The Matrix: Reloaded
Tuesday, May 27th, 2003 18:36![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittiwakeYesterday was a Bank Holiday, but I still managed to crawl out of bed early enough to make it to the 10 o'clock showing of "The Matrix: Reloaded". As I had managed to avoid spoilers beforehand, the new twists in the tale came as a welcome surprise. It wasn't just a clone of the first film as so many sequels are.
Is Zion part of the Matrix? Evidence For:
1) Neo controlling the sentinels. Neo starting to feel that things are different. Persephone's name is a clue to that fact that eating while in the matrix can change you (as was the chocolate cake). If Neo is changed by eating/kissing while in the matrix, then surely that must be affecting him as a program, not as a human body & mind.
2) The Merovingian being a rogue program, while probably also being a previous version of "The One". His very name is a clue (templars/grail/Rennes-le-Chateau/lost bloodline of Christ), as well as Persephone saying that he used to be like Neo. So if Neo is a program, not a real person and is in Zion, therefore Zion is part of the Matrix.
3) Agent Smith getting into Zion by taking over Bane's body and going down the phone.
Is Zion part of the Matrix? Evidence Against:
1)The Architect does not actually say that Zion is part of the matrix.
2) Maybe Neo can sense the sentinels because of his extra powers of perception, i.e. other people die in 'real life' if they die in the matrix because at some level their minds believe that it is real, but Neo's mind knows & believes that it is all an illusion (enlightened in a Buddhist sense?), which allows him to do all the 'impossible' things while in the matrix like flying, sensing approaching agents and surviving death.
3) Eating something while in the matrix could be a symbolic representation of the machines doing something (physically or via drugs) to the human body.
4) The Merovingian could just be a computer avatar of a previous version "The One", maybe created by the machines so that they could use it to predict the actions of its human counterparts, but that then went rogue.
Interesting things:
1) The concept of the rogue programs.
2) If Persephone is the queen of the matrix (as Persephone is queen of the underworld in Greek mythology), is she as powerful as the Architect? Maybe she is the one trying to break the cycle and change things. She certainly seems unhappy with the status quo.
3) The Oracle may be a rogue program, but according to the Architect, she still seems to be fulfilling the machines' plans for forcing the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next. Is she on Zion's side or not?
4) The Architect's speech about the cycles and Neo's choice. But can we believe anything that the Architect says?
5) Some people in Zion believe the prophecy, others don't and others treat Neo almost as a God. After the first film, I assumed that everyone in Zion believed the prophecy as Morpheus did.
6) Morpheus now seems somewhat unstable and driven, rather than inspiring and forceful.
7) If Smith is now a free agent, why is he still trying to kill Neo? Is it possible that he will break that part of his programming too.
Annoying things:
1) The fights seemed to go on for hours!
2) So did the dance scene. It was kind of hypnotic though, and not so boring as the fight scenes.
3) Overuse of the Superman-style flying.
4) What happened to the other crew member who was shot by the traitor in the first movie but didn't die? And where did that irritating young man who hero-worships Neo come from? I assume that they were mentioned in the animated shorts that continue the action from the first film, but it's irritating if you haven't seen them. The first I heard of them was last week, when Five showed one of them immediately after "The Matrix".
If I go to see it again I'll ry to spot more clues.
Is Zion part of the Matrix? Evidence For:
1) Neo controlling the sentinels. Neo starting to feel that things are different. Persephone's name is a clue to that fact that eating while in the matrix can change you (as was the chocolate cake). If Neo is changed by eating/kissing while in the matrix, then surely that must be affecting him as a program, not as a human body & mind.
2) The Merovingian being a rogue program, while probably also being a previous version of "The One". His very name is a clue (templars/grail/Rennes-le-Chateau/lost bloodline of Christ), as well as Persephone saying that he used to be like Neo. So if Neo is a program, not a real person and is in Zion, therefore Zion is part of the Matrix.
3) Agent Smith getting into Zion by taking over Bane's body and going down the phone.
Is Zion part of the Matrix? Evidence Against:
1)The Architect does not actually say that Zion is part of the matrix.
2) Maybe Neo can sense the sentinels because of his extra powers of perception, i.e. other people die in 'real life' if they die in the matrix because at some level their minds believe that it is real, but Neo's mind knows & believes that it is all an illusion (enlightened in a Buddhist sense?), which allows him to do all the 'impossible' things while in the matrix like flying, sensing approaching agents and surviving death.
3) Eating something while in the matrix could be a symbolic representation of the machines doing something (physically or via drugs) to the human body.
4) The Merovingian could just be a computer avatar of a previous version "The One", maybe created by the machines so that they could use it to predict the actions of its human counterparts, but that then went rogue.
Interesting things:
1) The concept of the rogue programs.
2) If Persephone is the queen of the matrix (as Persephone is queen of the underworld in Greek mythology), is she as powerful as the Architect? Maybe she is the one trying to break the cycle and change things. She certainly seems unhappy with the status quo.
3) The Oracle may be a rogue program, but according to the Architect, she still seems to be fulfilling the machines' plans for forcing the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next. Is she on Zion's side or not?
4) The Architect's speech about the cycles and Neo's choice. But can we believe anything that the Architect says?
5) Some people in Zion believe the prophecy, others don't and others treat Neo almost as a God. After the first film, I assumed that everyone in Zion believed the prophecy as Morpheus did.
6) Morpheus now seems somewhat unstable and driven, rather than inspiring and forceful.
7) If Smith is now a free agent, why is he still trying to kill Neo? Is it possible that he will break that part of his programming too.
Annoying things:
1) The fights seemed to go on for hours!
2) So did the dance scene. It was kind of hypnotic though, and not so boring as the fight scenes.
3) Overuse of the Superman-style flying.
4) What happened to the other crew member who was shot by the traitor in the first movie but didn't die? And where did that irritating young man who hero-worships Neo come from? I assume that they were mentioned in the animated shorts that continue the action from the first film, but it's irritating if you haven't seen them. The first I heard of them was last week, when Five showed one of them immediately after "The Matrix".
If I go to see it again I'll ry to spot more clues.
