Matrix Reloaded (2003)

[timdgreat]

Dave ur not the only one, and u shouldnt have to long to wait the next one it coming soon.

as for that report im suprised taht Keanu would do that, i mean yes he most likely has the money to spend, but shesh not often u hear of a star spending that much money, but i hope it means that we will get that much better special effects:rolly2:

 

[Tabitha]

I wonder how much of a paycheque he actually retained? I mean, it is all very well sacrificing a large chunk of one's paycheque, but when you give up $10Mil out of a total $20Mil (for example), it doesn't seem to me like that much of a real sacrifice!

 

[Dave]

from SCIFI WIRE

Weaving Reloaded For Matrix

Hugo Weaving, who reprises his role as Agent Smith in the upcoming sequel films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, told SCI FI Wire that his character's ability to replicate himself made for some interesting challenges during the filming. "We achieved the multi Smiths in a number of different ways," Weaving said in an interview. "Sometimes I would move into a room, say, and do it 10 times and end up in 10 slightly different positions. And then there would be 10 of me."

Weaving, who is also known to audiences as Elrond in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, added, "Then there are other scenes where there are stunt doubles or doubles of me, men the same height as me, and there would be face replacements done afterwards. And then there would be completely CG Smiths in other scenes, and then also sometimes there were dummies. There were just stationary dummies."

In addition to the new duplication ability, Weaving said there will be another big change in his character. Smith has broken away from the Matrix and is now a free agent within the system. "He's basically working for himself," Weaving said. "But he has the same goal and the same purpose and focus, which is to destroy Neo." The Matrix Reloaded opens May 15 and The Matrix Revolutions opens Nov. 7.

 

[timdgreat]

awesome i knew he could do it, thanks DAve, *shakes with anticipation*, cant wait to see it :rolly2: :rolly2:

 

[Dave]

Not long to wait now....

Here's a couple of 'SciFi Wire' reports on 'Matrix Reloaded':

Reloaded Role Suits Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith, who stars as Niobe in the upcoming sequel film The Matrix Reloaded, told SCI FI Wire that writer/directors Larry and Andy Wachowski wrote the part specifically for her. "They did, actually," she said in an interview. "I met the Wachowskis for the first Matrix. ... So when two and three came around, they basically said, 'We have this character that we created for you, Niobe. Only problem is that you're nine months pregnant.' So they worked it out so that it could work for me, which I'll be forever grateful for."

Smith plays the captain of the hovercraft Logos, who plays a key role in the sequel and the third movie, The Matrix Revolutions. Niobe is also the central character in the upcoming video game, Enter the Matrix. Smith said she was in Australia shooting footage for the two movies and the video game for nearly a year. Niobe appears in a few scenes in Reloaded and plays a larger role in Revolutions.

"I'm getting kind of a better gauge after seeing [Reloaded]," Smith said. "There are some things that I thought were in this movie that weren't, and some things that I thought weren't going to be in this movie that were in this movie. I'm not clear. I've got to see the video-game movie. Because you have to understand, we have three different scripts going on, so I'm not sure where they're putting stuff. They're spreading stuff around."

Reloaded F/X Match Neo's Power

John Gaeta, visual effect supervisor on The Matrix Reloaded, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming sequel contains more elaborate effects to match the development of Neo (Keanu Reeves). Writer/directors Larry and Andy Wachowski "expanded and extended [them], because the character Neo ... now self-actualizes into the true sense of a superhuman mind-over-Matrix," Gaeta said in an interview.

Spoiler

Gaeta added, "He now is capable of doing things with his will. So we obviously needed to support depictions of events that were going to be far more elaborate than the first bullet time, because the character was now going to engage in ways that we've never seen."

Among other things, the sequel shows Neo flying at breathtaking speeds throught the Matrix and fighting dozens of Agent Smiths (Hugo Weaving). In each case, Gaeta said, "the special effects are serving the story, rather than [having] effects for the sake of effects."

Other elaborate sequences include a 14-minute freeway chase involving trucks, a motorcycle, dozens of auto crashes and a truck-top sword fight. When asked why preview audiences found themselves applauding certain sequences, Gaeta said, "They were probably brought to a peak of excitement, which is the whole point."

