MemeMachineGo!

Ebert reviews The Matrix Reloaded :

“The Matrix Reloaded,” […] plays like a collaboration involving a geek, a comic book and the smartest kid in Philosophy 101.

I’d note that for the last of those, the emphasis is on the 101, not the smartest.

Like I said , I wanted to see some ass-kicking. Walking into the Matrix Reloaded with my standards that low, I actually enjoyed it, even as I snickered along with most of the rest of the audience at how bad some of the dialogue was. The action sequences are beautiful (but the modern cliche of pointless slow motion/fast motion/freeze framing must die.)

My mind boggles that there are actually people reading depth and significance into the Matrix. Phil Dick was examining these themes with 100 times this depth 50 years ago. With 1000 times the depth in his later career, 20 years ago. Not to mention all the literature he inspired.

But, of course, one has to have actually read science fiction to know that. Even if you haven’t… c’mon… “what if we’re just brains in vats?”, “what if we don’t have free will?” — these aren’t exactly exciting and new questions. And the Matrix doesn’t offer anything interesting in considering them… it just raises them and hopes the audience will confuse special effects with sophistication.

And I’ve got to hand it to them: largely, it seems to work.