The Matrix Reloaded
Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Reloaded is the second installment of The Matrix series, written and directed by the Wachowski brothers and released by Warner Bros. in North American theaters on May 15, 2003 and around the world during the latter half of that month. The Matrix Reloaded earned $281 million in the US and $738 million worldwide. The other parts of the second installment are the video game Enter the Matrix, which was released May 15, and a collection of nine animated shorts, the Animatrix, which was released on June 3. The Matrix Revolutions was released six months after this film, in November 2003.
The films taglines included: Free your mind, Reload in IMAX: Think big, Reload before the revolution begins, How far down does the rabbit hole go?
Overview
The Matrix Reloaded was largely filmed at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, Australia. The freeway chase scene was filmed at the decommissioned Naval Air Station Alameda in Alameda, California. Producers constructed a 1.5-mile freeway on the old runways just for the movie. Portions of the chase were also filmed in Oakland, California, and the tunnel shown briefly is the Webster Tube connecting Oakland and Alameda. Some post-production editing was done in old aircraft hangars on the base as well.The Matrix Reloaded did surpass the first part of the trilogy in cinematography and special/visual effects budget and scope. Some scholars have said that the relatively simple tale of "dualism" in the first film has advanced to the level of "complex literature" with the second (Ken Wilber), though the topic is a highly debated one, with other critics arguing that the sequel is of the action genre with less of a focus on the plot. According to popular movie-review collection website [Rotten Tomatoes], 75% percent of critics approved of the sequel. However, a box office drop in follow-up weekends suggests that hype may have been responsible for the success of the sequel. This is reminiscent of a box office trend set by other science fiction classics such as and Blade Runner which later became distinguished works of science fiction cinema. The odd nature of the releasing, filming and story telling of Reloaded and Revolutions most likely had a lot to do with the odd drop-off of the film's success as well. Both films were filmed together as well as released in very close proximity with each other (less than a year). The cliffhanger ending with the words, "to be concluded" most likely left fans a bit dismayed. "Back to the Future Part II" and "Back to the Future Part III" were released in the same manner, number II ending in the same way Reloaded did. Back to the Future Part II suffered a ticket drop-off, as well as Part III suffering financially worse than Part II did. Fan reaction may have been due to the fact of the knowledge that the next film was not far off behind and the desire to see a movie more than once (not knowing when the next will come out) is less desired if one knows the conclusion is just around the corner.
Reloaded earned an estimated $42.5 million on its Thursday opening day in the United States, a new record surpassing the one set in May 2002 by Spider-Man, which took in $39.4 million on its first day. The movie earned $91.8 million over its first Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, establishing it as the second-best opening weekend ever after Spider-Man's 2002 (inflation unadjusted) record of $114.8 million in ticket sales during its three-day opening weekend. Reloaded garnered the biggest (inflation unadjusted) debut ever for an R-rated film (the 2001 film Hannibal is a distant second at $58 million). [Adjusted for inflation], it is currently the 97th highest grossing film of all time.
Many of the main characters from its predecessor, The Matrix, are included in Reloaded, including Neo (Keanu Reeves), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss). There are also many new faces such as Link, the Merovingian, and the Architect.
Cornel West, a professor at Princeton, makes a special appearance in the Zion "council" scene. Another notable cameo is boxing great Roy Jones Jr., who appears in the opening scene with a number of other ship's captains, right before Smith makes his appearance. Filmed simultaneously to the third movie, The Matrix Revolutions, it includes action scenes such as a chase involving over 50 vehicles, including motorcycles and 18-wheelers. In addition, there is finally footage of Zion, the underground city alluded to in The Matrix.
Controversy
The film was banned in Egypt because of the violent content and because it put into question issues about human creation "linked to the three monotheistic religions that we respect and which we believe in". Egyptian media claimed it promoted Zionism since it talks about Zion and the dark forces that wish to destroy it.Plot
The film presupposes familiarity with the storyline of The Matrix.
