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the Opinion: Reloaded

Dave Hyatt raises some interesting points and a little sweet, sweet extrapolation in his the Matrix: Reloaded overview.

This doesn’t change my overall opinion of Reloaded, though. I’m still largely of the opinion that it was terribly produced and waaaaay overdone in the effects department (see also: Scott Kurtz has some really great observations on the matter), but Hyatt’s theories might just make me change my mind on the “there is no credible plot” issue.

Now, I agree with Kurtz when he says “It’s bullshit to force me to sit through 2 hours of crap just so I’m set up for the finale” — he’s totally right, the meaning of Reloaded shouldn’t only become apparent after we’ve seen Revolutions. In six months time I shouldn’t be put in a situation where I can say “Oh, that’s why the second movie appeared to lick balls. Ah HA!”, but if Hyatt’s speculation turns out to be the real deal… then that’s precisely what will happen.

Hyatt speculates that…

  1. Zion is a “second layer” of the Matrix where they store all those people who won’t accept the primary Matrix
  2. This, in itself, is another layer of control. While all the suckers in the primary Matrix are blissfully wasting away their lives thinking they’re free, the people in Zion think they’re the ones who are really free. They’re just as happy with their situation as the people in the primary Matrix… after all, they “know” they’re free.
  3. the Architect never expected Neo to choose Trinity over Zion. None of Neo’s predecessors chose what Neo chose… so the Architect assumed Neo would follow in their footsteps and the great cycle of Matrices would begin anew. He was wrong.
  4. In choosing Trinity, Neo has awakened something new in his mind. He can “feel” the sentinels in the “real” world… finally showing him that it isn’t the real world after all, it’s just another Matrix
  5. Armed with this new knowledge and power, Neo will become “the One” in the Zion–Matrix and will really, finally free everyone within. Game Over.

If all this turns out to be true, then I might just have to concede that the Matrix Trilogy is one of the greatest stories of our time… if not poorly executed in the film format. Of course, others will disagree and think that these movies are the coolest things ever — superfluous kung–foo and overdone slow–mo crap are cool, right? But at the end of the day, it’ll be another six months until we find out. If the speculation proves true, I’ll be mightily impressed. If something else happens, I’ll be mightily disappointed.

And now we wait.