Why were some dissapointed with "Reloaded"?

I don't know why I have seen so many mediocre reviews for Matrix Reloaded,I thought it was amazing! People have been complaining about the first hour but even if you came strictly for the action scenes there are more than enough to leave satisfied. I feel that it easily lived up to all the hype and anticipation. I think a lot of these people saying they don't like it don't like the fact that you have to think when most action movies nowadays are just stuff blowing up without much story.

Agreed. I said the same thing to my one friend who said it was 'ok'. I was like, Did we watch the same movie? I thought it was VERY well done. It was a bit slow in the beginning, I'll admit, but it did lay some foundation and give us a peek at Zion.

A couple possibilities (playing devil's advocate for a sec):

1) At the end of M1, Neo flies into Smith and blows him apart. Meanwhile, in M2 we're back to kung-fu fighting. Seems a bit retro for the casual fan who says "Why doesn't he...." and gets pissed when Neo isn't using "new" skills. To show an ultra-speed fight with blurred limbs between Neo and a bunch of Smiths would have been nothing but garble on the screen. The fight scene between Neo and Seraph could have shown blurred limbs, but then folks would say "Why didn't he fight like that against the Smiths?"

2) Too much dialog. This is typical for the casual movie-goer. And unfortunately, many critics are casual movie-goers, with little expectation regardless of genre, as evidenced by the fact that they rarely praise parts of a trilogy.

3) A.D.D.

Ok, i am a big matrix fan, but only those who really knows the history of the matrix 1 will really understand the matrix reloaded entirelly!!
And for those who understood, it was one of the best movies ever!!!

EtaPhase-I thought about that stuff too for M2. People expected some breakthrough visuals and story in M2 and all they did was kick it up a couple notches. From the poll posted on this site, the people who didn't like part 2 either didn't understand it or was looking for an answer to this all.

My question. . .

How did Neo, in M1 know that he could just jump into Smith and blow him to bits? Is it the same reasoning that led him to believe to stop bullets. There's too much of a gap of reasoning that I'm missing.

If all this is true why doesn't he just become his full potential, the "One". If I was the "one" I'd be figuring out different crap I could do. I could do this, I could do that, Hey Trinity sit back and watch me take care of these 200 agents with one hand. In that aspect of the M2 movie, I agree. Somethings just could've been better.

Originally posted by eblah2
EtaPhase-I thought about that stuff too for M2. People expected some breakthrough visuals and story in M2 and all they did was kick it up a couple notches. From the poll posted on this site, the people who didn't like part 2 either didn't understand it or was looking for an answer to this all.

My question. . .

How did Neo, in M1 know that he could just jump into Smith and blow him to bits? Is it the same reasoning that led him to believe to stop bullets. There's too much of a gap of reasoning that I'm missing.

If all this is true why doesn't he just become his full potential, the "One". If I was the "one" I'd be figuring out different crap I could do. I could do this, I could do that, Hey Trinity sit back and watch me take care of these 200 agents with one hand. In that aspect of the M2 movie, I agree. Somethings just could've been better.

He knows that he could do almost anything, however, this is a movie,where there're times where they need to show different kind of special effects. If he let Trinity or other chars sit back and relax while he kick the enemies asses, then might as well dispose the rest of the casts and leave only Keanu in production lol...

Critics would always be there, somethings could have been better in all movies including M2, however, if you think back and analyse, you'll appreciate what the wachowski bros had done to the movie...

I am one of those who found M2 lacking. First off, I'm not into action or sci-fi films. I like art-house movies. So, the fact that M1 is so dear to me is due to the stylistic qualities of the movie.

Instead of trying to up the ante in style, the W. brothers decided to up the action ante in M2. Bad choice. There are no scenes in M2 that are cinematographical masterpieces (such as in M1, when Morpheus and Neo are paused in kung-fu poses in that program, with that incredible diffused light shining from above, one of the most beautiful scenes ever shot in movie history). In M1, the scenes were cut and put together in a very zen-like fluidity, with little filler dialogue/characters to make transitions. In M2, there was way too much clutter, visually and script wise. And could Zion be any more lame???? Ugh, not only is it visually lame (can we get alittle more imagination here? it looks like a badly updated version of the underground world from the old silent film "Metropolis" which, by the way, is stylistically much cooler than M2) and the people are cheesy as hell! Morpheus dressed as Conan the Barbarian while talking to the crowds, fake-ass "i'm dress in rags" clothes for the regular Zion people (shouldn't the women be wearing more functional clothing, instead of the jungle-chic fashions? what is this? the runway for Baby Phat?), and stilted editing/acting in general from the new cast in M2. Who the hell let Roy Jones, the Boxer, into M2? Ugh, so bad. So bad. I could go on.

One of the biggest things that bothered me about all the scenes in Zion, it was lighted like Stars Wars Episode I, which made everything look so fake and contrived. In M1, the real world had a great, bluish tinge, that washed out a lot of flesh-tones and made people look more cadavors on an autopsy table. Little details like this really affect the overal mood and feeling of the movie.

of course, it wasn't a bad movie, but I thought of M1 as sort of like Picasso during his blue period: on the verge of an artistic revolution. I wanted M2 to start delving into the beginnings of Cubism, while M3 would be a cubist/surrealist masterpiece. Well, I still have hope for M3. And at least there is The Animatrix, which was definitely pleasing to my palate.

