It's a good thing the third movie is coming out quickly-- but that doesn't mean what it sounds like.
If you liked the action sequences, the "bullet time" special effects and all from the original, you'll really like this one, too. Like the original, it attempts to bludgeon you with the idea that it doesn't consider itself to be just a popcorn movie, but in this case, it's a different theme. This was, to me, one of the best aspects of the original-- a man-versus-machines theme hit home pretty hard in 1999 as we were all worrying about the Y2K bug, and adding in a question of "what is reality?" didn't hurt. This time, the theme's less topical and less to think about, but they try to make up for it by being more blunt about it.
Where most that have an esoteric premise would have plenty of dialogue explaining to the audience just where this plot is going, it seems the Wachowski brothers realized who they're working with. Keanu Reeves' Neo thankfully gets few lines, placing the explaining burden squarely on Laurence Fishburne's shoulders, and while he's much more suited for the task, Morpheus's soliloquies wind up with almost a Shakespearean flavor. The trouble is that between Morpheus getting his Hamlet on and Keanu, his doubles, and his CGI clone kicking butt, Carrie-Anne Moss's Trinity winds up relegated to the status of useless love interest, even descending to the point of "damsel in distress", which is very much unlike Trinity from the original movie. Hugo Weaving reprises his role as Agent Smith, and does an excellent job for the few segments where it's him and not a balding stunt double.
The effects werre good, but a little disappointing-- The Matrix used some original techniques that have been repeated and imitated ever since, but Reloaded does nothing groundbreaking. This has the benefit that Reloaded feels like the original, but since they couldn't do "newer" or "better" you're left with the feeling they simply settled for "more". Much of the movie is like this-- they took things from the original that made people say, "Coooool!" and re-applied them with a sledgehammer.
Here's where I get back to the beginning, where I suggested that it's a good thing the next movie's coming out soon-- but as you've probably guessed, not because this one was incredible and I'm anxious for more. This movie was filmed and produced at the same time as the third Matrix offering, The Matrix Revolution, which makes me think that what I've really seen is just one half of a four hour movie, since between all the action scenes and Morpheus's ramblings, they don't seem to get around to answering any of the questions the plot brings up.
And that being the case, I reserve the right to adjust these numbers when the other half of this movie is released:
Good Movie Scale: 6
Bad Movie Scale: 8
Drive-in Totals
12 dead bodies (someone needs to re-verify this count)
300 dead Chevrolets
1 breast
Agent Smith
More bullets than a John Woo movie
Agent Smith
250,000 sentinels
Agent Smith
The Obligatory Room of White
Agent Smith
1 naked religious experience
Agent Smith
1 really incredible piece of chocolate cheesecake
Agent Smith
ssh 10.2.2.2 -l root
Agent Smith
2 Ghosts
2 Werewolves
1 Vampire
0 Poltergeists
Agent Smith
Kung Fu (Neo knows it, after all)
Gun fu
Lightpole fu
Sai fu
Sword fu
Truck fu
Mace fu
Motorcycle fu
Kung goo
Car fu
Razor fu
Katana fu
Freeway fu
Knife fu