‘The Matrix’ rehashed

“The Matrix Reloaded” starts off approximately six months after the events of “The Matrix,” although little has really changed. Hundreds of thousands of people have been brought out of the surrealist world of the Matrix and into the real world that is the human hideout called Zion. It’s all thanks to Neo (Keanu Reeves), who has made a concerted effort along with Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) to save the human race. A new problem has arisen. The machines that brought menace into the Matrix have caught sight of Zion, and it’s only a matter of hours before they reach it and destroy it. Neo must enter the Matrix again to learn more about it so that they may counter this menace. Along as a thorn in Neo’s side is the resurrected Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), who has found a way to “copy and paste” himself into other organisms, resulting in hundreds and hundreds of Smiths, each eager to get his own piece of the One.

After the fun, thoughtful film that was “The Matrix,” its sequel turns out to be a most disappointing affair. There are far too many fight sequences, about a dozen in the film, and only two of them have any life to them. It’s as if the Wachowski brothers had a kung-fu quota to fill, but only had the energy to care about the Agent Smith hundred-man fight, one of the few exciting spots in the movie. Sure, the special effects are breathtaking, but honestly, it just gets tiresome after a while. The whole movie just seems to be loud proclamation of “look what I can do!”

The plot, which should have been the crux of this trilogy, seems to be brushed aside for broad clichés and self-important dialogue. “The Matrix” set up a brilliant scenario deep with existentialist and philosophical meaning. Unfortunately, in these terms, while “The Matrix” is comparable to Sartre and Nietzsche, “The Matrix Reloaded” can best be compared to that kid in your second-grade class who shoved crayons up his nose. What’s worse, the script seems to be stuck on an infinite causality loop: (1) The characters go see someone important to tell us about the Matrix. (2) This person tells us to go see someone else important who has something else to tell us about the Matrix. (3) Repeat for two-and-a-half hours (minus action scenes).

The most disturbing portion of “The Matrix Reloaded” was the tail end, which screeches to a halt with “TO BE CONCLUDED,” followed by a brief trailer for the third movie, in theaters this November. This reminds of the “Back to the Future” trilogy, which ended its own second film the same way. I have to wonder if “The Matrix Revolutions” will include Neo time traveling back to the old west, gun slinging and manipulating the Matrix against “Mad Dog” Smith. Say what you will, but that imaginary scenario is probably more interesting than what “The Matrix Reloaded” has to offer.