I’m deciding to lump The Animatrix, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions together because I can’t really think of a way to talk about all three of them separately. Each of them inform each other in ways that I feel like it would be easier to talk about them together rather than doing so separately. I had only seen The Animatrix once, which is something rare for the other movies in The Matrix series. I went throught a phase during my last half of high school where I would watch Reloaded and Revolutions alternatively, first regularly then with commentary.
The Animatrix was an interesting thing when it came out. I had never seen anything like it before or since. It was made to not only open the world but also act as a bridge between the first and second movies. There are even characters introduced that play a part in the story of the sequels. The nonmovie related shorts that I recommend are World Record and A Detective Story, both are really interesting. The Final Flight of the Osiris, The Second Renaissance Parts 1 and 2, and Kid’s Story all connect to the story of the movies in different ways. The Final Flight of the Osiris even connects The Matrix Reloaded to the video game Enter The Matrix, which takes place during the same time as the movie and even has crossover with it.
The Matrix Reloaded is the first of the sequels. It picks up six months after the end of the first movie. This introduced a lot of concepts that wouldn’t be able to expanded upon in the next movie but were interesting. The use of Neo’s powers as The One are in full use and make him function like Superman while in the matrix. Smith is much more of a threat in the movie than he was previously. The fights are more plentiful, but some feel pointless.
The Matrix Revolutions is a fitting end to the original set of Matrix movies. It picks up immediately after the previous movie, which makes sense since the two movies were made back-to-back. The ending sets things up where it could have gone anywhere. The fights weren’t nearly as plentiful as the previous movie but there might be more action sequences.
With both Reloaded and Revolutions a lot of people were disappointed with the movies that we got. I’m not one of those people, and after rewatching everything I can say that still. There was an overreliance on CG effects, but it wasn’t an issue for me. The more esoteric concepts in both of the sequels are interesting, even if some idiots try to use them to seem intelligent now.
Rewatching the Matrix movies in preparation for the new one, which is already out, has rekindled my love for the franchise. I hadn’t seen the sequels in about fifteen years at the least. I know that I’ll end up enjoying new one. You can stream all of the movies on HBO Max. I give all three movies 8.5 disconnected earpieces out of 10.
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