"The Matrix: Reloaded" delivered the goods in full. More dimension was added to the story when we find out that none of the characters or the story actually take place outside of the Matrix. Though this fact does devalue the reality and gravity of the entire series, this was the second film of the trilogy so that makes room for a more conclusive denouement in the third and final film...

You know I have actually heard some people say that there was not enough action in it. Wow, do those fools have some short attention spans or what?!? The movie is about 2 hours and 18 minutes. Roughly 18 minutes accounts for the credits and trailer at the end of the film, meaning the movie itself is about 2 hours. Approximately 1 hour of the movie is kung fu fights, shoot-outs and car chases. So about half of the movie is all-out action, while the other half focused on the plot and the many characters involved. As an added bonus, this one included something the first film didn't have. Actual martial artists!!! Collin Chou as Seraph (my favorite Matrix character), Daniel Bernhardt as an agent and all of the Merovengien's monkey boys were the real deal. There was some excellent choreography from Yuen Wo Ping that totally trumped the previous film and showcased a good variety from unarmed to weapon-based combat (Keanu handled those sai pretty damn well). The CGI stuff didn't bother me one bit because Keanu is not like us. He has not dedicated his life to advancing his martial capabilities, agilty and strength, so even with intense short training he can't pull off the junk that we have been working on for years. That being the case it was actually cool to see some really amazing kung fu in the form of well done CGI animation, and I also think that it was done in a fluid enough manner that it didn't disrupt the flow of those sequences. Besides you folks had no problems when Spiderman did it, so you should be fine with that stuff going down in the Matrix. This movie was great entertainment and contained all of the hallmarks of an engrossing and thought-provoking sci-fi classic. The actors were on point and the curvature of the path of the story was nicely done.

There is only one problem here. One major problem. This movie was almost perfect, but I had to deduct a half star for the fact that this film suffers from middle kid syndrome due to its status as the second film in the trilogy. The kid that came after this one fucked it up for everybody and ruined what could have been one of the greatest sci-fi tales ever told.

IN SUMMATION: Yeah, this film has caught a lot of flak because many "critics" feel it solidifies their own credibility if they bash a trilogy film that does well in the box office. Just like when everyone bashed the new "Star Wars" films. But guess what: they weren't that damn bad either. People are just jaded and prejudiced. Please, folks, don't take a perspective because you are lead to believe that you should, because then you are in someone else's control. If fools can tell you what to believe, what does that make you? But screw the soapbox, this movie is great and only marred by the sorry ass pile of crap that followed it. Worth adding to the collection.

So let me get this straight. We the viewers never get to see the actual reality of this mythology, we only get to view various layers of "The Matrix". The story in its entirety takes place in a computer program that runs through "Neo's" mind. This destroys all of the grandeur of the movie and its overall significance by the simple fact that none of anything we see really happens and we don't know if any of the characters we see actually exist or if they are part of the program. Basically the film's meaning and credibility are now shot, so let's look at the "story" that played out in some dude's head. In the future a war breaks out between the last city of humans (who live near the center of the earth) and the machines that took over earth. How is this epic war for humanity concluded? Do the humans take the fight to the machines' territory and sabotage some vital junk to turn the tide (a la "Star Wars")? No. Is some brilliant plan established to gain the upper hand and thereby prove the resourcefulness and imagination of the human mind? Again, no. Perhaps the last city of Zion unites and against extraordinary odds defeats the overwelming adversary presenting the triumph of the human will and spirit? Afraid not. Or could it be that Neo steps his bitch ass up to the front lines in all his super powered glory and lays the smackdown on the machine invaders? Not even fucking close. Basically this war and movie are "concluded" with a peace treaty with cold, calculating, unfeeling, immoral machines. Doesn't that make perfect sense? Unfortunately they left out the complete ending of the movie that takes place five minutes later when the machines decide to just lie and attack the city of Zion when their defenses are completely down, thereby killing every last human.

What a great trilogy. Not only did they get us from behind storywise, they also left out that nice concentration of fu throwdowns that the previous two incorporated. Sure there were fights. Like three. The previous one had nine or so. The big end fight of Neo vs. Agent Smith always leaves me kind of on the fence. I wanted a little more fu but I did really enjoy all of the special effects and mid-flight Superman-style battling. Always good to see stuff getting broken. The man vs. machines battle was really good too, and it is because of these two big action sequences, the special effects and Collin Chou as Seraph that I don't just brand this punk ass flick with 0 star rating. The end result is a compost heap of overhyped Hollywood bullshit. As a movie, but especially as the end of a trilogy, it is the most incomprehensive crap that I have ever seen or heard of. It could have been the defining science fiction trilogy of this younger generation. But no, the ending killed it all and morphed the overall essence of the project into the ugly truth: we just watched a bunch of Keanu Reeves' flicks. Damn.

Like a scrotum, here it is in a nutshell: "The Matrix" was pretty damn brilliant fare. It dipicted a very involved and thought-provoking mythology and was, in my opinion, sci-fi at its finest. It was possibly the first big-budget Hollywood movie to show off Hong Kong style action/kung fu to western audiences, so it does deserve some props for that alone. On that front Yuen Wo Ping orchestrated some of the most nicely choreographed screen fights in Hollywood history and made some soft, pampered actors look like able screen fighters. I kind of dig how the flying triple front kick was utilized as a sort of trademark kick for Neo. This movie has a lot going for it, from good performances to awesome action scenes to creative and distinct story devices; it's almost a perfect movie.

Except...

