice, evading the responsibility it brings as they feed on the emotional truths of others.
Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without.
Meanwhile, there are exiles like Agent Smith (HUGO WEAVING), whose inexorable connection to Neo compels him to disobey the system that has called for his deletion. Driven by the humanity he once despised, Smith will consume everything in his path on his quest for revenge.
What do all men with power want? More power.
On his treacherous journey toward further insight into the construct of the Matrix and his pivotal role in the fate of mankind, Neo will confront greater resistance, an even greater truth and a more impossible choice than he ever imagined.
You didn’t come here to make the choice. You’ve already made it. You’re here to try to understand why you made it.
At the confluence of love and truth, faith and knowledge, purpose and reason, Neo must follow the course he has chosen. “What if I can’t?” he asks. “What if I fail?”
Then Zion will fall.
(73 votes)
5.
Product Description Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines -- A decade has passed since John Connor (NICK STAHL) helped prevent Judgment Day and save mankind from mass destruction. Now 25, Connor lives "off the grid" - no home, no credit cards, no cell phone and no job. No record of his existence. No way he can be traced by Skynet - the highly developed network of machines that once tried to kill him and wage war on humanity. Until?out of the shadows of the future steps the T-X (KRISTANNA LOKEN), Skynet's most sophisticated cyborg killing machine yet. Sent back through time to complete the job left unfinished by her predecessor, the T-1000, this machine is as relentless as her human guise is beautiful. Now Connor's only hope for survival is the Terminator (ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER), his mysterious former assassin. Together, they must triumph over the technologically superior T-X and forestall the looming threat of Judgment Day?or face the apocalypse and the fall of civilization as we know it. Matrix Reloaded -- In the second chapter of the Matrix trilogy, Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) continue to lead the revolt against the Machine Army. In their quest to save the human race from extinction, they gain greater insight into the construct of The Matrix and Neo's pivotal role in the fate of mankind.
(72 votes)
6.
The Matrix Reloaded delivers added amounts of everything that the first film had, with the exception of surprises. We see more of the "real world" in the "last human city" of Zion and we go back to the 1999-look urban virtual reality of the Matrix for more encounters with artificially-intelligent baddies and--the real reason you've turned up--a lot more martial arts superheroics.
The downside is that this is just part one of a two-pack of sequels, with Revolutions required to tie up the story and sort out a great deal of plot confusion. There are other problems: none of the stars have much good material to work with outside the fights and stunts, which makes the film sorely miss the mix of science fiction thrills and character interplay of the original instalment.
However, the Wachowski Brothers still deliver more than enough stand-alone instant classic action sequences to make you ignore their duff script: in particular, Reeves and Hugo Weaving square off in a rumble that gets dicey, as more and more identical Weavings come out of the woodwork to pile on the lone hero; and a full quarter of an hour is devoted to a chase through the Matrix that lets Laurence Fishburne shoulder the heroic business. A last-reel encounter with a virtual God, the architect of the Matrix, finally delivers some major plot advances, but the scene is so brilliantly shot and designed--with Reeves framed against a wall of TV screens that show multiple versions of himself--that it's easy to be distracted by the decor and miss the point of what's being said. --Kim Newman
On the DVD:The Matrix Reloaded two-disc set amazingly has very little in-depth stuff on this physically impressive movie; there's not even a commentary track. Perhaps the Wachowski Brothers want to keep their enigmatic aura, or perhaps there's a better DVD coming after the trilogy ends? Best here is the 30-minute feature on the incredible freeway chase: here you get the inside scoop on how the titanic 12-minute sequence was put together. There's plenty of material on the second disc, but it's just filler, with the actors talking about how great it is to work again with the Matrix team and plenty of quick edits of explosions and other "cool" things. There's a segment on product placement, 30 minutes on how the video game was created and the MTV Movie Awards parody. The features feel more like pre-movie hype than post-film deconstruction. Dolby 5.1 sound is suitably spectacular--but there's no DTS option--and the super-wide 2.40:1 picture is, of course, pin-sharp, bringing out all the lavish detail and highlighting the contrast between the green-hued Matrix and the grimy grey real world. --Doug Thomas
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