The Matrix Reloaded – Monday 2nd February 2026

I remember when this movie came out; all the hype, the slow release of information, photos and posters of all the new characters, the release of ‘The Animatrix’ that lead up to it… It was a great time!

There was no way that this film, or perhaps any film, could live up to the genius of the first Matrix movie, but when I saw this film, I totally got into it, and rated it highly for years.

Having just re-watched it again, after at least a decade and a half, I have to say, it’s not as good as I remembered!

They took a brilliant concept, and convoluted the hell out of it! The new characters, new layers, and expansion of the lore just muddy the water and make it needlessly complicated, just for the sake of it.
‘Zion’ the home-base for the humans was disappointing, even back in 2003. The Earthy tones, the hippie vibes, the massive rave that takes place in a cave; it’s all so far removed from the cold, barely-held together, steely look of the ‘real’ world depicted in the first movie. If anything, ‘Zion’ should have been something completely cyberpunk, or even steampunk, made from the ruins of old skyscrapers; pretty much anything would have been better than what we got.

Then there’s the world of ‘the Matrix’ itself. In the first film, it was an indistinguishable simulation of our own world, fully populated and grounded in the rules of what we know to be reality. In this film, it becomes nothing more than an open world computer game, with PS3 level graphics to go with it! There’s nothing ‘real’ about it. Where are the crowds of people? Where’s the ‘reality’ and the danger that doing anything out of the ordinary will cause alarm and thus alert Agents? There’s practically no jeopardy; the characters walk around as if in a game, going from one fetch quest to another. That said the scenes that take place in ‘the Matrix’ are still miles better than the scenes that take place in Zion.

Also, the fact that they’ve introduced so many new characters means we spend less time with the characters we really care about, i.e. Neo, Trinity and Morpheus, something that only gets worse in the third film!

That said, there’s still plenty to like about the film; mainly the fight scenes! Seeing a Neo that knows what he’s doing is brilliant! The fight scenes, the choreography and staging, the music that accompanies them, it’s all absolutely top draw! In fact, the fight with weapons at the end is probably my favourite fight scene in the entire series! It’s so damn good!

The main cast is still superb! Keanu Reeves is Neo, and there’s no one else that could possibly do that role justice! EVER! Carrie-Anne Moss is also superb, and always a joy to see on-screen, which makes it all the more disappointing that she hasn’t been the lead in many other movies!

I also really enjoyed Neo’s exchange with ‘The Architect’ at the end, and the explanation about how he’s ‘the one’; that he’s the sixth version of ‘the one’, and what his purpose is. All those details really ignited our imaginations back in 2003, as we pondered all the previous versions of ‘the Matrix’ and dreamt up stories concerning the first ‘One’, something that the fourth Matrix should have been about, instead of the piece of crap that we got.

Anyway, I felt like watching it; I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t as good as it was back in 2003, but then, you can never go back and experience things as you did the first time; the context, the events of the period, the smells, and even who you are, are never the same. Shame really.