Reviewed by Ian Maher

The Matrix Reloaded
Directors: Andy & Larry Wachowski (2003)
Distributor: Warner Bros.  Certificate: 15

Probably by the time you read this review you will have seen The Matrix Reloaded,  the second in a series of films that you with either love or hate. So I guess you are aware that in the world of the film the earth is a barren wasteland controlled by the Matrix, a computer intelligence that keeps humanity subdued in a world of virtual reality while it feeds off the energy of incubated humans.

In Reloaded the Matrix has sent an army of machines to seek out and destroy Zion, the last remaining home of humans who have escaped or been set free from the Matrix. According to prophecy, there is only one person who can save the human race. Neo (Keannu Reaves) is ‘The One’. Set free from his captivity by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) in The Matrix, Neo is haunted by a recurring dream concerning the death of Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) ~ his lover, and the person who saved him from death in the first film.

The film is left on a knife-edge of anticipation for Matrix Revolutions ~ due out in the autumn ~ with Neo having discovered from The Architect of the Matrix (Helmut Bakaitis) that all of his experience is a re-run of Matrix programme. It seems that even Neo’s reality is part of the illusion.

If you enjoy lots of martial arts, car chases, and having your head turned inside out by trying to figure out the plot ~ you will love Reloaded.

THROUGH THE LENS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH 

Some key themes: Truth and deception; seeing beyond illusions.

It is fascinating to see the way in which the promotional approach behind The Matrix trilogy bears at least some resemblance to the fictional world of the films. While we are not the ignorant slaves of a world dominated by machines, trapped unsuspectingly in an illusion of reality, there is a sense in which we are at the mercy of a complicated marketing strategy.

There are already a number of gaps and inconsistencies in The Matrix world that only make sense if viewers are familiar with The Animatrix (a series of short stories) and the Enter the Matrix game. Just as Neo appears to move forward step by step in discovering more about the virtual world in which he has been held captive, we viewers come to realise that we only have some of the pieces of the jigsaw. To know the full picture we have to play the game that the faceless figures responsible for marketing the products have set for us.

Of course, we can make the decision to buy into the phenomenon or not. But I wonder how many of us have already been caught up by it without even realising what has happened. It’s not exactly like being trapped in the Matrix but it is interesting to ponder how we can be influenced by the sort of advertising and product bombardment that accompanies this awesome creation from the minds of the Wachowski Brothers.

Reloaded continues to raise questions about truth and deception, and the frightening prospect of living in an illusion of life rather than its reality. ‘What is real?’ and ‘How do what know what is real?’ are just some of the subtexts of the film. ‘What is truth?’ is, in fact, a timeless question. In the Gospel story (John 8.28-40) the question is asked of Jesus when he is brought before Pontius Pilate for interrogation. Pilate leaves the question hanging in the air, as he is unable (or unwilling) to face the reality that Jesus presents to him.

Elsewhere John’s gospel points us directly to Jesus as the one to whom we need to look if we are to make sense of our lives and the world in which we live. We are told that Jesus is ‘the truth’ (John 14.6) and also that in following him we will know the truth and that the truth will set us free (John 8.32). In other words, a focus on Jesus and an encounter with him is the means of seeing through the distractions and distortions of the world in which we live.

For Neo and company the choice is between living within the illusion of The Matrix or facing up to the reality of the world as it really is. For us, it is to the person of Jesus that we must look to discover the reality of what life is all about. Until then we are only living in the shadow of what we might be.

Have your say on the discussion forum....

·      Have you ever felt manipulated, for example, by other people or situations?
Have you been able to do anything about it and, if so, what?

·      What is the truth that you live by ~ and how do you know that it is true?

·      How free are you in the decisions that you make?

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