The Final Flight Of The Osiris
Six months after the events of the first film, Captain Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) of the Logos calls an emergency meeting of all Zion's Hovercraft Ship Fleet. She has successfully recovered the information left by Captain Thadeus (in the Animatrix short film "Final Flight of the Osiris"): 250,000 sentinels are tunneling towards the underground city of Zion and will reach it in 72 hours (thus making Zion at a depth of at least 21 km). Commander Lock, the ranking military officer of Zion, orders all ships and their crews, including Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus, to return to Zion to prepare for the onslaught of the machines. Morpheus defies Lock's directive and asks one ship to remain at broadcast depth to await word from the Oracle. Morpheus believes that when she contacts Neo, she will tell Neo how to fulfill the Prophecy. Captain Ballard, captain of the Caduceus, accepts the challenge.
The Caduceus receives a message from the Oracle, and the Nebuchadnezzar ventures out to allow Neo to contact her directly. Meanwhile, one of the Caduceus
Cause & Effect
Before the meeting, Neo is having trouble sleeping and has recurring dreams about the death of Trinity. During their relief in Zion, Trinity and Neo make love while the rest of Zion's inhabitants attend a celebration (similar to a rave) in Zion's great temple. The celebration begins with an inspiring speech by Morpheus, who rallies the cause of the humans fight for their survival in this latest machine attack. After the meeting and after the Nebuchadnezzar is charged in Zion, Neo enters the Matrix to meet with the Oracle. Upon reaching the designated meeting area, he encounters Seraph, the Oracle's bodyguard (he is effectively a firewall, or more accurately, a CHAP, who restricts access to the Oracle program via a method of validation). Once Seraph determines that Neo is who he claims to be, he leads him into a hallway which appears to be filled with nothing but doors.
Through conversation with his guide, Neo determines that the passageway and doors represent backdoor access to various locations in the Matrix. Seraph leads Neo to an isolated courtyard, where he meets with the Oracle again, and they have a conversation which in some respects parallels their conversation of the first film. She is aware of Neo's sleeplessness. Neo then asks her if she is human or not, and she confirms that she isn't. Neo then says she must be a program of the Machine World, and the Oracle confirms that as well. Neo says if she is a program, then she could be another system of control involved with the Matrix; he is not sure if he can trust her or not. The Oracle then agrees and confronts Neo with a choice: he must either trust her or not, by saying "You'll just have to make up your own damn mind, to either accept what I've got to tell you or reject it."
The Oracle explains other self-aware programs exist beside the Agents, who have various roles in running the Matrix. Sometimes these programs go awry, and, somewhat analogous to free humans, they voluntarily disconnect themselves from the Source, the machine mainframe, and exist in exile in the Matrix. The implication is that she and Seraph are two such rogue programs. The Oracle then says in order to fulfill the prophecy, Neo must reach the Source.
To reach the Source, Neo must first seek the Keymaker, another rogue program. His keys give access to all Matrix "back doors." The Keymaker is held captive by the Merovingian, a dangerous power-hungry program, among the eldest in the Matrix.
The Oracle wishes Neo good luck and exits the courtyard just before Agent Smith arrives. While it appeared that he was destroyed at the end of The Matrix by Neo, Smith explains that he and Neo are now somehow connected. Disobeying deletion, Smith is no longer an Agent of the system, he, like Neo, is free. He has gained the ability to convert anyone he touches into a duplicate of himself (which implies he has become a virus program), and recruits an ever-increasing gang of self-copies to attack Neo (a scene known as "The Burly Brawl"). Eventually understanding that he will be overrun, Neo overpowers a mountain of Smiths and flies to an exit, leaving the Smith clones to silently ponder their next move.
Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus leave to visit the Merovingian, an aesthete who exists in the Matrix mainly for his own enjoyment. He is accompanied by his wife Persephone and The Twins, two albino bodyguards. When the protagonist trio request the Keymaker, the Merovingian instead responds with his own line of questions. The Keymaker "...is not a reason," according to the Merovingian. "This is not a why. The Keymaker himself—his very nature—is a means. It is not an end. And so to look for him is to be looking for a means to do ... what?" Not receiving an answer to his satisfaction, the Merovingian makes some oblique remarks about cause and effect before refusing them access to the Keymaker. Denied, the trio leave, only to be unexpectedly led to the Keymaker by Persephone, who has grown tired of her husband's emphasis on decadence. Neo stays behind to fight a half dozen of the Merovingian's followers, earlier versions of Agents who are described by the Oracle as being similar to "vampires, ghosts and werewolves". Trinity and Morpheus briefly escape the Twins with the Keymaker, stealing a nearby car and are chased onto a freeway by the Twins, who are later joined by two Agents. A lengthy car chase follows where Morpheus and Trinity continuously dodge traffic, attempting to keep the Keymaker alive.