I agree with c.koo on the Zion points.

People expect, and see, different things from movies. c.koo wanted imagery. He didn't get it. I wanted an intellectually rewarding plot. I got it.

Some people judge a movie's worth on the quality of its soundtrack.

Different strokes for different folks.

c.koo, I agree with you about the quality of M2 vs. M1. M2 is missing that dynamic that M1 had. We were all learning about the Matrix in M1 vicariously through our heros Morpheus, Trinity and Neo. Now that we know about it, and expect our characters to act accordingly (especially Neo after he tells the system his intentions at the very end of M1), everything fizzles. Suddenly Neo's fighting as if he's back in the subway station. What of his ability to "fly into" an agent? What about the cowardly agents that ran off after Neo disposed of Smith? "Whoa, upgrades" isn't enough to explain falling back to kung-fu fighting. Pretty weak.

It reads as though most of your harshest criticism is toward the treatment of Zion. Yes, when we first heard Tank describe Zion we were thinking of some sort of paradise (similar to Star Trek III - Genesis Project). For the casual audience, Zion is a huge let down. A very undesirable place, leading most folks to believe Cypher had it right all along. I maintain that this is an intentional part of the story. It (in my opinion) was supposed to make the viewer think "this can't really be Zion," and that it can't be the true salvation of the human race.

But where did the Wachowski brothers fail to deliver the messages they were trying to get across? Did they spill their special effects load on M1? How do you show enhancements in Neo AND the agents/Smith without creating a blurry mess?

<<And could Zion be any more lame???? Ugh, not only is it visually lame (can we get alittle more imagination here? it looks like a badly updated version of the underground world from the old silent film "Metropolis" which, by the way, is stylistically much cooler than M2) and the people are cheesy as hell!

What do you think Zion is going to be like? Do you think it should be pretty?? NO!! It's HELL. Its the worst place you want to be. Its near the core of the earth, there is nothing beautiful about that. Thats what they were going for. I thought Zion was exactly the way it should be, dark and disgusting.

<<What of his ability to "fly into" an agent? What about the cowardly agents that ran off after Neo disposed of Smith? "Whoa, upgrades" isn't enough to explain falling back to kung-fu fighting. Pretty weak.

Sometimes, people dont think. Why would Neo fly into Smith or any other agent after what he saw happen to Smith?? Smith is almost as powerful as him!!! I dont think Neo is stupid enough to replicate another virus, and that is why he doesn't use that trick again.

As for kung fu and bullets, in the matrix, the machines have to work with humans, meaning in a human world, using kung fu and bullets are ways of getting hurt and dying. In a human's mind, these are the only ways a person can die and by using some other method, theres a chance that the human wont believe that that method can do any harm to them, and since it is a dream world, they wont believe that any other method can hurt them, except for physical contact.

And third, Neo is still learning about his ablilites, I dont think that he has full comprehenison of what he can do. I mean, its one of the points of the movie, in the beginning Neo says he doesn't know what to do, he is confused about what he can do and he is relying on the Oracle to tell him. The point is that he must figure it out by himself, and in showing all the fight scenes, it shows Neo is learning and becoming better and more aware of his full potential, which will lead up to his full comprehension in the third film.

I think that the action and fighting scenes are really cool. But the story is awsome to.

platniumg3, M2 was NOT a disappointment to me. Quite the contrary. In fact I would enjoy the movie even if Neo forgot all the skills he learned in M1, hehe. I appreciated the portrayal of Zion and its inhabitants; I appreciated the fact that they didn't over-play Neo's development in M2; and I totally enjoyed the script.

Be mindful of this thread's title: "Why were some dissapointed with Reloaded?" All I'm doing is floating a few possibilities. Got any ideas of your own?

I think this movie was supposed to cut peoples opinion. There are always some guys in cinema (mostly in action movies) who just want to see Action and that's enough. They don't want to come out of cinema and think about the story. And then there are these people, who have seen M1 and can't understand the story of M2. But these one don't think about the movie too. They say: hmm... it wasn't as good as the first movie. I don't like it.

But we all know, this movie is great!:D

Originally posted by smith_fan
I think this movie was supposed to cut peoples opinion. There are always some guys in cinema (mostly in action movies) who just want to see Action and that's enough. They don't want to come out of cinema and think about the story. And then there are these people, who have seen M1 and can't understand the story of M2. But these one don't think about the movie too. They say: hmm... it wasn't as good as the first movie. I don't like it.

But we all know, this movie is great!:D Well said :)

Originally posted by smith_fan
I think this movie was supposed to cut peoples opinion. There are always some guys in cinema (mostly in action movies) who just want to see Action and that's enough. They don't want to come out of cinema and think about the story. And then there are these people, who have seen M1 and can't understand the story of M2. But these one don't think about the movie too. They say: hmm... it wasn't as good as the first movie. I don't like it.

But we all know, this movie is great!:D

exactly.

i didn't expect zion to be beautiful at all. i just didn't expect it to look cheesy. It regressed into "Mad Max" territory, or star wars. Doesn't anyone have a fresh take on how the future looks? Considering how stylish M1 was, I expected Zion to be a mixture of harsh industrial gothic and shabby functionality.

And by the way, I'm a chick. my little tagline says "A Pisces female" in French.