I just came back from watching The Matrix Reloaded in Nice.

First impressions? Well - a bit of the magic is gone. The effects are spectacular, and there is more of all the things that were novel in The Matrix: bullet-time filming, kung-fu fighting and all the rest. It still didn't instill the Biblical references and the surreal-yet-credible universe we saw in the first film. Now it's more of a pure action film. A very expensive action film with really cool effects, but it's not right up there with The Matrix, one of my favourite films of all time...

At one point, I was expecting Jar Jar Binks to come walking in on the stage; both costumes, music and setting was as if it had come straight out of Star Wars episode 1's (and 2's) consular sessions... You'll probably know what I mean when you see the film...

Still - of course I'll have to see it on IMAX, and of course I'll see The Matrix Revolutions... These are films for fans of the first one, and despite not living up to the legacy, it's still great entertainment...

Elsewhere in the news about Matrix Reloaded:

• Kalsey thinks geeks like the film because Neo is a hacker. Yeah... I guess that's part of it.
• L.M.Orchard takes the piss out of the "Matrix Phone" from Samsung, which of course isn't half as cool as the Nokia 8110i used in the first film.
• Aaron isn't too keen on the film at all...
• Chris was worried about the computer generated characters being too obviously CG. Don't worry Chris, they weren't. Not that I noticed anyway...
• Bob says: "Either way, when *you* get your chance to see it, make sure you stay past the credits to see the Matrix Revolutions trailer." Damndamndamn. I didn't. I didn't know. Now I have to see it again ;-)

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