Matrix: Retarded?

Well hello viewers! I have just come off a movie marathon week that has been absolutely exhilirating and so I’ll give you a brief low down of every film, including The Matrix!!

Matrix: Reloaded (4 of 5)

The first Matrix was an awesome movie full of great things that made it a challenging and complex action movie. It had good music, an intriguing plot, awesome action, and unique characters dressed to kill. The second movie gets 3 out of the 4 better and the last one a struggling fall to worse. Firstly, the music is good and the characters are dressed awesome just like before. The shades and dusters give the Matrix that sleek badass feel like no other movie. Secondly, the action rocks….the fight scenes are absolutely tremendous and the CG effects actually don’t pull you out too much, simply because there are some underlying themes and reasons why the Wachowskis make the whole scene CG (This is of course the Smith scen I’m talking about.)

The plot, however, falls apart at the seams. Too much of it is driven by constantly introduced characters who struggle to make us understand (or I believe not) what the hell is going on. And in the end, the Wachowskis seem to be relying on the audience to give up and stop trying and just except it as complex and cool rather than analyzing it for what it really is: a bad plot disguised by lots of words and sophisticated speeches. The plot is absolutely horrid on several levels. One: the characters remain underdeveloped and by the second movie we should really feel like we know the characters. We don’t…Morpheus, Neo, and Trinity barely talk at all through the entire movie except to elaborate on the plot. Two: Too many new characters are constantly introduced and none of them say anything worthwhile. Character after character talk about the Matrix and how there are programs upon programs running the system and it gets far too long-winded. Three: None of the characters are telling the truth. Every single character tells Neo what to do, but they say that there may be programs that are making them lie or other programs that are making them think the truth when it is not so. Four: The plot is so incredibly complex that it allows for too many holes that no machine would ever do. Five: The plot destroys all the first plot worked for, which is making an inconspicuous life system that real people might not notice. HOW COULD ANYONE NOT NOTICE THE ELABORATE CAR CHASE?! HM!? Secondly, everyone can now hurt and best agents and every character is now able to do a lot more. Thirdly, there are like eight million new programs and bad guys that have emerged from the woodwork with no description of why they have come. We are never told how the TWINS came to be. We are never told how the agents were able to upgrade themselves (Not Smith.) We are never told how it is that Smith can do what he can. We are just left with more elaboration to distract us.

This movie could actually become better if the third movie is good. It has already marred the first, so if the third fails, then the entire group will crash down like a plane with one wing. Anyway….other movies. I recommend seeing it, it’s better than a lot of movies, but not very good compared to other X-cellent movies(hint hint)

THE ONE: 4 of 5

The One is a Jet Li film whose premise goes like this: There are many parallel universes in which a form of us exists. When one of us dies untimely, the energy spreads into the bodies of the remaining units, making us faster, stronger, smarter. One universe manages a way to travel across and a once good cop goes bad killing his selves over and over and getting really strong. Now there is only one other left, but lucky world, he and the other have equal powers as the energy is distributed equally.

The movie has some great fight scenes, including a final fight scene between Jet Li and Jet Li, which is fantastic, with great visual editting. Never do we see a stunt double’s face or an inconsistency unlike most other movies you see nowadays. The premise is also cool and uses its core actors in intelligent ways. Delroy Lindo, Carla Gugino, and Jason Statham are excellent in the movie and it is an above par action movie with a good premise.

This movie is equal to the Matrix why? Because it does not over elaborate and make the plot so complex we cannot understand and it also has a rather risky and uncharacteristic ending which I really liked. The movie also raises a few good questions that intrigued me and then left unanswered for reasons that I CLEARLY understood, unlike the Matrix. This movie is great guys, and it doesn’t use CG fighters to the stunts.

FROM DUSK TIL DAWN: 1 of 5 or perhaps 4 of 5

Why do I rank it this way? It depends on what you’re going to the movie for. Tarantino films are known for gritty realism and great wit combined with awesome acting power. This is not that film at all.

I’m not sure what Tarantino was setting out to do, maybe he was making a crazed comedy and posing it as something else just to throw the audience off. Maybe he was just seeing how far he could get a director to go to make a movie. And he got Harvey Keitel to do this film.

The film is about the Gecko Brothers, two criminals (one a neurotic mess) and the other a cool, suave guy covered in tattoos. These guys take hold of a Harvey Keitel, an ex preacher, and his two kids (one asian and a Juliette Lewis). They all go along and we think the movie is about these five dealing with each other as they try to avoid getting caught. Instead, they end up at a trucker/biker bar that ends up being infested with vampires and before we know it, vampires are killing everyone and the movie is over…..(that’s not really the ending, but I don’t want to spoil the wierdness.)

If the movie is a comedy or a twistedly odd film, go ahead and watch it. If you’re expecting Classic Tarantino, I’m not sure you get it….