WEB EXCLUSIVE: MATRIX: RELOADED

There came a point early on in viewing Matrix: Reloaded where a little voice in my head started telling me that I was bored. I was shocked! My mind turned around on itself and screamed at the little voice to shut up; like it was that old woman who said, \"This is the part where Luke gets his hand cut off,\" during my first viewing of The Empire Strikes Back. But the voice kept nagging; it got to the point where I couldn\'t ignore it anymore. I knew the voice was correct.
While the first Matrix had innovation from beginning to end, Reloaded kept getting bogged down. While the first film took place primarily on the ship or in the gritty streets, Reloaded adds the city of Zion. And if this aspect alone doesn\'t feel like a scene straight out of Empire to you, then you\'re just not the geek I thought you were.
There used to be a sense of danger; a sense of, \"What\'s going to happen next?\" This is now replaced with over-acted, pedantic speeches that made my eyes glaze over, and mythology that sounds cheesier than any scene from Lord of the Rings or the Star Wars five-part trilogy. There was a reality that grounded the first film, and it\'s just not here.
By this time in the review, I\'m sure you\'re screaming, \"WHAT ABOUT THE FIGHT SCENES, YOU FUCKING BASTARD?!?\" Well, they are impressive,.. sort of. Without any sense of loss, they don\'t mean much. Every bad guy seems to be able to fight Neo toe-to-toe, until Neo flies away (Which, if you ask me, is the one flaw in the first film-- retch!).
They definitely up the ante in this flick with bigger fights, explosions, and weapons, which had me white-knuckled for quite a while. The bullet time effects are bigger, but with one major change: the characters become CGI, AND YOU CAN TELL!
Note to all filmmakers: When you replace a real actor with a CGI actor, WE CAN TELL! It is the 21st Century\'s version of pushing a dummy off a building instead of using a stunt man.
I was a little disappointed with Reloaded. Maybe I was expecting too much. Maybe coupled with Matrix: Revolutions it will somehow work. Maybe not. If you haven\'t seen Reloaded by the time you read this review, lower your expectation bar, and you\'ll enjoy it just fine.
Just know it\'s time to visit the snack bar when Morpheus or the guy with the white beard start pontificating. For all its problems, I still recommend seeing it, even if it\'s not as good as it was in my mind.
Oh,.. and Mel Gibson dies at the end!