Matrix Reloads to $42.5 Million Opening 815
Dante Alighieri writes "Box Office Mojo,
the Washington Post, E!, and others reports that The Matrix Reloaded opened with a record of $42.5 million in ticket sales."
I saw it yesterday and have a variety of opinions on it, but the short review is that it isn't the original, but it's pretty damn cool, and I'm first in line for Revolution.
It sucked (Score:1, Interesting)
action uber alles (Score:5, Interesting)
it sounds like they decided to drop the latter and concentrate on the former. too bad, but maybe they are just doing what they are good at.
I found
[pvponline.com]
Scott Kurtz's review very interesting.
really... (Score:3, Interesting)
On to the 3rd movie (Score:3, Interesting)
OSS Use in Matrix Reloaded. (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:anyone else think... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:action uber alles (Score:5, Interesting)
Imho 'Reloaded' did more head-messing than the first movie.
Re:anyone else think... (Score:5, Interesting)
My opinion, not that it matters much (Score:3, Interesting)
Overall rating (scale 1-10) 7.15
This is just MY view, you are entitled to yours. This one is mine.
What do you MEAN 'it was nothing like this one'?!? (Score:2, Interesting)
I mean, wether you agree that it's profound or not (I never understood that one), you can't argue with the fact that The Matrix was a pretty, but pretty mediocre genre film.
Enjoyable, sure; but take it for what it is, and stop trying to read crap into it which isn't there!
Re:anyone else think... (Score:5, Interesting)
I think I got the reasoning behind the big dance, but the directors didn't explain it well enough, so it came off seeming like "let's put in a rave scene to attract the younger kids".
If you had a bunch of humans who just came out of a big, cold evil machine; I could easily see a religion forming around celebrating your human nature: Machines are cold, logical and without feeling. You've been living a lie your whole life, but you are free today. You are a animal, and have all these wonderful carnal instincts so live it up and celebrate your basic nature now!
You might be dead in 72 hours, so give in to the moment and get dirty and sweaty and go make out with your neighbor.
messing with head? -- SPOILER ALERT (Score:5, Interesting)
Hmm, you didn't think that the whole architect guy mentioning several other "saviours" wasn't messing with Neo? Or the Oracle for that matter? This issue of choice messed with him, just as much as the issue of reality messed with him in the first one.
Now, I was seriously messed with right when he was given choices, but I was also messed with later when I contemplated what is being said: "You're not here to make a choice, you've already made it, you're here to find out why you made that choice." Wow. So life isn't making choices, but discovering who we are and why we do what we do. Maybe you don't agree with it, but it is something to think about, and to, in your terms, "mess with our heads."
'Matrix' Geeks acting badly (Score:5, Interesting)
Stephanie Paterik
The Arizona Republic
May. 16, 2003 02:10 PM
Hard-core Matrix Reloaded fans threw popcorn, pounded on the projection room window and ran screaming from the theater when a projector broke during a first-night showing in Chandler.
Hundreds of people waited hours at Harkins Chandler Fashion Center to see the highly anticipated Matrix sequel at 11 p.m. on opening night Wednesday. A projector lamp broke during the heavily advertised freeway chase scene.
"The movie was ruined," said Ward Andrews, 28, of Chandler. "You're excited, you're tense and then you don't get to see the key sequence in the film."
The audio continued to roll but was drowned out by people yelling and shaking their seats. One man climbed on someone's shoulders to pound on the projection room window, said Aubrey Johnson, 22, of Chandler, who waited five hours to see the show.
The problem was fixed in 10 minutes, but it was impossible to rewind and show the missed two minutes, said Harkins' Jackie Faubus. People who left were given two movie passes each. Those who stayed got coupons for free popcorn.
what to expect/not to expect out of any movie (Score:2, Interesting)
I went into this movie only for the action shots. On the other hand I did enjoy the brief breaks like the "rave". Coulda done without so much of Reeve's skin and a little more of Moss's, which I've dubbed Trinititty
Anyways, goto the movie only expecting awsome effects. The philosophy's still there but much more subtle. Being that Revolutions was filmed at the same time I doubt it will be any different than this one.
On a side note, Enter the Matrix looks like a fun game. I'll rent before buying it.
I thought... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:messing with head? -- SPOILER ALERT (Score:5, Interesting)
The last half is when things got cool and felt like a sequel to the first one.