Meanwhile, in the real world, we learn the machine army will reach Zion in just over nine hours. In response, the entire hovercraft fleet is strategically placed for a surprise counter-attack before the army reaches Zion.
Inside the Matrix, having survived the freeway chase, the Keymaker explains how to reach the Source: "There is a building. Inside this building there is a level where no elevator can go and no stair can reach. This level is filled with doors. These doors lead to many places. Hidden places. But one door is special. One door leads to the Source." To access the building, its alarm must be disabled and to do that the electricity must be cut. In addition, the core network of the electricity grid must be accessed and the emergency fail-safes deactivated. For 314 seconds, the mainframe can be entered, but the Keymaker warns, "Only the One can open the door, and only during that window can the door be opened."
Meeting The Architect
Realizing that the power grid may not be down in time to allow Neo to unlock the vital door, Trinity infiltrates the control area and disrupts the grid long enough for Neo, who follows the Keymaker's instructions and opens the indicated door. He enters a room surrounded by television monitors (reminiscent of the Ones watching him during the interrogation scene in the first film), all showing his image, and encounters the Architect, who describes himself as the creator of the Matrix.Neo asks the main question: "Why am I here?"
The Architect says Neo is "the eventuality of an anomaly" he has been trying to eradicate from the Matrix program. The Architect says while he has been unsuccessful in eliminating this anomaly "from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision", he has succeeded in controlling it. It is this control system that "has led [Neo]...here."
Neo responds by saying the Architect has failed to answer his question, to which the Architect agrees with a slight smile in recognition that Neo was "quicker than the others". The various images of Neo on the Architect's monitors then respond with various reactions ranging from relatively subdued (such as "'Others'? What 'others'?") to childish ("I want out! I want out! I want out!"), to downright rageful(flipping off the outside of the monitor and shouting "Fuck you!!!" at the top of his lungs).
Neo is caught off-guard by what he is seeing, but the Architect continues as though nothing has happened. He says that "the Matrix is older than you know". He says that he distinguishes each 'version' of the Matrix every time an anomaly like Neo emerges, "in which case, this is the sixth version". Therefore, Neo is the sixth in a series of anomalies or "Ones". Once again, different versions of Neo continue to express themselves on the myriad of screens, and the camera shows the choice Neo makes: "there are only two possible explanations. Either no one told me, or no one knows".
The Architect confirms Neo's deduction and reveals how these anomalous errors occur "in even the most simplistic equations". Seeing the monitors react once again, Neo suddenly realizes why these errors occur: "Choice. The problem is choice."
The Architect proceeds to detail the history of the Matrix and just how this problem of choice affected its design. The first version of the Matrix was intended to be "perfect", "flawless" and "sublime", a design previously hinted at by Agent Smith in The Matrix. However, the humans refused to accept this utopia and it failed. Thinking that humans needed to have an imperfect world to survive, he created the second version of the Matrix "to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of [human] nature." However, he "was again frustrated by failure."
The Fundamental Flaw
With some reluctance, he admits that the "lesser mind" of an "intuitive program" (the Oracle) was required to help understand why he was failing. Apparently, the Oracle concluded that humans need to be given a choice, even if only aware of it at a near unconscious level, to make them more likely to accept their simulated lives. After this modification about 99% of the pod-born humans accepted the program, thus bringing stability to the Matrix.However, this method was "fundamentally flawed" in the sense that, by giving these choices, it is not possible to have complete control over human actions and their lives. This gives rise to the "systemic anomaly" (those who refused the program, including Neo himself) which, if left unchecked, would pose a threat to the stability of the system and give rise to "an escalating probability of disaster."
