Friday, September 05, 2003

Seriously though, I don't know how anybody could bash this movie. It is phenomenal, save for a few minor flaws. These flaws are exhasperatingly obvious, and I have no idea why they remain in the final cut. I would be interested in hearing some director commentary on them in the inevitable DVD release. I'll take on these flaws one by one, and then get to why this movie is still fantastic. I will try to stay away from the philosphy behind the movie, as that stuff is for hippes, and gives me nausea.

First off: The rave/sex scene. It's like 10 minutes long. Why? It's pointless to drag it out so much. My theory is that the Wachowski's were pressured by the studio to throw a little bit of skin in the flick, at the threat of withdrawing some funding for the film. If such is the case, then whatever. That's just Hollywood for ya.

Next: The ghost twins. This is a minor beef really, but did the have to weild sissy switch blades? I realize that the directors probably wanted a little variety in the weapons weilded by different characters, but couldn't they have given the twins some knives with a bit more oomph? Maybe they could have LOTS, and they would just pull them out of nowhere? I think that would have been cooler.

Last of all: Dialogue. Why do some of the more intriguing characters have to talk in such a way that I am consistently annoyed by them? French guy spoke too much french, and the Architect used WAY too much latin for the common man to keep up. Once again, this is probably an attempt to establish some different character traits, rather than EVERYBODY in the movie being unflinching and fearless masters of their domains.

Other than these complaints, the movie bordered on perfection. Anybody who complains of CG overuse should be slapped. The story that is being told can't be done by conventional means. If Neo were forced to fight Smith, and a couple of stunt doubles that looked like him, I would have walked out. Of course the most annoying complaint that I keep hearing is that the ending was unsatisfactory. To that I say: bullshit. Has anybody ever seen Empire Strikes Back?

The two end exactly the same, almost. The empire/machines are about to crush all, the rebels have no hope whatsoever, Han/Morpheus are both in need of hope in the impossible, and Darth Vader/Smith is Luke/Neo's father. The only difference is that everybody complaining of the ending and can't make the Empire/Reloaded comparison, has already SEEN Return of the Jedi. They KNOW how it ends, and the suspense is gone. If the parallel continues, Neo will win back Morpheus' fate, duel with whichever force is needed to stop the madness, and solve the mystery once and for all. They will all then go out for ice cream, except for Trinity, who will have frozen yogurt.

This went on longer than I expected, so I'll conclude next post.

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