The US premier is tonight, UK premier next week.

 

[leprykawn]

Can someone who has seen the movie post up a synopsis of the plot? I'm dying to find out what happens in the story line...

 

[Dave]

spoilers.........

BUT START A NEW THREAD PLEASE

I'm going to have to stop reading this stuff now, until I see it.

We still have to wait another week.

 

[pkgrl]

Matrix Reloaded -- SPOILERS!

Someone requested a plotline of Matrix Reloaded from someone who's seen it, so I guess that'd be me... since I've seen it twice already. I'll see it again tomorrow, too... just can't get enough.

Last warning...

S

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Okay, seems we pick up at least several months after then end of the original film, since the "free" humans have "freed more minds in the past six months than in the past six years," according to Morpheus.

Morpheus, Neo, and Trin are joined by a new operator (seems Tank also died sometime in the past several months) named Link (who, I think, is Tank's brother-in-law... or at least the guy who is doing Tank and Dozer's little sister, Zee :naughty: ) Link is still learning to trust Morpheus at face value and is constantly amazed at what Neo can do.

The machines are digging toward Zion, so the humans are mobilizing. The military leader, Commander Lock, has recalled all the hover ships to Zion so he can work out a defense of the city (which is huge and kind of surprising). Morpheus talks one ship captain into staying at broadcast depth to await word from the Oracle... and he has a checkered history with Lock.

In Zion, there are believers and non-believers... meaning that some treat Neo like Christ and others treat him like he's just another warrior, but one who does manage to do some incredible things while plugged into the Matrix. Neo's still getting used to being treated so special... especially when what he most wants to do is make whoopie with Trinity. :naughty: There is a fairly explicit scene depicting this, too... a quite satisfying one to shippers like me... that's cut together with a scene of the life celebration dance of the other Zionites, which is, in itself, pretty erotic.

The action heats up when Neo gets a message from the Oracle (after Smith has managed to overwrite the Matrix version of another Zionite, Bane) and he and Morpheus's crew leave Zion. There are new characters, new programs, new moves... so pay attention. Neo learns a LOT, but still has trouble with the one thing he needs to figure out for himself: the WHY. The Oracle tries to teach him this, but he's a slow learner. When she leaves him, the newly rewritten, former-Agent, Smith arrives. He tries to overwrite Neo (remember that while in the Matrix, everyone is essentially a computer program) and the "burly brawl" ensues, where Neo fights a dozen, then fifty, then a hundred Smiths.

There is a lot more that happens, but if you really want to read about it all, there are tons of reviews out there that give pretty decent rundowns of the plot. There's really too much for me to try and capture here.

Here's a couple tips for you to remember when you do see the film though:
There is a huge amount of new information that takes time to process, so don't dismiss any "slow" parts in anticipation of the action. The things said, even in passing, will be important later when everything is revealed in Revolutions. Remember, this is a middle chapter in the tale of Neo. Not everything is as it seems... or is it? We can't be completely certain of anything "real" or constructed. Nothing we've learned in the original is dismissed (like in so many other film franchises) so you might want to rewatch The Matrix before you see Reloaded.

Just go check out the movie. I need people to talk about it with!

Here's a link to a review that will synopsize better than me: http://www.herorealm.com/HotFish/reloaded.htm

 

[timdgreat]

sorry dave i didnt mean to do that to u, ill delete my post:rolly2:

 

[timdgreat]

ok so i have now seen this movie 3 times, and loved it every time, gonna go back to see it again soon, so heres what i think if it:


first off i loved Zion, i couldnt really come up with a picture in my head that really seemed to fit, but what they did with it in the movie was perfect, i loved the really deep circular cavern that was the hab units, very nicley designed.

a question i have about Zion though is why do they control the doors and such from what appears to be a the same thing as the construct we were introduced to in the first movie, wouldnt it be easier to just work the controls from a station of computers, rather then having to plug in? any one know?