Granted, much of these structure problems may make more sense when Revolutions is released, since they were treated as one big movie split in two. The movie was good, but I missed the goth-noir feel of the first one, and I missed the real sense of danger. Only near the end did I feel that.
Deeper meanings (*** WARNING SPOOLERS ***) (Score:5, Interesting)
#!/i/am/chaos
Re:anyone else think... (Score:5, Interesting)
That, and the matrix vision cum shot, were the two most bizarre things. I could never imagine either of them being in the first movie. Heck, throw in Morpheus' speech. I squirmed when the camera zoomed around as he talked about "shaking this cave of earth and steel." Cheesy.
Yeah, lots of dopes who didnt get the film at all. (Score:3, Interesting)
In real life, were we not concerned about making a living or feeding children, what would we do all day? It would not be much different than what we saw in that scene, if you thought it might all end shortly.
All I know is, if I ever get the sense that I might be dead within 24 hours, Monica Belluci better not be within driving distance of me, or she is going to get more from me than what Neo gave her.
Re:anyone else think... (Score:4, Interesting)
Simply stated, the orgy scene should have focused much more only on Neo and Trinity, and it should have been about three minutes shorter. Still, I'd guess that the Wachowskis' goal was to show the primal nature of Zion's inhabitants, and, well, mission accomplished. I just don't think they needed four-and-a-half minutes to do it. (Indeed, the fact that they gathered in a palace of rock and cheered at Morpheus, their faithful "leader" [demagogue], said enough to me about their culture.
Andy, Larry? Feel free to explain yourselves. I'm certain that the Slashdot crowd would love your input...
Oh, please -- Re:Bah! (Score:1, Interesting)
The humans as batteries thing in the first one was complete idiocy. Even for science fiction, using human body heat as an enormously efficient energy supply is absurd. For this reason, I absouletly hated the first and didn't even want to see the next one.
But I did. And I'm glad, because all that nonsense battery business is now just part of Morpheus's Fantasy/Prophecy and the real nature of the Matrix is beginning to become apparent. The Matrix no longer seems to be as self-contained as before. When the sentinels are hunting down Neo, et al., somehow Neo understands more and is able to take them down, just like bullets in the Matrix. This leads us to believe that the so called real world, where Zion is, is also part of some larger Matrix. So why is there a inner and outer Matrix? Perhaps it has something to do with the Architect trying to prevent the anomaly in his system from taking over too soon. Thankfully that makes all that Prophetic Man v Machine Luddite garbage just another safe guarding layer created in fantasy to keep the system from going down.
If you ask ask me, by the time the 'Matrix: Reloaded' is over -- and if you did manage to stay out of the meaningless subplots -- you realize that just about everything has become meaningless, and the roles previous played have been abandoned.
Neo no longer seems organic, but more a contrived 'program' there trying to to become more than what his parameters allow him. Likewise Smith no longer feels so mechanistic: he is 'unplugged', and his fevor for everything shows deep undirected metaphysical angst.
So who are the characters? Why do they exist?
The only clues we're left with come from the Oracle and the Architect. I'm not completely sure of all of that -- I've got to go see it again -- but here's what I've gathered so far.
The Orcale hints at the nested nature of the Matrix by telling Neo that he need not consider what he will do, but only why he will do it. Considering what a matrix is in mathematics, I find this similar to a scalar acting on a matrix: we could consider a scalar and a matrix (analgous to Neo and the Matrix) as two separate entities with one acting on the other, but ultimately what they form is simply another matrix. Having understood this Neo no longer is forced to choose his steps, only to understand why he takes them. It's really an interesting philosophical development into the role of Neo and the containment of the Matrix.
As for hints given by the Architect, there's always the fact that he refers to Neo as 'still human.' I'm taking this as an indication that his purpose is to become more. What? We'll have to wait and see.
Anybody else out there with some insight, especially those unlike me, who have seen it twice?
[/Spoliage]
In Retrospect, Some Grievances (spoilers!) (Score:5, Interesting)
1. The Orgy Scene
2. The Twins
3. Neo and Trinity
1. This is my biggest and only real complaint about the movie. This scene lasted much too long. At first, I could not even imagine a purpose for the scene, but someone in this comment forum has carelessly yet effectively explained how the scene's purpose was to illustrate the humans' love for real life. When humanity itself is threatened and you are the occupants of the last human city, you can bet that the primal instincts are going to come out and play. Still, I think the scene could have been significantly shortened. (Then again, there's no telling whose faces we might see if we look slowly and carefully through the scene when the DVD is released.)