Neo concludes that the one percent who refused the program (and their offspring) constitute the population of Zion. The Architect explains that the solution they came up with was to terminate the inhabitants of Zion at the same time as the next anomaly emerged.
It now becomes clear that the prophecy about the "end of the war" was designed merely as a measure to control both the Zionite rebels and the One.
The Choice
The Architect continues to reveal that "the function of the One is now to return to the Source" in order for him to integrate with it and "reinsert the prime program" embedded within him. His final task will be to "select from the Matrix 23 individuals - 16 females, 7 males - to rebuild Zion."The Architect then warns Neo, "Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash, killing everyone connected to the Matrix, which, coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race."
Neo tries to call the Architect's bluff saying that humans are necessary for machines to survive, but the Architect merely rebuts that claim by saying that machines are prepared to accept "certain levels of survival" and re-states Neo's dilemma, whether he is or is not ready to accept the responsibility for the death of every human being in this world.
The Architect is then intrigued by Neo's reaction. He says that his predecessors were "by design" made to develop "a profound attachment" with humanity, but he says that Neo is interestingly different. His attachment and his thought is currently focused on one particular individual: Trinity. As a side-note, he adds that she entered the Matrix to save Neo's life at the expense of her own, and shows Trinity being attacked by an Agent just as Neo had seen in his dream. As far as the Architect is concerned, there should be no dilemma—Trinity will die, whether Neo enters the Source or not.
Thus Neo is presented with the ultimate choice of two doors: "The door to your right leads to the Source, and to the salvation of Zion. The door to your left leads back to the Matrix, to her, and to the end of your species. As you so adequately put—'the problem is choice'."
Despite all logical reasoning, Neo chooses to try and save Trinity over the rest of humanity, and for the first time every screen shows the same decision, demonstrating his belief in this reaction to the dichotomy. The Architect sardonically offers one final conclusion:
- "Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength and your greatest weakness."
The Revolution
Morpheus is very dismayed when he hears that the Prophecy has been unfulfilled. Neo tells Morpheus that the Prophecy was just "a lie" and "another system of control." Morpheus refuses to believe it, and, echoing the words of his mentor in the first film, Neo says "I know it isn't easy to hear, but I swear to you it's the truth."The Nebuchadnezzar comes under attack by Sentinels outside the range of their EMP and the crew must abandon ship. In the sewers outside, they flee, but Neo senses something has changed; he can "feel" the Sentinels' presence. He halts the Sentinels as he would bullets in the Matrix, but immediately loses consciousness. As his shipmates rush to his aid, they are rescued by another craft, the Mjolnir (referred to as the Hammer, a reference to the hammer of Thor). The film concludes with the news that Zion's counter-attack with carefully positioned ships has failed. An electromagnetic pulse was activated too early, downing five hovercraft immediately. The break in the ships' lines allowed the machines to overrun them all. The only survivor of this massacre is revealed to be Bane — the red pill overwritten by Smith's consciousness, and the only human who desires to kill Neo. The final shot shows Bane's unconscious body lying inches away from Neo's.
The story is concluded in the last film of the trilogy, .
Discussion
In this film, Neo returns the favor to Trinity by bringing her back to life this time. The scene used visual effects which some see as illustrating a healing energy coming from Neo, that merges with the rapidly fading energy of lifeless Trinity. It could also be seen as another manifestation of Neo's ability to manipulate items (in this case, a human heart) within the Matrix.There are various references to philosophy, mythology and computer science. The scene in which Neo fights Seraph is a simultaneous reference to the spirituality of martial arts and to challenge-response authentication. It is also suggested that the Oracle is actually an oracle machine. A cleverly constructed technical detail is Trinity's use of an SSH exploit, which had not yet been discovered (and thus fixed) in 1999 (the year which The Matrix simulates), to break into a computer. The "hidden floor" is floor number 65 (a multiple of 13).