Neo in this movie was awesome to say the least. i was very entertained in all his fight scenes, ecspecially the Burly Brawl, loved him with the metal pole. Also the Fight with the Merovingians men was really well done. A question though, if he can move things through the air, like hes using the force, then why doesnt he do so more often? Now i really liked how it seemed even in this movie Neo was still finding that he could do things faster and better then before, like after Trinity was shot he was moving faster then ever before, and it seemed that he at least broke the sound barrier. I also wish they had explained how he was able to stop Smith from copying himself onto Neo. And then i really enjoyed when Neo went to see the Archeitect, i loved some of the reactions that we heard and saw from the screens on the wall, I also liked how he seemed to get a lot smarter at times in this movie compared to the absent minded fool of the first he seemed to be at times.

Now on to one of my Favorite charecters Agent Smith, First i really like his new ability, its just so him, he also seems to be every where now, and from some scenes we saw in the Revolutions preiveiw it seems that hes going to take over the whole of the matrix, all hail Smith One question though i still have, is how many agents that we saw in the movie were Smith clones that we didnt know about? it seems to me that either all of them could have been or just a few, but i think some were other then the first three we saw.

Ok so now that i have talked about most of the charecters heres where im gonna talk about everything else.
First wasnt it kinda creepy when we saw that massive army of Squidys, i was basicly aghast, so many of the damn things, its scary, i also tried to imagine the whole counter attack that got its assed kicked, and i couldnt.
The twins that were under the Merovingians command were awesome, i really liked them and was fairly dissapointed that they got taken down so easily, i mean they were so cool, specialy when morpheus was fighting them for that short scene in the parking lot. I expected them to show up later still trying to get the key maker, i was dissapointed.
I was glad to see A big fight scene though with out Neo in it, as much as i love seeing him kick agent ass, it was cool to see Morpheus and Trinity take on some agents of there own. Now i realize they didnt do that well against them, but still they were good scenes.
The one scene in the movie that was a genuine suprise for me, as im sure it was for others, was the one at the end were Neo was able to stop and as far as i can tell kill 5 Squidys. First Time i saw him do it i was like no way hes got to be still in the matrix he just doesnt know it. well i did dismis that idea, but im still dumbfounded as to how he did it, any one got ideas?

well thats all i can think to type about this movie right now, except this,
If u havent seen it then why are u sitting there reading this, get out there and see it already
:rolly2:

 

[pkgrl]

You've hit on some points that I wanted to discuss.

Thank you!

First

wouldnt it be easier to just work the controls from a station of computers, rather then having to plug in?

That's what I wondered, too. I still don't know why they have such an elaborate system for operation in Zion. Why not use mechanical controls? I'd think that they wouldn't trust computers much. It is possible that in order to use ANY computers, they have to tap into the Matrix or some version of it, like the construct. I just didn't think they'd trust computers enough to use them that much.

Re: Neo and the sound barrier... yeah, I was actually surprised that it took him so long to reach Trin, until I realized that it really only took seconds. However long it took for her to fall the distance from floor 65 toward the ground couldn't have been as long as we saw it on screen (thank you slo-mo), but it still seemed to take him too long. In flying to save Morpheus and the Key Maker, he flew 500 miles in about 15 minutes = 2,000 miles per hour! He was already supersonic before he raced to save Trin. I loved the burst of speed evident in the reflection of his sunglasses during that burst, though! Just awesome! :alienooh:

Trin and Morpheus actually did fairly well against the agents. Remember, they are still the same. They run from agents. But they are apparently willing to stay and fight them now, even though they don't expect to stop them the way Neo can. I think their only real hope is to last long enough for someone else to help them out... or until they die.

I'm still working on how Neo stopped the squiddies at the end. There's a theory floating around the internet that the "real" world is actually the real matrix and that what we've been introduced to as the matrix is a program within a program, as if the real matrix is much more complex than what we've been led to believe. If the matrix is more complex, including programs in which individual humans can be allowed enough "freedom" so that they think they're out of the matrix, then we're in for even more shocks. Neo is an anomolous program, created so humans can have hope. He is human, but he has a greater degree of power within the matrix than other humans... he's also smarter now than his "predacessors" were.