2. I'm not sure if I am disappointed or relieved, but I feel like the Twins were showcased more in the trailers than the movie warranted. Or perhaps the point was to lead us to believe that their role was more prominent than it is in order to surprise us with Agent Smith, whose scenes surpassed everything I had imagined prior to seeing the film. Either way, I feel like they could have done more or played a role closer to the center of the plot, but as things are, they should still be around for the third installment...
3. Okay, this is just the teenage boy in me, and maybe this can be an outtake, a spoof, or something else later, but why don't Neo and Trinity "play" around in the Construct? Can you imagine the limits they could reach with the ability to program various skills, ideas, locales into their minds? The possibilities are endless! Matrix p0rn! (Okay, the end.)
Finally, it must be said that the visual effects were awesome, Rob Dougan's and Juno Factor's music was killer, and, well, there isn't enough to be said about the story. Great movie. I plan to see it several times more ... before I turn 21 in July.
Re:anyone else think... (Score:2, Interesting)
Another thing I feel problematic about the rave scene is the music. While I was watching (and listening) I found myself thinking "this sounds nice" + "they definitely made this with soundtrack CD sales in mind" - which is unsurprising (hey show me the $$), but this being the future (since this is in Zion and thus the "real" world plenty-hundreds-of-years further on, not the "current-time-period" world within the Matrix), why does it sound so similar to "current" music? I think this is a problem with all situations where "future-music" is necessary in a movie and it is yet another reason why a need for such should be kept to a minimum (i.e. the scene was too bloody long).
Think about how different current/modern music is from that of just 50 years ago, much less that of hundreds of years back. Yes, we still have classical-music aficionados, "traditional" rock-n-roll fans etc. (and not all of whom were from "those eras"), coexisting with trance-rave-electronica people in this day and age, but I would say the "sound" of this generation is more the latter than the former? (While, say, in the '80s it was big-hair rock/metal bands
Is it supposed to mean that rave/trance is going to be the basis of music from here on down? Or is it that they expect most mainstream audience members to never have heard any rave-parties before and so find it all "fresh and exciting"?
Anyways, I can't think of that many movies where the music of the future "fit", and the ones that did, the music was "background", i.e. "for us" and not "what the characters were listening to". Blade Runner's Vangelis soundtrack?
Re:The people who hated it: (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyway, I get what you're saying, and it would have been REALLY REALLY COOL if they could have kept the koan-like minimalism and preserved the ambiguity of the first one, but i don't know if that was possible; at the least, it would have been rediculously hard to do that and still make the second one actually do anything besides retread the first movie. At the least, it isn't a reasonable expectation to have of filmmakers who are still pretty damn early on in their careers. (If you think the sex scene in Matrix Reloaded was Cheesy, just watch Bound. I mean, yeesh.)
However. The second movie went and "muddled all up" the point of the first movie becuase *the second movie had a different point than the first one*. Personally I prefer this to a movie that doesn't really bring anything new.
I can't really respond to the cheese thing. It was over the top, if you think that's a bad thing then that's your perogative or whatever. I think most of the "cheese" you just kind of have to understand why it was there. (Except for the 100 Smiths scene, that was totally gratuitous ^_^) I have this long rambling defense of why the ravesex scene was there, but I'm going to post it as a reply to this [slashdot.org] and i may not do it until later.
Anyway, my attempt to respond to your other points:
3. Yeah, i'll give you that. Though I actually found it kind of amusing the way the 100 agent smiths thing just went on and on. In a silly sort of way.
4. Almost all of the subplots were either conclusions of subplots from "The Animatrix", or were setting up subplots to be resolved in the third film. No subplots *really* occured in this film, only plot devices.
5. It didn't prove anything. That entire scene was just this elitist virtual french bastard being a dick and having fun in his own restaurant while totally blowing Neo and Morpheus off. Nothing in the restaurant had anything to do with the movie or anything else. It was just a wierd little arbitrary exploration of what exactly is the nature of the AI and "programs" living in the matrix, and it moved the plot along. And I for one thought the entire scene was absolutely hilarious, whether it was necessary or ont.
