(2003) "The problem is choice," says the Architect. The first sequel (produced at the same time as the third movie in the series) by directors/producers Andy and Larry Wachowski is more violent, less intelligent than the original.

The beginning is the end, first as Neo's dream and then inside the Matrix. For Neo (Keanu Reeves), who is having difficulties sleeping, dreams are another way of knowing; he's also getting to know Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) in every sense of the word.

The sentinels' machines are digging toward Zion where the surviving quarter million humans with freed minds reside, staving off their extinction during a century of war. Though not everyone agrees with Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), who proclaims to a mass rally, "The prophecy will be fulfilled soon," especially not Commander Lock (who dismisses all talk of prophecies, oracles, and messiahs), Neo's incredible feats, flashing around in his black cassock and dark glasses, "doing his Superman thing," as Link (Harold Perrineau, looking like Chris Rock with dreadlocks) calls it (telling his wife Zee, "I'm starting to believe him too"), has inspired adulation.

The only old people, such as Councillor Hamann - who confides with Neo their almost symbiotic relationship with machines, some of which preserve life while others are programmed to destroy life, explaining that control is having the power to shut the machines off, though because of their dependence on them, turning them off would be suicidal - appear on the governing council; the youth (a diversity of ethnic backgrounds) are having an orgy while Neo and Trinity privately get it on.

An agent of the sentinels worms his way into Zion as a mole while Neo goes to see the Oracle, having to prove himself first to Seraph, through the back door (a programmer's access). "How can I trust you?" he asks her (herself a program, not a human). "You have to try to understand why you made [the choice]," she cryptically explains. Invisible programs are continuously running everything in the Matrix, but disruptions caused by hackers appear as anomalies, such as ghosts and vampires. Neo, himself a mathematical anomaly, can either attempt to hide within the Matrix or return to the source (the mainframe). "We can never see past the choices we don't understand," the Oracle says.

In order to open the door that leads to the mainframe, Neo needs to find the Keymaker, who is in the custody of Merovingian (the name refers to the Frankish dynasty established in the 5th century AD, which also figures into a legend that Jesus Christ's bloodline survived in a line of kings), a trafficker of information lusting after ever more power. However, Neo must first confront Smith (Hugo Weaving), who killed Neo as Mr Anderson but then Neo in destroying Smith, compelled him to disobey, in effect unplugging the agent, making him free and able to clone himself into dozens and scores of "me me me": "Appearances can be deceiving," Smith says to his most formidable opponent, "without purpose we would not exist."

Escaping from the mob of Smiths, Neo rejoins Trinity and Morpheus for an audience with Merovingian and his beautiful wife Persephone (Greek goddess abducted by Pluto to be queen of Hades for half of each year). Complimenting the trio on their being good at following orders from the Oracle, Merovingian contradicts Morpheus's assertion that action begins with choice: "Choice is an illusion," the only real truth is causality, i.e. cause and effect. He then demonstrates with a female subject how "we are completely out of control," all of us victims of causality, our reasoning overwhelmed by the chemistry of emotions. (Neo's romantic attachment to Trinity seems to confirm this as truth.) The only source of power resides in a single-minded concentration on knowing the answer to why.

Persephone, however, pops the bubble of this "pompous prick," demanding a kiss from Neo - "make me believe I'm her" - in exchange for taking them to the Keymaker. Of course, this really upsets Merovingian, who sends his ghoulish albino twins after them. Neo gets separated from the others whose only escape is onto the suicidal freeway (if you thought LA was bad, this is madness multiplied).

All systems have a weakness; the weakness in most humans is their reliance on hope, explains the Architect. The horns of a dilemma catch Neo, forcing him to decide between saving the people of Zion or rescuing Trinity. "There are no accidents … no coincidences," declares Morpheus, "only providence … purpose … fate … destiny … the very meaning of our lives." The end credits are a stream of names as indecipherable as computer code.

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Copyright © 2008 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
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