Based on the preview of Revolutions, I don't think there's a greater matrix outside the one we already know, but I think the governing programs of the matrix are losing control. Neo is smarter and has more power than his predacessors; more exile programs are showing up (like the Key Maker, Seraph, Ghost and the Marovingian's other hoards, and even Smith); and the architect seemed surpirsed by the latest incarnation of the "anomoly," Neo, because he caught on quicker and because he personalized his attachment to humanity through Trinity. Personally, I think this last is why humanity will finally win. Neo's personal investment in Trinity will compel him to do everything he can instead of simply doing everything he feels he must. He won't let her die... we've seen that... and he won't let the world in which he's with her die either. "I can't lose you." Hope is humanity's greatest strength as well as it's greatest weakness.

 

[Dave]

No worries, you deleted it before I read it. I was thinking more of other members than me. It's going to be hard not to read spoilers on this, I plan to see it as soon as I possibly can to avoid that problem.

Americans seem to give it a thumbs up....

from Sci-Fi Wire
Reloaded Is Number One

The Matrix Reloaded took the top spot at the box-office in its first weekend of release, taking in an estimated $135.8 million in the period starting May 14 and $93.3 million from Friday through Sunday, a record for an R-rated film, the Hollywood trade papers reported. The three-day total also ranked as the second-highest premiere ever, just behind last year's Spider-Man, which racked up $115 million in its debut, the trade papers reported.

The Matrix Reloaded opened with preview screenings on May 14, which figured into the film's total take.

The sequel took four days to earn what its 1999 predecessor, The Matrix, grossed in five weeks, Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Brothers, told the Reuters news service. The original Matrix earned $171 million total domestically.

X2 slipped to number three at the box office, with $17.1 million for the weekend and a 17-day total of $174 million, the trades reported.

 

[Dave]

Thanks, you answered some of the questions that I had. (I've only seen it once, but then it was only released here today.)

I thought this was much better than 'The Matrix', and frankly, much better than I had expected. Best film in a long time, even better than 'Minority Report'.

I have a few more questions:

1/ I'm not sure but is Agent Smith a kind of virus? -- he is no longer under the control of the Matrix and can replicate himself at will. You say that his purpose now is too take over the whole Matrix -- that would also fit with the idea of a virus.

But he also appears to be sentient -- if he's not, why is he still trying to stop Neo? And is he trying to stop Neo because he couldn't win if Neo reached the Architect? -- whichever door Neo took could have led to the end of the Matrix -- either by the reboot of the system and the start of a new cycle, or by it's total collapse (if they succeed.) At first, I wondered why the 'machines' weren't more concerned with Smith than Neo, but by the end I realised that if they planned and expected Neo to take the door to the reboot, they would expect to get rid of Smith very easily.

Does this mean that Smith might help Neo if he thought that humans have a chance? -- he seems to have some other issues with Neo -- when he tried to take Neo over he mentioned needing something (I forget exactly.)

The other programs just get on and do their functions -- Keymaker, Oracle -- they know that they will be deleted after each revolution, and written again, but they continue to play the part they were meant to. Smith is obviously very different.

Then again, I know some of these characters reappear in 'Revolutions', so I expect we will find out more.

2/ How did Morpheus get out of the corridor of doors? Neo flew out, but Morpheus was underneath a pile of Smiths, the door Neo flew out closed, Keymaker died of his gunshot wounds, and then Morpheus was there at his side.

3/ How far in the future are we exactly? If there have been 6 revolutions, and the present Zion has existed for over 100 years, adding on the time for the man-machine war (from 'The Second Renaisance Parts I & II' this must be at least another 200 years) then we must be well over 1000 years from now. That means that the ship's plate on the Nebuchanezzar saying made in 2160 is apocryphal. The ships must be built again each time too.

4/ I also wondered if they were still inside the Matrix, and the other Matrix was a virtual reality within a virtual reality -- due both to my last comment, and Neo's new ability to stop the machines -- but the ending seems to suggest that is not the case, so I'll just have to wait and see.

Observations:

A much bigger cast, more sets, better fight sequences, more special effects -- this film cost a lot of money, but you could see where it went. I also liked how they brought Zion to life, and the new characters they introduced. Anthony Zerbe was well cast.