The critic in me must deduct a half star because it is part of a trilogy, meaning that it is one part of a whole story and the ending (though a different movie individually) has a bearing on the whole story as the concept's integrety is called into question. As the ending of the story ("The Matrix; Revolutions") sucks immensely, the entire purpose and paradigm of the whole story suffers because that is the conclusion of the mythology. The martial artist in me must deduct half a star for the simple fact that Hollywood decided to make a big budget sci-fi/action/kung fu movie and didn't bother to hire a single legitimate martial artist to portray any of the main characters. That just pisses me off.

Anyways, overall it is an excellent and entertaining piece of cinema history. Not quite the classic it can be played out to be but still highly worth it. Glad I could help. Now, remember to be wary of strange phone calls. Actually, maybe you should make a few.

If not for a friend sending it to me to get my opinion I doubt I would have ever watched it. I think Paana has a deathwish - at least for the stuntmen. Things blow up. People blow up... oh wait the plot. Actually that is the plot, more or less. A cop depressed over his partner's death while busting a drug warlord joins his sister on a trip to a remote Thai village. They also join a small group of soccer players, coach and gymnastic performers who come armed with soccer balls.

No sooner than they arrive a gang of hard core bad ass dudes show up and capture the village, holding the residents as ransom to get their evil drug lord out of jail. The bad guys also have a nuclear weapon(s?) they threaten to use. (what, are they going to have the soccer player kick it into space?)Thanks to the "plot" and the horrible acting I found myself incapable of caring what happened to anyone. Before long I was actually hoping someone would fiddle with the nuke and end my misery! No such luck.

The makers of this crap have the audacity to compare it to Ong-Bok! Some of the same people show up minus a script and Tony Jaa, but armed to the max. Hey if you get hit by a soccer ball it could hurt. But not to worry this mess is overflowing with gratuitous violence! There are enough rounds of ammo and explosive devices to give John Woo ballistic envy! Dueling semi's, dueling vehicles, dueling acrobatics (I kid you not)and children who get to watch mommy and daddy get blown into pieces. Bullets fly, arms and legs fly, brains fly, the poor villagers homes fly - the only thing that doesn't fly is the script! The athletes manage to turn peace loving Thais into psychotic, sadistic killing machines in only a few minutes.

The "Heroes" look like Team Adidas.

How many new action stars are there in Thailand? That title clearly goes to Tony Jaa, but the cover boasts Dan Chupong, who is not going to be the next martial arts phenomenon, trust me. If you want to see villagers attacked by bad guys get Seven Samurai or if you must have a western movie you could get the Mangificent Seven, a bastardization of the Japanese movie directed by Akira Kurosawa. On the other hand if you are content to watch mindless violence for 97 minutes then Born To Fight is the movie for you.

The synopsis on the back of the DVD relates that a king who recently subdued a minor state hopes to win over a powerful noble (played by Jimmy Wang Yu) to his side, and this noble has no greater earthly desire than to possess the finest and rarest swords. Thus the king organizes a dueling contest to lure this noble into his service by offering a generalship and a rare sword as the winning prizes.

I thus expected that the end result of the movie would be that Wang joins the king, only to re-discover his patriotism, and slay the conquerors of his city to liberate his people.

The movie turned out totally differently, and was more of a morality tale than anything else. As the plot unfolded, Wang does get the much coveted sword from the king, but he then hears of another, even more unique sword and goes to seek it out. His obsession totally corrupts him and he turns into a villain, murdering a retired swordmaster to get this 2nd sword.

In his triumph, he tries to pull the sword from its scabbard and fails, and when old Taoist sage passes by, he angrily demands to know why this sword is stuck. The old sage merely smiles and says that sword is truly unique because it had not been used in 20 years (and so it has rusted in the scabbard).

Wang Yu's character then has an epiphany and the movie ends with him bowing in remorse to the corpse of the old master. It is an unsettling, tragic ending. In a strange bit of make-up, his eyebrows merged into one while he was being evil, but in the end, they recede away and he has two normal eyebrows again.

Over all, the actors do a fine job, but I would've liked better action. The slow sword fights pale in comparison to the dazzling acrobatics seen in Shaw Brothers films from mid to late 1970s and early 1980s.

If you want lots of energetic fights where you can cheer the hero beating off hordes of baddies, as I had hoped for, this is NOT the movie for you. It is really a character development drama, and while it is poignant and fairly well done, that's not the reason I buy and watch kung fu movies.

Okay, at its core it's a gore-soaked, high octane thrill ride.

The comic-booky action was a total blast, and the gore was top-notch and surprisingly creative. If you're looking for realism, however, we'd suggest you look somewhere other than a film about a pretty young woman with a machine gun for an arm out for bloody vengeance any way she can get it.

The characters, for the most part, are an absolute parody of themselves; but that plays perfectly well with the theme of the film as a whole. Sure, this is a revenge flick, but it's played with enough humor and over-the-top gory action that it all makes sense in and of itself. It never takes itself too seriously (if at all), yet never seems to intentionally relegate itself to pure schlockiness either. If you're looking to turn your brain completely off and just go with a film deep into its own weird world of gory, action-filled absurdity, then this is the flick for you.

But the best part is even though the visual spectacle of it all would be enough to carry this film, there is an actual storyline involved here that is not only believable (in its own reality) but draws you in to the film's world. Of course you can also just shut your brain off and go along on a chaotic ride of vengeance. Either, way you will be greatly rewarded.

If more films were like this, fewer films would suck.