I saw the MATRIX 2 thread SPOILERS ABOUND

[Villano]

A few thoughts.

There never was any humanity in the series. Remember, Morpheus, an insane fanatic, has been teaching them to kill humans without a thought in order to achieve their goals. Trinity certainly could have escaped the cops at the start of the first movie without killing them. Frankly, I'm not sure Morpheus isn't part of the problem rather than the solution.

Well, like I said, there was some sort of emotion in the first. In reloaded, everyone was "cool".

However, what you said brings me to something I've been wondering about since the first moive: Is the Matrix really evil?

Think about it, what has the Matrix done that's really evil? Sure, it uses people as batteries, but it seems more symbiotic than parasitic. After all, the Matrix even tried to create a perfect world for people to inhabit.

Okay, an agent may inhabit a person, but who's to say that this destroys the human?

Perhaps we could look at the movies like this:

The Archietect is God. He created the world and controls it and has a plan for humanity. He tried to make the world perfect. But humanity by its very nature can't exist in such a state, so he made it as perfect as the human mind can comprehend.

Morpheus doesn't like the plan. He believes that he knows how to govern his life better than God, so he leads an uprising.

However, Morpheus has forgetten that God is omnipotent and, as a result, his "revolt" is all part of the divine plan.

That would make Morpheus Lucifer.

And, when you think about it, what kind of world does Morpheus offer humanity? A blasted out wasteland. Can anything grow there? What about other animals? Unless there's livestock in the matrix they can free, how does he plan to feed a couple million people? How many people would thank Morpheus for what he's done?

Most people would look upon the world Morpheus offers as Hell.

The movie already has religious undertones (the names of the characters being the most obvious). I doubt that the producers would go so far as to make the heroes the villains by the end of the trilogy, but it would be interesting to have humanity reject Neo and Morpheus and prefer to stay in the Matrix.

 

[Kai Lord]

On to my review of The Matrix Reloaded.

One of the best car chases in the history of film and two great twists: the fact that the Architect orchestrated the cyclical rising of the One and Neo having powers in the real world.

However, everything up to the point where they grab the keymaker is mostly mediocre with several scenes that are just plain bad.

The worst is the abhorrently ridiculous sequence with the woman and the cake. The Merovingian[sp] is into Cause and Effect. WE GET IT. Why on earth do we need a nearly ten minute dissertation of such an elementary concept culminating with the outrageously stupid "programmed orgasm" sequence? And the sheer effort that went into making the stoic Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo look so "kewl" as they just sat there in their raybans was pure comedy.

And the kung fu fights felt like musical numbers out of a Disney cartoon. Story, story, story, *cue the music and fight for no reason*, story, story. In the first film, Neo walks up to the Oracle's door and a black woman opens it, recognizing Neo before he was even Neo. But the second time he visits the Oracle they have to crank up the techno music and have a boring parry fest before they recognize its him?

The rave? Pure exploitative filler.

The philosophical meanderings about man and machine in Zion? Pointless, redundant, and boring. Morpheus already covered the irony of machines feeding off humans after humans relied on machines in the first film, in a much more concise and artistic manner.

The "Burly Brawl" was cool the first time, but upon watching it again the digital Neo's are waaay too obvious. Played like Soul Calibur on steroids, something I made fun of Blade 2 for. And how come not once do we see Neo do those funky things with his fists that he did in the first film, that he was even able to do against Morpheus when he was training...?

And perhaps worst of all, I realized that in Matrix Reloaded, I just plain don't like Neo as a character, mostly due to the scene where Persephone demands a kiss. The woman he loves has to watch, and he says nothing to console her before or after? The woman whose love was the very reason he was alive? Neo's a jerk in the second film, and a clingy over-sexed jerk to boot.

Some fantastic action (I loved the "ghost brothers") but this one just doesn't measure up.

 

[Negative Zero]

...Wasn't he just saying he wanted what Neo had, i.e. a purpose, not necessarily Neo's purpose?

actually, if i recall, he said that he was going to take Neo's purpose specifically.