I was surprised and interested to see the kid having seen 'Kid's Story'. I didn't realise that any of the 'Animatrix' would be essential to understanding the plot of 'Reloaded' apart from 'The Final Flight of Osirus'. I didn't really see the point of the kid to the main plot though, except to help build Link's character, and to show how Neo has become so revered in Zion.

 

[timdgreat]

well dave as far as i have seen most people who have seen it do love it, i personaly have seen it 4 times and loved it each time, gonna see it again soon,

some advice for every one who goes to see it, make sure u stay after the credits for the trailer for Revolutions, usually half the people in the theater leave after the movies over, this is a bad idea in this case

hope u all love it:rolly2:

 

[pkgrl]

Yeah! Dave got to see it!

Well, easy things first.

2/ Morpheus got out of the corridor of doors because Neo picked him up and flew with him through the open door. I think I missed it the first time, too, but just accepted that Neo had brought Morpheus with him. I saw it clearly the next... uh... three times. :blush:

3/ I don't think the year matters. If the Architect was telling the truth, then the inhabitant of Zion think it's around 2199 or 2200, but does it really matter? Not to the Zionites, it doesn't. Their history is only as old as they remember it to be, so the 100 years that Morpheus talked about is the only relevent thing. Before that, if there was another Zion that fought another 100 year war, then he and the other humans don't know about it. It's simply irrelevent here.

4/ I no longer think that they are still inside the Matrix at the end of the film. I think that Neo's beginning to bring his powers with him to the real world, much as Smith was finally able to transfer his consciousness (or part of it) to the real world. What happens between the two there will be very interesting.

and

1/ I think you got it right with calling Smith a virus. He's almost become the thing he hates most. Remember that he called humans a virus in the first film.

What he wanted to take from Neo was his purpose. Problem is, even Neo doesn't know what his purpose is... not yet. We're getting hints at it all the time, but he still doesn't understand the "WHY" that the Oracle, the Marovingian and the Architect all told him he needed to understand.

I've been forming a theory about all this... since I saw it the fourth time... and I'll post another thread about it soon.

I have a new question though. As soon as Neo said, "It's a bomb," why didn't the others blast the bomb itself with the EMP? Why ditch the ship and run? The bomb itself is electronic, wouldn't hitting it with the EMP disrupt its circuits enough to disable it? It's the only thing bugging me now, so I hope someone who knows more about electronics can explain it to my satisfaction... or I probably won't be able to let it go.

 

[timdgreat]

(wow great posts dave and pkgrl, i loved reading them)

ok so lets see if i can help out with some of the questions u guys have, at least ill try

ok so first lets adress pkgrl's post. Im not so sure its that they dont trust computers as they dont trust any machine that can think for itself, but the whole using the construct program to control the doors and defences still just doesnt make sense
What i thought was just as cool as Neo breaking the sound barrier, is the first scene in the movie when we see him flying and he goes zipping out of the clouds and makes that little funnel i thought that was cool

I'm still working on how Neo stopped the squiddies at the end. There's a theory floating around the internet that the "real" world is actually the real matrix and that what we've been introduced to as the matrix is a program within a program, as if the real matrix is much more complex than what we've been led to believe. If the matrix is more complex, including programs in which individual humans can be allowed enough "freedom" so that they think they're out of the matrix, then we're in for even more shocks. Neo is an anomolous program, created so humans can have hope. He is human, but he has a greater degree of power within the matrix than other humans... he's also smarter now than his "predacessors" were.

hmm thats an interesting theory and one i have thought of many times in the past, and in a way it makes sense but it also is to complex i think for it to be practical for a movie plot, i dont think there is a seconed matrix, i think things are as they seem, in the sense that there is the matrix and the real world
i agree with u pkgrl that it seems that the controling programs that run the Matrix do seem to be losing control or are being taken over, although i know part of it is Neo's doing i think a majority of it is Smith trying to control everything, seems hes the wild card that no one had counted on and now hes really messed up everything in his play for power cant wait to see what happens
ok now on to Daves post
first off Dave i think that the idea of Smith as a Virus is a very contraversial point that is fairly split. to me he seems more like one of the exiles in the matrix. As for why hes after Neo i think part of it is that he has a personal vendetta against him, as he said in the convo they had before the Burly Brawl, he was gonna take away Neo's purpose cause Neo took his.
ok seconed question, Morpheus got out through another door that was in the room, so he wasnt there when the room basicly blew to high heaven.
#3, i dont know how long in the future they are, i dont think we ever will really know at all
#4 i think we will have to wait and see:rolly2:

