Well, I made it to the 3rd and final Matrix on opening day. That makes all three of them. I have to say, this is the best trilogy since the original Star Wars. Of course, that opinion probably won't last past the final movie from Lord of the Rings, but that doesn't come for another month and a half.
If you haven't seen it and are planning to, stop reading when I tell you to. I'm not going to hold back, but I dont' want to ruin it for you. I will say to anyone that if you like the Matrix as the action packed special effects eyecandy that it is, then you will enjoy this movie a lot. If you are the kind of person looking deep into the storyline and want lots of intrigue and unexpected twists, well, your going to the wrong damn movie for the wrong reason BUT you should be pleasantly surprised. The story went places I didn't expect, and the action was a cross between Robotech, Rambo, and Dragonballz. Personally, I had a stiffy watching the action. While Neo sorta got old about 20 minutes into Reloaded, Agent Smith dominates with a strong presence as a character you hate but love at the same time. The ending, well, I still don't know if I liked it. I don't hate it, but it did NOT go where I was expecting it to.
Overall, a good movie, fun, exciting, loud. Great special effects and kung-fu gun fighting chicks in pleather. How can that not be good. Plus more rounds fired off than I've ever seen. I'd say go see it. Fuck the critics. This isn't a 4 star, 2 thumbs up sort of a movie. It's the kind of movie that gets hearts pumping and eyes buggin' out of your head wantin' to yell "DAAAAMN" in the middle of the theater.
Now I'm giving things away...Click here to not spoil it for yourself or just scroll down for the rest of my thoughts....
Holy crap, I would have never have guessed it. Trinity ends up with a couple of jagged pieces of metal poking through her? Dies..Damn, good guy main characters never die. Neo blinded by Smith in the real world, then gets the ass whoopin' of a lifetime inside the Matrix. Smith taking over the Matrix? What the hell. The final battle between Smith and Neo reminded me so much of the DragonBallZ battle between Cell and Goku I was waiting for a Neo's hair to turn Gold and stick straight up. It was just one surprise after another. Smith actually won? Or did he. He physically won. He beat Neo into the ground. Literally. Great battle.
And I can't not talk about the battle for the Dock in Zion. Crap were those battle suits cool. What really blew my mind was that they were *gasp* reloading. Most movies seem to want us to believe that machine guns have an infinate supply of bullets and can just fire continuously. The Sentinals looked pretty cool, though almost to....organic? They move almost to smoothly for machines, but are pretty badass all the same.
And the ultimate twist. It's a story line about a war. Rebels fighting for freedom. It's been done a thousand times in the movies. Every time I can think of, the rebels win. The good guys pull a miracle win out of their collective ass and destroy the bad guys. It always happens. Tried and true formula. When they end a movie in a draw. In peace. No one loses. Just doesn't seem right. It's different. I'm still not sure how to take it. The main good guys are dead (or are they?), the main bad guys are still the power in the world, and most of the human race are still batteries. WTF!!! I can accept it, but it's like a Bizarro ending. Just so different from what we are forced to. I guess that is the reason I liked the Matrix to begin with. It is different. New, interesting, and not something that most people ever thought about.