Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus are back, and the robots that control
humanity are coming ever closer to reaching Zion, the last human
outpost.  It's up to our heroes to stop the threat (and kick slow-motion
butt in the matrix along the way).  

The sequel to an outstanding movie, the Matrix Reloaded is going to
suffer because the bar was lifted so high by the original.  You can't
help but see this movie with high expectations.  And Reloaded doesn't
deliver like the Matrix did.   Well, let me rephrase that.  As far as
blowing its audience away, it doesn't deliver like the Matrix did.  It
certainly had extraordinary special effects, which I'll discuss later,
but the story (and specifically the dialogue) was lacking a little bit. 
We are already familiar with the "reality" of the Matrix, and the
humans' predicament in the hidden city of Zion.  Reloaded delved further
into these things, but most of the dialogue was circular and without a
point.  It was like their script came inside fortune cookies.  And yes,
there was dialogue like that in the first film, but it was used
sparingly.  In Reloaded, it seems almost every conversation was like
that.  It left me feeling slightly confused and uncaring about the
characters.  The main problem I believe is that this film is not a film
unto itself.  It is a setup for the Matrix Revolutions, coming out in 6
months.  There is no closure on this film, so sense of accomplishment. 
Much time is spent setting up loose ends that never get tied.  I'm
hoping that if I were to review this and Matrix Revolutions together,
that wouldn't be the case.

Having said that, I thought the acting was pretty solid (yes, even
Keanu).  Hugo Weaving is great again as Agent Smith (or, should I say
Agent Smiths).  The look of the film is great, from the colors to use of
reflections to the ingenius camera angles and movements.  The fights
scenes are aplenty and they're long (possibly to a fault), but they are
beautiful.  The car chase scene is unbelievable - I'll leave it at
that.  The new technology shown with the multiple Agent Smiths fighting
Neo was exciting, but to me, it looked a little cartoony.  It was still
awe-inspiring, just not 100% visually realistic.  So, overall, it's
great eye candy, and it's a decent continuation of the Matrix
"universe", but until the 3rd and final film is released, the Matrix
Reloaded is disappointing.
 
 
 

Quality: 6.0  Visuals: 9.0  Intensity: 6.5 
OVERALL RATING: 7.2