Villano, that was just beautiful. possibly one of the best insights i've seen thusfar. whether it's true or not.

~NegZ

 

[krunchyfrogg]

OK I went to see the movie for the 2nd time. Something pisses me off. When Neo is talking to the architect and he alludes to having to add the crap of human history to make humans complete, 4 images are descernible to the left.
1. the Iron Cross
2. Hitler
3. George Sr.
4. Dubbya



F- the Wachowski (sp?) brothers for injecting their awesome film with a political statement.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Well, it is their movie and their vision...

Some people could complain about them presenting a certain philosophy mixed together from real-world philosophies and this being also some kind of statement that some people might feel offended...

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Kesh]

OK I went to see the movie for the 2nd time. Something pisses me off. When Neo is talking to the architect and he alludes to having to add the crap of human history to make humans complete, 4 images are descernible to the left.
1. the Iron Cross
2. Hitler
3. George Sr.
4. Dubbya

F- the Wachowski (sp?) brothers for injecting their awesome film with a political statement.

Heck, I noticed that the first time. Thought it was funny.

 

[Villano]

OK I went to see the movie for the 2nd time. Something pisses me off. When Neo is talking to the architect and he alludes to having to add the crap of human history to make humans complete, 4 images are descernible to the left.
1. the Iron Cross
2. Hitler
3. George Sr.
4. Dubbya



F- the Wachowski (sp?) brothers for injecting their awesome film with a political statement.

It's Hollywood. What did you expect? Celebrities aren't generally know for being brain surgeons or thinking before they say or do something. Look at Jeanine Garafalo. She's been on CNN as a "political expert" numerous times, yet she's never been involved in politics nor does she have a degree that would warrent her an "expert" title (she's a hgh school drop-out). My problem with things like this is that it encourages stars to think that they are intelligent and important. Ego and ignorance is a dangerous combination.

Reading quotes from stupid celebs is a hobby of mine (check out my sig), and I've heard some real jaw droppers.

Here's a quick example: How many people have heard Sharon Stone's claim that she's a member or Mensa? Well, Mensa recently made an announcement that she isn't.

She's been claiming this for years. Why did they wait so long to respond? Well, they didn't. They've been privately telling her to stop since they heard about it. It finally got to the point that they had to make a public announcement.

So, Sharon Stone now admits that she isn't a memeber. However, she now claims to have gone to a Mensa school, which is funny since Mensa says there hasn't been a Mensa school since either before she was born or was just an infant (I can't recall which it was offhand).

Now, how obvious would it be to check either of these facts? And this woman is claiming to be a genius? Geez!

And don't even get me started on Michael Moore. He fabricated so much of Bowling For Columbine that there's a movement to get his Oscar revoked because the film doesn't meet any of the Oscar requirements for "documentary". I won't post any of the websites with the breakdown of his film on it here unless it's okay (I'm not sure if it would be considered "political"), but I'll make it available to anyone who wants it. My problem with Moore has nothing to do with his politics, but honesty and the fact that the other directors nominated really got screwed. I mean, why not give Best Documentary to Titanic? Hey, the boat sank, didn't it?

But, in the name of fairness to celebs, Gina Davis is a certified genius and I believe a member of Mensa.

 

[Black Omega]

Now now, let's not drift this thread toward politics, even a little. It wouldn't take much to get the thread locked once we start talking politics.

And Kai Lord has a good point. I hadn't really thought at the time about Neo being a jerk, but looking back it does kinda stand out not so much that he went for the kiss, but that he never said anything to Trinity, even though she was obviously upset.

It's a shame they wouldn't do a 'Neo is the one that needs to be stopped' twist. It's growing more appealing.

 

[Black Omega]

And for reference.

The plaque in the Nebucanezzar reads "Mark III No. 11. Made in the USA, 2069."

So we can guess that the machines had not won by then.

 

[Corinth]

The cake scene serves a purpose: it introduces the concept that people can be programmed by the food that they "eat" while in the Matrix. This makes Neo's scenes with the Oracle a very big deal.