"Free Your Mind."

Review:

Reviewing the Matrix Reloaded has been a daunting task, after all, does the internet really need another review of it cluttering up the information super-highway? Of course not, but I have to review it anyway. So I'm going to take the easy way out... instead of writing about its plot, its development from the first movie and all that kinda stuff, I'm just going write about Daniel's role in the movie and give it a basic simplistic score!

Sorry my loyal readers, but you can far too easily find overwhelming amounts of Matrix information and reviews elsewhere on the net - and considering I can write a whole essay on Bloodsport 4 without realizing it, I'm not going to cause myself unnecessary mental distress in writing 10 pages on the complexities of the Matrix saga!

Anyhoo, on with the review! I wasn't the biggest fan of the first movie, it was cool enough, but didn't grip me in the ways it did so many others in this world. So I turned up to see this movie, quite honestly, just for my Bernhardt-fix! Sporting my custom-made Bernhardt With a Vengeance shirt, I sat on the front row of the theater (yep, it was all booked up and the front row held the only seats left), cricked my neck into a 90 degree angle and stared painfully upwards at the 50ft concaved screen and awaited some oversized, disproportioned ass-kicking! After around 15 minutes my severe discomfort was at last rewarded with our first sighting! 

Not only was this to be Daniel's first ever supporting role, but it was also to be his first villainous one as Agent Johnson, one of the mysterious FBI-like hunters as seen so readily in the first movie. He knocks at a door, kicks it down and his two companions exchange a cool robotic repertoire that Daniel finishes with the concluding line of... "Only human!" Then we get down to business as Agent Johnson and his two buddies proceed to try and beat the crap out of Neo (somewhat played by Keanu Reeves).

Unfortunately, due to the fact that this isn't real life, Dan's gang eventually gets their asses whooped by Neo but not before making him realize that these guys are 'upgrades'... no doubt due to Agent Johnson's superb ass-kicking abilities! It was short and sweet, but brought a smile to my face and had me pumped with adrenaline.

And then it all goes a bit quiet on the Bernhardt front... for a while. People fly, bullets float, cameras pan, lots of confusing conversations take place and generally 'stuff' happens until we get to the moment us Bernholics have all been waiting for... the highway chase!!!

By possessing the bodies of two high-speed pursuit cops, Agent Johnson and his pal race down the highway in pursuit of the 'heroes' (sorry but our mean-ass Agent here is my hero of the movie!), until they get within a safe distance for Johnson to climb on top of their speeding police-car, leaping from its roof onto the hood of the neighboring car and subsequently launching himself onto the car driven by our pretentious PVC-clad stars.

Needless to say, the driver Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) doesn't appreciate having an evil kick-boxing computer-virus-in-a-suit on the front of her car and hits the brakes, throwing poor Agent J. to the ground. In the meantime, after dispatching other evil-doers, Morpheus (Laurence Fishbourne) finds his way onto the back of a big-rig as it cruises down the highway... thinking he'll be safe! But fear not friends, for our favorite villain has other plans as he awaits Morpheus to drive beneath the over-pass he stands upon and leaps down onto the trailer to engage in some serious high-speed hand-to-hand combat.

Basically Morpheus gets his ass-beat (hurrah!) but not before cutting Johnson's tie in half (oh no!)... and just for that, he gets thrown off the truck (hurrah again!). However, since the good guys have to win, he leaps back onboard where Johnson exchanges a sly one liner to the Keymaker (Randall Duk Kim) and kicks his ass from behind (and you thought 'heroes' had honor).

So Johnson possesses the body of the truck driver in the cabin below, whilst Agent Jackson (David Kilde) possesses that of another... and the two 18-wheelers set their paths on a collision course! The trucks hit and we think "Hurrah, these irritating heroes are dead for sure!"... but no, as fate would have it, Keanu Reeves can fly... and he saves them like Superman. The end.

Ok, well it's not the end of the movie, but it is the end of Daniel's role in it. So afterwards, more special effects happen, there's lots of long profound speeches that don't really mean anything and our wooden warriors go and do more stuff. I honestly doubt that many of you haven't seen it considering not only is it Daniel's biggest-name movie to date, but The Matrix series has somewhat become necessary viewing for any self-respecting movie fan these days (regardless of opinions... you just kinda 'have' to see them).

So, as a movie, it's reasonably cool but the whole gothic leather shtick of these movies ain't for me. Sure, there's lots of guns and confusing stuff... but compared to the original, it lacks that movie's mysterious subtle charm that I feel made it a stronger picture. However as a stand-alone action flick, it's not bad. As a Daniel Bernhardt movie however, it's a must see. Not only does he get some of his best fights ever, but they magnify his talents through the Matrix's classic slow-mo anti-gravity fighting style to really show off some cool moves. However the movie's so overloaded with pretentiousness that I find it hard to really express any definitive enjoyment from the picture as a whole. This movie is also very green. So people who don't like green probably won't enjoy it. It's so green.

The directing's great, the sound effects are decent, the special effects are suitably bombastic... but the movie's largest downfall is the acting and the inclusion of some nauseatingly cheesy scenes that only serve to alienate me further from the already unlikable stars (I especially hate the perverse tribal rave). All the Agents, including the leading Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) are fantastic... but Reeves is so absolutely abysmal that I have difficulty in comprehending how he even won the audition - it's like watching a plank of wood in sunglasses being wobbled around in front of the camera for two and a half hours. The rest of the cast are reasonable in their roles, though as I've already stated, I can't stand most of their characters (especially Trinity)... but for what they're here to do, I guess they do it well. 

Oh well, be sure to see it... even though Daniel only gets around 15 minutes out of the movie's 2 hour and 40 minute running time, it still did it for me. Knowing that the entire packed audience had all simultaneously witness his ass-kicking on a mass scale had me beaming as I left the theater, kicking open the exit doors and trying to see if I could run along walls & beat the crap out of Keanu Reeves! 

Oh and just in case anyone wasn't aware; Daniel is NOT in the Matrix Revolutions, so if you're planning on seeing it solely for him, I'm afraid to say you'll be sorely disappointed (as I was)!