From: JAY DUGGER (duggerj1@charter.net)
Date: Thu May 15 2003 - 21:44:27 MDT
Thursday, 15 May 2003
Hello all,
Let the Matrix thread begin! And if anyone can make a pun
with this movie, please don't. Unless it involves reduced
row echelon form--that I'd like to read.
First, some SPOILER space for those who haven't seen it.
Scroll down now or press delete.
Still here?
MINOR SPOILERS:
The character "Agent Smith" has changed into "Smith."
Neo has super-powers: flight, speed, clairvoyance,
desolidification, and raising of the dead.
Smith has super-powers: duplication, uploading into human
minds
Partial nudity
MAIN SPOILERS: (This will ruin the movie.)
The machines have seen messiahs and refuges (Zion) come
and go five times before.
The Matrix probably exists as a set of nested
simulations.
DISCLAIMER:
I didn't like the first movie. In fact, it's one of the
very few movies where I left before it ended.
This biases my opinion.
PLUSES:
Carrie-Ann Moss!
The freeway chase scene. I've had two car accidents; some
of the crashes evoked unpleasant memories. They looked
quite real.
One really excellent line about the pleasures of swearing
in French.
Carrie-Ann Moss in a glossy black vinyl bodysuit! (Could
be tighter, but I guess she needs to breathe.)
Dynamic characters, even the scrubs know new tricks since
the last movie
Traffic control at Zion has a lovely user interface. Not
good augmented reality, but it appeals to me.
Carrie-Ann Moss!
MINUSES:
Wire-Fu choreography of inconsistent quality (freeway
fight vs. staircase fight) Am I the only one tired of it?
Gratuitous skin; Neo and Trinity are lovers. Great. The
audience doesn't need to see it over and over cut with
Standard Rave Scene Variant #51. Boring!
Predictable plot twists and dialogue; re-read the
spoilers--do any really surprise you? If so, check your
SL.
Bullet time is played out. If you didn't think so before,
you will afterwards.
Lots of boring exposition from various characters.
SPECULATION:
The easy one: all the characters exist as programs. Ever
notice how Neo hasn't looked at another fighter with his
"code vision"? Do they save this un-surprise for Matrix 3?
Given five previous messiahs and five previous instances
of Zion, and the likelihood of nested simulations, and the
"Human Resistance" scenario's definite end state, is the
Architect/Oracle breeding programs (the "humans") in some
kind of evolutionary competition? To what end?
Lots of weird cults and bizaare little religions exist in
Zion. The dionysiac town meeting with its weird opening
prayer, makes me think that a good many weird philosophies
exist there. I bet most of them glorify sensuality and
"direct, authentic experience". This would react against
the synthetic matrix, and glorify the human body. The
latter would help raise their reproductive rate. Sex isn't
just fun, it's your holy duty!
Zion-born humans probably form most of these cults. They
might have no direct experience of the Matrix, and so
might turn to their own oddball spirituality. It seems to
me the various RW religions would have little appeal to
them. After all, they know full well the machines can
build worlds. Those rescued from the Matrix might or might
not have a spiritual bent. Morpheus does, but seems to be
an exception among the Zion military.
A mortification of the flesh and an anti-technology bent
seem to exist in Zion. They all dress in what amounts to
sackcloth and ashes. Even a technophile like me might find
it hard to love machinery if I lived in Zion. Despite
having the tools and techniques to download skills into
human minds, the Zionites live in squalor. A little
Bulterian Jihad exists in their past.
Neo = Christ; Morpheus = John the Baptist; Smith =
Lucifer; Trinity = Mary Magdelene; Architect = God; Oracle
= Virgin Mary; Operators (e.g., Link) = Holy Ghost; Heaven
= ?; Hell = ?
As suggested on the exi-list in a previous Matrix thread,
I bet you the Agents, the Keymaker, the Architect, the
Oracle, the Seraph, and all the others aren't
fundamentally part of the Matrix itself. Some of them,
such as the Merovingian and perhaps Smith now, have grown
independent. They carve out their own little kingdoms and
realms within the greater matrix. Persephone particularly
intrigues me. (I wonder what material made up her dress.)
Anyway, I'll bet she's a program grown from a
human from the previous instance of Zion. (See also the
RPGs Sorcerer & Sword and Charnel Gods)
IN A NUTSHELL
All said and done, MR (Matrix Reloaded) sucked less than
its predecessor. It still remained predictable, but it
nicely resolved my main problem with the first movie.
Namely, the tension in the storyline between Neo as
freedom fighter and Neo as messiah.
Did I make clear how attractive I find Carrie-Ann Moss?
;-)
Jay Dugger : Til Eulenspiegel
http://www.vibepusher.com/~jdugger
Today marks the anniverary of L.F. Baum's birth. Don't let
the kalidahs get you!
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