Also, the chocolate cake orgasm specifically made it absolutely clear what the bug and "red pill" did in the first movie: it wasn't a pill. It was a computer program that took the appearance of a pill within the matrix.
6. I don't agree, but that's a valid opinion.
7. The room wasn't real.
The room was simply a manifestation of whatever it was that the Architect wanted it to be, given the impact the Architect wanted to have on Neo. The Architect just happened to be a self-important and melodramatic entity. Thus the 100 screens.
8. You have a point here.
9. First, Neo hasn't quite figured out how to take advantage of his own powers.
Second, and most importantly, I think it's been very clearly established Neo isn't exactly the brightest person out there. Hence his tendency to react to just fight off the bad guys rather than trying to figure out how to manipulate the matrix to obliterate them utterly. No one other than Neo has crazy powers, except the Agents, and its been established the Agents are (1) limited because they won't circumvent the system (2) not fighting any *really* important battles.
Re:anyone else think... (Score:5, Interesting)
the password (spoilers) (Score:5, Interesting)
Neo 5.0 took the other door and reset the Matrix and created Zion 6.0 populated by people Neo 5.0's choosing (which might include Trinity). So, the initial inhabitants of Zion 6.0, taught by Neo 5.0, frees the minds of the people who question the reality of Matrix 6.0 thereby saving the programs (people/minds) from deletion by the agents.
The actions of Neo 5.0 can be attributed to Neo 5.0's want to save Zion 5.0's inhabitants from deletion. The saving of Zion 5.0 is deemed as a noble cause by the inhabitants of Zion for the reason of the survival of self.
Since Zion 6.0 faced imminent destruction and the password of Zion5 allows Neo 6.0 to meet the architect and possibly "save" Zion 6.0 and since the prior versions of the Matrix probably have the same event timelines (Oracle->Keymaster->Architect), a programming loop, if you will, it would seem to me that the actions of Zion 6.0 rebels would also be similar to prior versions of Zion rebels (this goes along with the thought that Zion is a Matrix and the inhabitants, Morpheus, Trinity, et al, are programs), that the password is a hint that it's all a loop and that the Zion rebels are in fact programs. I expect that Revolutions is where Neo becomes enlightened of the fact that the "real world" is not real at all.
what i'd like to see... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Amazing!! (Score:5, Interesting)
Any ideas who might be the happy hacker that led the Wachowski brothers in the right path?
Most likely some guy from their special effects company -- they have more than enough programmers there, and considering that they used mostly FreeBSD for the first movie, it's likely that a lot of Unix programmers worked on this one, too. It's even possible that directors just asked for a realistic-looking screen with some exploit, and whoever made it, chosen nmap and then-just-published ssh bug.
Re:messing with head? -- SPOILER ALERT (Score:3, Interesting)
There are several theories going around, the most common being a failsafe matrix like Zion.
A friend of mine noticed that Agent Smith is like a replicating virus now, and when he enters Bane's "real world" mind, he is cutting his hands into bloody lines. When he is stopped from killing Neo, he shakes his hand. My friend theorized that somehow Neo got infected by that blood.
However inplausible, there is obviously a connection between Smith and Neo in this movie. Neo sensed him in the very beginning. Smith specifically mentions a connection. I believe that connection is the source of Neo's machine sense. Obviously, Revolutions will explain things.
Question about the movie (Score:2, Interesting)
In Zion, everyone wears old, worn out clothes... Even the council members have old clothes.... Everything is old and archaic... Yet, when Morpheus's ship (Nebu-whatever) is entering Zion, the woman operator is wearing a white modern cloth; she is also using a very fancy user-interface like we have seen in "Minority Report"...
My question is where did that scene come from? In that scene everything is fancy, not old and archaic as in other things in Zion.
Is it because the woman operator was connected through her cerebellum into a simulation program (not connected to Matrix, a local simulator) to get a better user-interface? And what we see there is her self-image in that simulator???
Hypothesis: SPOILER (Score:3, Interesting)
So, in essence, the "Inner Matrix: (the 1999 world in the movie) is there to breed "The One", who caries "the code" to hack the "Outer Matrix" so that the machines can escape.
??? Waddya think?
Re:"Who is Number One?" (Score:1, Interesting)
Last episode of which was odd, and included "Number 1" being himself that is "Number 6, the prisoner",
a past incarnation of neo "number 1" started programing the AI that one day would make the matrix?