Characters throughout the movie continually remind us that Neo is still only human. At the beginning Agent Johnson says, "Only human." The Merovingian says, "You see, he is just a man," when Neo's hand bleeds briefly. The Architect tells Neo, "You remain irrevocably human ...". This is also conceivably another parallel drawn between Neo and Jesus of Nazareth. In the Bible, Pilate presents Jesus to a hostile crowd with the words "Behold the man". Likewise, Jesus often refers to himself as the 'Son of Man', and the name "Anderson" (Neo's given name) means 'Son of Man'. This phrase in biblical text was often used to mean 'human', except in reference to Jesus, where it is generally accepted as a reminder of his simultaneous humanity and divinity.
Existentialism can also be seen throughout the movie, as so much emphasis is put on choice and self definition rather than predestination. Neo insists he is not governed by causality or rules, through such actions as bringing Trinity back to life or sitting when the Oracle says she knows he will stand. The Architect attributes the imperfectness of the Matrix to humanity's stubborn will to defy reality and authority, a theme which can be seen throughout many of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novels, and Jean-Paul Sartre's plays. The film does however place an emphasis on human need to use logic and causality when the councilor relates to Neo the irony that they are dependent on the same machines that threaten to control them (the machines symbolic of causality and reason).
In the Architect scene, some of the screens show images from Neo waking up in the real world. It is unclear how these images supposedly from outside the Matrix could be known to the Architect inside of the Matrix, unless perhaps the Architect can read Neo's memories or the outside world is part of a yet unidentified parallel matrix.
Reception
The Matrix Reloaded had an overall positive critical reception, with a [Rotten Tomatoes score of 74%].Criticisms and acclaim are largely similar to those leveled at the movie's predecessor[link].
Positive comments included commendation for the quality and intensity of its action sequences[link][link] and intelligence[link]. Some critics have exceptional praise for it, saying that "its character development and writing...is so crisp it crackles on the screen" and have said that "Matrix Reloaded re-establishes the genre and even raises the bar a notch or two" above the first movie, The Matrix. [link]
Negative comments included the sentiment that the plot alienated many critics[link][link], who claimed that the focus on the action came at the cost of the movie's human element[link][link]. Some also said that the dialogue focus on exposition scenes [link] worked against the film. The many subplots, and the movie's cliffhanger ending, even though it was made explicitly clear that it was a piece of a serial fiction that would not be resolved until Revolutions, was none the less criticized by some[link].
African-Americans and The Matrix Reloaded
Science fiction films rarely depict more than one African-American in a major role (For example, ', the original film from 1977, had only the unseen James Earl Jones, while Episodes and ' added Billy Dee Williams, the only African-American in the principal cast whose face was actually seen onscreen).
The Matrix Reloaded is the notable exception to this phenomenon. A majority of the principal cast (Laurence Fishburne, Jada Pinkett Smith, Gloria Foster, Harold Perrineau Jr., Harry J. Lennix, Nona Gaye, and Gina Torres) are African-American, as are Princeton professor Cornel West and light heavyweight boxer Roy Jones Jr., who have small yet important roles. In addition, people of color are seen throughout the background, particularly in the Zion scenes. In The Matrix Reloaded, the Wachowski brothers provide a rarely-seen picture of a future where the overwhelmingly majority of the world's people are non-caucasian.
Soundtrack
Don Davis, composer on The Matrix, returned to score Reloaded. For many of the pivotal action sequences, such as the "Burly Brawl" he collaborated with Juno Reactor. Some of the collaborative cues by Davis and Juno Reactor are extensions of material by Juno Reactor; for example, a version of Komit featuring Davis' strings is used during a flying sequence, and Burly Brawl is essentially a combination of Davis' unused Multiple Replication and Juno Reactor's Masters of the Universe (which also appeared in its original form in The Animatrix). The Juno Reactor song Mona Lisa Overdrive was included during the freeway chase seen, this song holds literary significance as it as a reference to a cyberpunk novel of the same name Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson, a writer whose work was heavily inspirational to the Matrix creators.Rob Dougan contributed again, licensing the instrumental version of his eponymous Furious Angels, as well as being commissioned to provide an original track, ultimately scoring the battle in the Merovingian's chateau.
As with its predecessor, many tracks by external musicians are featured in the movie and its closing credits, and the soundtrack album. Leitmotifs established in The Matrix return, and some used in Revolutions are established.
