Saw the “Matrix Reloaded” preview on Entertainment Tonight yesterday. Ever since the “Matrix” sequels have been announced, I’ve been worried that nothing could possibly surpass (or even equal) the original, and that these movies would go down the “Star Wars” route – giant messes that everyone would go to see anyway, no matter how bad they were. But I was impressed by the preview, unlike my reaction to the, say, “Attack of the Clones” trailer, which filled me with (as it turns out, understandable) dread.
“Reloaded” is just a month away. I’m cautiously excited.
I wasn’t excited AT ALL for the Matrix Reloaded… I saw the mini-thingy on Dreamcatcher about it… I wasn’t happy…
I wasn’t particularly impressed by The Matrix. I think their main innovation was the development of some sort of new film stock to which hype could stick easily.
I’m looking forward to the Matrix as much as any film this year, with the possible exception of LOTR: Return of the King. It takes a lot to get me to a movie theater without a lot of whining and ranting about ticket prices and commercials and all sorts of other pet peeves. I’m willing to put up with it all for The Matrix, and I hope it lives up to my expectations.
We should be so lucky to have this new trilogy go the “Star Wars” route, if only to get the immense improvement on the original that was “The Empire Strikes Back”, even when balanced against the total devastation wrought by the Ewoks in “Return of the Jedi” (and the complete lack of joy that plagues the newer films.)
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I go now.
I love The Matrix because, even if it had been done before outside the mainstream American market, it was an existential meta-mystical electronic rock opera that challenged people on a subconscious level to wonder, “What am I doing with my life?” Of course, some people are born wondering that, but some aren’t. The Matrix did what it did, and did it well, at least for me. Stock? Hype? Product? Who doesn’t do that?