{"id":82,"date":"2003-05-25T11:57:21","date_gmt":"2003-05-25T16:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/?p=82"},"modified":"2005-02-04T12:25:21","modified_gmt":"2005-02-04T10:25:21","slug":"reloaded-not-very-good-but-witing-for-sequel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2003\/05\/25\/reloaded-not-very-good-but-witing-for-sequel\/","title":{"rendered":"reloaded (not very good, but waiting for sequel)"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I went to see The Matrix: Reloaded yesterday, being the geek I am, and I thoroughly
\nenjoyed it.
\nNeedless to say, the graphics were "out of this world" and the continuations
\nand contradictions of what we were led to believe<\/em> after the first movie
\nare what made it interesting. I do, however, have some complaints:
\nFirst, the way it worked: monologue, fight, monologue, fight. Fight, fight, monologue.
\nWhat I loved about the first movie is how we "discovered" The Matrix:
\nits rules, and which could be bent or broken, by being shown them in well written\/active
\nscenes. This<\/em> movie just tells<\/em> us a history that would have been
\nfar more compelling in other ways. I want to know more about the Keymaker, Merovingian,
\nthe Architect, the Oracle, etc, but in their actions rather than speeches about
\nthem…
\nAlong those lines, what happened to a lot of the things that we learned in the
\nfirst movie? "When you see an Agent, RUN – unless you are The One."
\nWhy, then, is it not such a big deal that both Morpheus and Trinity decide to
\nfight some? And how in the hell do they manage to win \/ get away (this goes more
\nfor Morpheus, since Neo saved Trinity)?
\nAnd Neo, although he should not "just fly away," should have, and use,
\na lot more power than we see in this film. If Agents and The Twins are still governed
\nby Rules, and Neo is not, why can’t he do everything they can and more? Make himself
\nintangible, jump into bodies, copy himself, etc…
\nFuture predictions:
\nHow many of the exiles really want to help? Or how many are just programmed to
\ndo things? Or how many are double agents? Who gets to live on (did the Keymaker
\nhelp the other Ones?) or be deleted or killed?
\nMore importantly:
\nIs Agent Smith a new kind <\/em>of anomaly? He becomes more "human"
\n(choices and breaking of rules) each time he encounters Neo. I believe he is the
\nGollum of the story, in a lot of ways – he has a "part to play – for good
\nor evil – yet." Both he and<\/em> Neo’s love of Trinity are the major
\ndifferences in this storyline (as opposed to the previous Ones).<\/em>
\nAnother:
\nThe Oracle seems to have picked up on something beyond love and choices, too:
\nFAITH. This is what drives Morpheus. This is what makes Neo able to be a superhero
\n(by simply believing that he can). "You’ve made a believer out of me,"
\nis the last thing she says to Neo before they part. Perhaps it is Faith in humanity
\n(or the human-ness<\/em> of choices and love), in non-systemic existence, who
\nknows? But we’re going to see this Faith played out, big time, in the next film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So I went to see The Matrix: Reloaded yesterday, being the geek I am, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Needless to say, the graphics were "out of this world" and the continuations and contradictions of what we were led to believe after the first movie are what made it interesting. I do, however, have some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pop-culture"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9blZT-1k","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":263,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2004\/01\/01\/a-new-ear-uh-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":82,"position":0},"title":"a new ear, uh, year","author":"nathaniel","date":"01 January 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy new year! My better 2\/3rds and I just sat around watching DVDs of The West Wing, and drinking champagne and single malt scotch, to bring in 2004. How civilized :) One of my favorite lines in the show talks about voting for the \"lesser of who cares\" (haha -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news and politics"","block_context":{"text":"news and politics","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/news-and-politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2003\/05\/19\/newsies\/","url_meta":{"origin":82,"position":1},"title":"newsies","author":"nathaniel","date":"19 May 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Ooooooh. Two blogs one day. I couldn't resist just a little news surfing. Here's a nice one on Howard Dean. Fleischer is resigning and this could be good for the rest of America. Perhaps Bush won't find a decent press secretary (sigh)? Kerry is calling for a tax increase on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news and politics"","block_context":{"text":"news and politics","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/news-and-politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":96,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2003\/05\/04\/jean-grey-jean-gray-the-phoenix\/","url_meta":{"origin":82,"position":2},"title":"jean grey, jean gray, the phoenix","author":"nathaniel","date":"04 May 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw X-Men 2, the movie, last night. The story wasn't as cool or as politically charged as the first (perhaps because they were using the same social message as a theme, without as clearly developing it in relation to current sociopolitical events, as in the first), but the action\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "pop culture"","block_context":{"text":"pop culture","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/pop-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1243,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2006\/06\/29\/when-new-technology-is-sort-of-like-is-a-marketing-gimmick\/","url_meta":{"origin":82,"position":3},"title":"When new technology is sort of like is a marketing gimmick","author":"BradyDale","date":"29 June 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"You probably know what greenbaiting is, right? Like when they put hybrid engines in an SUV?\u00a0 Or when they put 20% post-consumer content in paper plates and call them \"eco-plates?\" Tonight, I think I experienced the same thing in technology and entertainment. I went and saw Superman Returns at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art and tech"","block_context":{"text":"art and tech","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/art-and-tech\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":568,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2005\/03\/14\/still-here-sundaytimescoza-must-see\/","url_meta":{"origin":82,"position":4},"title":"still here: sundaytimes.co.za “must see”","author":"nathaniel","date":"14 March 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"DANCING IN THE RAIN: Craig Morris, Greg Maqoma and Irene Stephanou at the Dance Factory photo credit: THEMBINKOSI DWAYISA from sundaytimes.co.za: Dance Umbrella: Still Here The Dance Factory, Newtown \u2019\u00c4\u00ee Monday and Tuesday at 7.30pm (march 14\/15) Price: R50 Tel: (011) 482-4140 or 082-570-3083 WHAT does actor David Minnaar have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":81,"url":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/2003\/05\/27\/politics-of-imagination\/","url_meta":{"origin":82,"position":5},"title":"politics of imagination","author":"nathaniel","date":"27 May 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Check out this fantastic essay about the politics of imagination, Mark Shuttleworth and the African diaspora. serial faces page, new statements (both written) and a re-organized gallery should be up by week's end. For real :) It was Memorial Day in my home country yesterday, so I had a beer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "me"","block_context":{"text":"me","link":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/category\/me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nathanielstern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}