catapult magazine

OK. So Matrix Reloaded comes out in a few weeks and Matrix Revolutions is reportedly coming in November (if the studio has it’s way). Wondering how many folk are eager to catch this. Is anyone as stoked as I am?

i’ll have to go with lopez on the the orgy scene. it should have been much shorter. same with some of the action scenes. when you reach a point in an action scene where you’re thinking, “okay, it’s time for this to end” and then it keeps going and going, that’s a sign.

i have to admit i am still a sucker for the little pause (wink wink, see what a cool thing we did) in the middle of the action, that gives your brain a chance to catch up and take in some of the detail.

and it’s kind of nice to have an action movie that also engages the mind at various points.

Here is a current stomp going around. Do you think that the Matrix Reloaded film equated President Bush with Adolph Hitler?

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=32726

I agree Rave/Sex Scene was too long… and like lopez said the brothers probably put this there to fulfill the boobie quota of any action movie… Was it necessary to establish a feeling for Zion? I think so, but it did drag on a bit.

I enjoyed the action emensely but I enjoyed the story and plot twists even more. Laryn has a point, the action sequences were cool but maybe a bit too long. I would have perfered more story and plot stuff over the super long highway chase and Smith/Neo battles.

Someone told me they heard the Zion orgy scene was supposed to represent and convey the “humanity” of Zion.
I guess this means boobies = humanity. How profound.

And now, I move that we strike the word “boobie” from any future postings here. Will anyone second that? :)

I second the motion.

I think my favourite scenes were all in the previews. Those pause effects. The directors are making slow motion action shots into art pieces. They seem to be abstracting the action to show the dark gothic beauty in violence. Most action films do this slow motion stuff just to look cool but I think there is something more going on in the matrix.

The worship service where morpheus speaks seemed to define the spirituality of the films. The religion they’re preaching is one I typically hear from artists outside of the church. It starts with “whatever you believe is alright”. The main idea is to not be afraid of anything and to realize the potential of yourself and your community.

Worship becomes expressing yourself to others. Physical expression seems to be the purest way of doing this (so nobody has to opinionate and appear preachy). The ceremonial sex scene that takes place on the alter is the “end” of this religion.

I think this film is historic. The mythology of the film is exactly what popular culture believes.

If I remember right, the oracle lied though. This is an interesting twist that I assume we’ll see more of in the next film. I think it shows that the directors are still unsure about things. Where are they going to go next? My guess is they’ll probably end right back at the self actualized individual.

i haven’t been able to go see the film yet, but the articles written about the matrix phenomenon are certainly interesting. many feature the religious overtones of the film and point out the melting pot of ideas employed.

Here’s just a few:

The Matrix way of knowledge
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2003/05/21/davis/index.html

The Matrix’s Neo is the hero of my generation
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15940

i really enjoyed this movie/film. what strikes me the most about it is how i can talk so much about it with my friends. it’s not like oh. yea. that was a great movie, so about that pizza. it’s more like wow, what did you think of this and this and this and this and this. and what about that? and that? what do you think they’ll do next? and the celebration scene seemed to be controversial, but not enough for all people to just write it off.

i feel like the “orgy” scene was appropriate. maybe i’m just to accepting, and too much not judgemental, but i really liked how trinity and neo expressed their love, and i really am glad that it took time. it realizes that sex, and all that comes with that relationship isn’t just fullfilled in one kiss or one act of sex. they are human, and they need eachother, so when neo has to stop because he has these strong dreams/feelings that is really powerful for me. it’s not something that can be just expressed in 2 min or something. but it’s possible that it worked for me and not you. and with respect to the dancing/orgy thing going on, i felt like it was a celebration. i really did. maybe i was blinded somehow….but i liked it. even to the point where they were showing mid shots of all these people, i couldn’t tell if some were male of female. that may sound sick or disgusting, but in a way i wonder if it isn’t saying something about the melding of people who are free…maybe a cynical somthing…

i’d like to hear what others thought of the celebration/orgy scene… and i’d appreciate specifics…

one of the people i have talked with this about wondered about the writing. and i kinda concur. it seemed like the writing style/dialog of this film wasn’t as good as the matrix. i’m wondering if anyone else felt the same way? just something felt different or off. i’m not sure exactly what it was. the first dialog between link and morpheus felt a little choppy to me. and when trinity and neo are in the elevator it seems so forced. are they always going to be on eachother when no one is looking? that doesn’t seem as realistic as other parts of the movie….i may sound contradictory here…because of what i said about the orgy scene…but i’m not sure…something just didn’t feel the same in the execution and maybe the wrting of this film. the first seemed to have this witty/punch…maybe i’m romanticizing the first, but it felt better somehow….

hey tricia. i’m really sorry about the boobie thing. i do hope no offense has been taken.

you can rest assured that from now on, in the interest of others, i will refer to them as either ta-ta’s or breastesses.

Just saw it tonight, and I want to post now before I have too much time to think about it. If you haven’t seen it, just don’t read anymore. Come on, stop reading. I mean it. Stop now. You’re not stopping . . . Okay, last chance, I’m going to start the next paragraph.

I can’t remember the last time I thoroughly enjoyed a mega-movie as much as this one. First, of all, can we skip the myriads of comparisons to the first one? For once we have a story that was meant to be told in three parts (though LOTR falls under that category as well), and the second part doesn’t compare to the first because it shouldn’t. It isn’t trying to be, because it’s got a story to tell, rather than a reputation to live up to.

For once, a really hip and stylized movie didn’t make me want to barf. I really don’t think it was a movie about leather, explosions, kung fu, and big studly one-liners from Neo et al. But . . . since we’re at the cinema and we’ve come for an action flick to escape reality for a couple of hours, why not stick all that stuff in if you know how to use it? What validated all of that stuff, for me, was that the movie had other things to balance it. I really liked the fact that I left the cinema not knowing where they’re going with the story.

I don’t think the plot was as amazing as wanted it to be, but the themes and questions it raised were great. It gave a little more ambiguity to the spiritual dimension, which is refreshing to me. If I could sum up the shortcomings in my eyes, it would be that the action sequences took precedence over character development. They could easily have made this a 4 1/2 hour movie, but it seemed that instead they did a little bit of extra packing, which shortchanged the plot and the characters a wee bit.

What did you folks think of the rave/sex scene? I kind of liked it. At first I thought it was going to be the token soft-core porn that ends up in so many blockbusters to keep the hornier part of the population coming back to see the movie again. But in the end I thought it was a vivid, joyful celebration, tastefully shot.

Okay, I’ll shut up now. But I REALLY wanna hear what everyone else thought (since I assume everyone on the planet is going to be seeing this movie some time or another).

p.s. There’s a great (and long) review at Salon.com.