This movie rocked.

I know everyone goes on and on about the philosophy of the first Matrix movie, but what really made the first movie were three action sequences: Trinity's escape in the opening scene, Morpheus and Neo fighting in the dojo, and the sequence starting with the gunfight in the lobby, and ending with the helicopter crash. The mystical plot with a Campbellian hero, a Christ-metaphor and a questioning of reality were really just sugar-coating to make us feel good about all the really cool, mindless violence and bad acting.

So the really good news is that in the sequel, both the action sequences and the pop philosophy have been taken up a notch. We get delivered more kung-fu, more explosions and more destruction. There are some sequences that had me so caught up in the action that I wanted to cheer the screen.

Most of the fighting in Reloaded was kung-fu, which I found a little disappointing after how much fun the gunfight in the lobby was in the first movie. Also, the kung-fu seemed to be just a trifle less cleanly choreographed and shot than in the first movie, although maybe that's just because everything in the second movie is just that much faster.

I was possibly sitting a little too close to the screen, too.

As for the philosophy: while the theme of the first Matrix was questioning the nature of reality, Reloaded questions the nature of free will: asking just how much we control our own destiny, and how much is coded into our nature just as the computer programs of the Matrix are coded to perform their own functions. Like I said, such thing are necessary to turn two hours of fight sequences and car-chases into an intellectual pursuit.

Reeves' acting, of course, continues to be dire. In the first movie, Keanu could get away with being confused and monosyllabic. For this movie, he actually has to compose and articulate complete thoughts, and the strain shows.

Was the movie great? Yes. Was the movie ground-breaking? Of course not. The Matrix was ground-breaking, but its techniques have been copied in every crappy Jet Li vehicle ever since, and the sort of effects innovation that happened in the first movie is really a ‘once a decade’ thing. The Matrix was to time-manipulation what Terminator 2 was to morphing: the definitive statement.

If anything, the time manipulation effects are over-used in Reloaded. In the first movie, each speed change and bullet-time effect had a purpose; in Reloaded they're just peppered all over the place.

Also, watch out for the ending. This is the middle-movie of a trilogy, with the directors insisting the finale be delivered as soon as possible, so I doubt I'm giving anything away by saying that it ends with a cliff-hanger. Reloaded's ending had faint echoes of Empire Strikes Back: all the bad stuff is set up, now we're waiting to be resolved in November.

Here's hoping there's no ewoks in The Matrix: Revolutions.