The Matrix Reloaded

Keanu Reeves returns to dodge more bullets in slow motion

In the underground city of Zion, the last vestiges of humanity hold out against the ruthless forces behind the Matrix, a complex, computer-generated world. If anything, this first sequel to the 1999 sci-fi classic is an even more fiendishly complicated conundrum than what's gone before.

Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) may have made a spectacular exit in the first movie, but here he's back as a multitude of clones to do battle with Keanu Reeve's Neo. That's the undoubted highlight of the film's many fight sequences, which, upping the cutting edge fantasy film ante yet again, seamlessly blend special effects and Reeves' commanding smart moves into something that's quite extraordinary. Reeves also finds time for some concentrated romance with Carrie-Anne Moss' Trinity. Laurence Fishburne's Morpheus does a lot of deep thinking out loud and Jada Pinkett Smith is in charge of a spaceship.

The plot will make a lot more sense to those already steeped in Matrix lore, but for those who aren't, it's easy just to revel in the energy, excitement and eccentricity of a film that makes up its own mind-bending rules as it goes.

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