Cast
- Keanu Reeves as Neo
- Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus
- Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity
- Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith
- Gloria Foster as The Oracle
- Helmut Bakaitis as The Architect
- Lambert Wilson as the Merovingian
- Monica Bellucci as Persephone
- Adrian Rayment as Twin #2
- Neil Rayment as Twin #1
- Daniel Bernhardt as Agent Johnson
- Sing Ngai as Seraph (as Collin Chou)
- Nona M. Gaye as Zee
- Roy Jones Jr. as Captain Ballard
- David A. Kilde as Agent Jackson
- Randall Duk Kim as The Keymaker
- Harry J. Lennix as Commander Lock
- Matt McColm as Agent Thompson
- Harold Perrineau Jr. as Link
- Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe
- Gina Torres as Cas
- Cornel West as Councillor West
- Bernard White as Rama-Kandra
- Anthony Wong as Ghost
- Anthony Zerbe as Councillor Hamann
- Stoney Burke as the bike carrier driver
Parody
A parody of The Matrix Reloaded, with scenes from the movie edited to incorporate Justin Timberlake, Seann William Scott and Will Ferrell, was used to introduce the 2003 MTV Movie Awards.The Oracle, Morpheus, and the Architect are parodied in Scary Movie 3.
G.O.R.A. also parodizes some key scenes from the film, along with other ones from famous sci-fi movies like Star Wars and The Fifth Element.
Joseph Blanchette aka LegendaryFrog created a parody of the Matrix series in his films, The Matrix Has You and The Matrix Still Has You.
Trivia
- Cain and Able, the two Merovingian thugs who Persephone barges in on are watching The Brides of Dracula, a Hammer Horror film. It is implied that they may be some form of vampire or werewolf (silver kills them). Cain (spelled 'Caine' within the setting) is also known as the father of all vampires in the White Wolfs '' RPG.
- The Merovingian's restaurant is on the 101st floor.
- In the scene where Neo first meets the Merovingian we are provided a short glimpse at a man being escorted away from the Merovingians table. He makes eye contact with Neo, giving us a clear view of his face. He is later (in the third movie) identified as Rama-Kandra who attempts to smuggle his daughter (Sati) out of the Matrix by striking a deal with the Merovingian.
- The freeway on which the chase sequence was filmed was constructed strictly for the film because they could not find a suitable location.
- The password entered by Trinity into the computer used to hack the Power Station is "Z1on0101".
External links
- [The Matrix Reloaded Official Website]
- [The Many Meanings of The Matrix], Larry Wachowski in a dialogue with Ken Wilber.
- [The Matrix: Reloaded Explained] - a comparative-literature-style exegesis of selected parts of Matrix Reloaded.
- [Newsweek: The Matrix Makers] - A look behind the scenes at the Matrix sequels (possible spoilers).
- [Matrixism: the path of the One]
- [The Matrix Reloaded or Overloaded?] review from Socialism Today.
- [Easter Eggs, Jesus references, etc.]
- [MATRIX² Wired Magazine May 2003]
- [Super Mario Reloaded] A popular flash movie that parodies the Burly Brawl scene with Nintendo characters Mario and Luigi as Neo and Agent Smith, respectively.
- [The Matrix Reloaded October 27, 2001 draft script by Andy & Larry Wachowski]
- [Adudathuda DVD podBLAST alternative DVD commentary for The Matrix Reloaded]
Fan sites
- http://www.matrixcommunity.org - A Matrix/Sci-Fi discussion board
- http://www.thematrixonline.com - A Continuation of the Matrix Story
- http://www.thelastfreecity.com - The original Matrix fan site.
- http://www.matrixfans.net - Another fan site
- http://www.neoandtrinity.net - A Matrix series fan site
- http://www.matrix-explained.com - Explanations, photos, discussion board, links
- http://www.thematrix101.com - Explanations, FAQs
- http://www.matrix-faq.com - A comprehensive database of the Matrix universe.
- http://matrix.thescarymonkeyshow.com/ - The Matrix Character Database
- http://X-matrix.net - Home of The Final Matrix Exegesis
- http://matrixirtam.com/ - Transcripts of The Matrix Films
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.