 

[timdgreat]

I think the reason that they didnt use the Emp pkgrl was several fold, first i dont think they had time to use it, and if they did use it then i think they would have destroyed all there system, seconed we dont knwo how long it takes to recharge it, so if they used it to stop the bomb then whos to say the squids wouldnt just run in and destroy them anyway after that. And i would bet the bomb was sheilded from emp. :rolly2:

 

[stripes]

So only three people saw this?

Wow! I was never a fan of the Matrix, I agree it was thought provoking and had groundbraking effects, but I always regarded as just that, a great movie. Reloaded, in my opinion, is a lot better, effects wise, and the fact that the original already established the premise, the Wackawski bros are allowed to showoff now.

And I say let them showoff! I think Timdgreat mentioned this, and I agree, the Burly brawl was wicked. The whole taking the pole out of the cement and weilding it as a weapon was awesome, I was impressed. I think the Wackawskis have outdone themselves, very impressive fight scene. A very good chase too.

I went into this movie with no expectations, maybe thats why it worked out so well. And I would like to thank you all for answering those questions, I was wondering the same things.

I actually think Neo was still in the Matrix at the end, or some other kind of program. I guess we'll see whats what when Revolutions hits theaters.

Best action movie I seen in a while, the Burly brawl rocks!

 

[Dave]

Originally posted by stripes
So only three people saw this?

I'm wondering about that too! I know that all the online review sites don't rate it (AICN, Rotten Tomatoes) but what do they know?

It was on two screens at the Warner Village I went to, and it was sold out at every performance.

I've been reading some online comments and there are a few things that I missed:

1/ What is the significance, if any, of the numbers -- they have 314 seconds before the security comes back on (that's pi).

Neo must pick 16 females and 7 males, a total of 23 people to continue the Matrix.

2/ When he first enters the Architects office the bank of screens is the same as the one that fades into the interrogation room scene in the first film, just before he has the bug put in.

The screens later show pictures from earlier scenes, and some of a young boy. Imdb lists actors as Neo at various earlier ages. These shots are the only ones they could have appeared in.

This all adds up to the Architect having followed Neo's progress from a very early age.

3/ Re: whether Zion is another Matrix or real. Just to add that Neo does say "something's different" before he stops the sentinels.

The 'Brothers' aren't talking about the movie, so we have to wait until the Autumn for the answers. I did find this though:

"You can't imagine what happens next," says Reeves, who, like everyone else involved, is mum as to how the story ends. "But I will say this: There's no going back to this story. With 'Revolutions,' it's over, and you'll know why when you see it.

"The Matrix is the prison of the mind," Silver says. "In 'Revolutions,' we open the gate."

 

[stripes]

Another thing I would like to add on here before Revolutions reveals all(or opens the gates). I can't remember exactly how it went, but its the first meeting between Neo and Morphious and Neo comments: "I don't believe in fate, I believe I have the power to dictate the outcome of my own life." (Yes, it sounds misquoted, forgive me)

*Spoilers*



And the architect said Neo's passion will prove the fate of mankind, and apparently, that seems correct since Neo goes for the left door to rescue Trinity. However, Neo believes he has control over his own life, and this 6th Neo is the most sure of himself, perhaps his philosophy on life will be right after all? His predecessors were cocky for instance.

Maybe thats the Wackowskis philosophy on life, are they religious by any chance?(do they believe in Monotheism? despite the Buddhist symmbolisms and even the Neo=Christ analogy?). If they're not, I guess it doesn't matter, either way this could come true in Revolutions because it goes against the Matrix doctrine(Humans are nothing more than eletric pulses or digits or whatever).

Stop me if Im taking this too far.

Great show, Im looking forward to # 3.