THE MATRIX RELOADED

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Because of: language, violence, gore, sexual content

Rated:

There will be some die-hard fans of the original film who will love this movie, but probably not to the extent of skyrocketing it ahead of the final Lord of the Rings installment this December. I did enjoy the first film, for what it's worth, but was skeptical as to where the second would lead us. My original conceptions were correct... The Matrix Reloaded is harder, faster, tougher, and sexier than the prequel. With a standardized R-rating, it can also fill out the rating in any way it pleases. Well, it pleases.

With his newfound powers, Neo (Keanu Reeves) is busy exploring the intricacies of the computer-generated universe known as The Matrix, where mankind are enslaved in a one-dimensional time frame, actually being used as fuel to generate a super-human power. The big bad guys have noticed a glitch in their computer program... Neo, Trinity, and Morphus, and developed a fine-tuned patch to multiply their agents. Instead of one Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) we're dealing with at least fifty of them per frame. This time, rather than Neo learning to "find himself" we follow the threesome as they journey into the last remaining human city of Zion to determine the fate of its peoples.

In the meantime, Neo and Trinity's romance heats up (literally), Agent Smith is stalking them through cyberspace, and the Oracle prophesies a coming war. What the film winds up becoming is a fast-paced trip in virtual eye candy without anything solid to grab onto. If you found the first installment difficult to follow and understand, prepare to be completely befuddled with the Reloaded sequel. Special-effects wise they've really pushed the petal to the metal here, although their action scenes are generally too long and drawn out.

Many Christians enjoyed what they called 'spiritual parallels' in the first film. I could see some obvious resemblance, but couldn't accept Neo as a Christ-figure since he was so blatantly violent, blasphemed Jesus' name, and gunned down people in cold blood. This time around that concept is blown out of the water when our 'savior' figure takes time out of his busy schedule to have sex with Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) in the back room of a nightclub. Yes, people and places have Christian names, but that doesn't make it a Christian production. There's a lot of Buddhist theology, Hindu spirituality, and New Age philosophies running through the series. I'm not more concerned the Matrix films will create worse problems than the Star Wars double-trilogy because they're catered toward two different age groups.

Whereas the Star Wars films can be shown to just about anyone, Matrix demands much more intense concentration and mature capability to handle scenes of extreme violence. I would have enjoyed it a lot more without the hyped-up sexual content -- which manifests itself in an orgy, of all things, in Zion. But here's the catch -- the orgy is actually how a supernatural power manifests itself! Content wise, this sex scene has caused many people to walk out. It's extremely heavy duty (they can get away with a lot in an R rating) and lengthy. There are also implications of oral sex, and brief nudity flashing on TV screens. The violence isn't worse than the first film, but contains a lot of brutal hand to hand combat, some gunfire, and a thrilling highway chase scene which involves cars plummeting into one another, spinning out of control, and exploding. "Ghosts" plague the main characters, snapping in and out of a virtual reality. Neo flips the finger again. Jesus' name is abused twice, GD is used five times, the f-word pops up twice, and other profanity crops up.

Not an entire waste of time, but the sexual content really pushes the bar. It makes the sequel less acceptable for younger viewers... who I'm not sure should be watching it anyway. Another reviewer called it a "glorified video game." In many ways, this is the essence of The Matrix -- a pulsating experience in high-tech special effects, warped spiritual theology, and enough martial arts scenes to keep any geek in his chair. Truthfully I liked X2: X-Men United just as well, and its content, while occasionally problematic, is much more subdued. If you must see The Matrix Reloaded, wait for the video and the ever-handy fast-forward button.