Matrix Reloaded (2-Disc Widescreen Edition) (2003)

USA Today
"...Carrie-Anne Moss' Trinity, a plus throughout, puts her chiseled frame on a motorcycle and achieves the near-impossible: a fresh spin on the movie car chase..." 05/16/2003 p.4E

Variety
"...Studded with remarkable action set pieces and graced with any number of felicitous performances....[The] film' s combination of stylishness, seriousness of purpose and visceral impact makes it compulsively watchable..." 05/12/2003 p.26-8

Entertainment Weekly
"...The science-fiction fight scenes fly past the first film in terms of imaginative logistics; they just about make your eyeballs dance..." 05/23/2003 p.52-3

Rolling Stone
"...Make no mistake: Eyes will pop, nerves will jangle, thoughts will be provoked and other summer blockbusters will shrink in comparison..." 06/12/2003 p.101

Box Office
"...The film is so intellectually complex, so stimulating, that multiple viewings are required..." 07/01/2003 p.44

Sight and Sound
"...The hints and allusions are numerous enough to render a Matrix -- an infinite network of portents and possibilities -- of the film itself....The Merovingian scenes are particularly inventive..." 07/01/2003 p.50-3

Film Comment
"...[The effects] are among the most relentless and compellingly sublime in recent memory....There are moments of startling clarity and brilliance..." 07/01/2003 p.74

Total Film
"...When RELOADED fires, it really fires, mixing the Wachowski's dynamic framing, Yuen Woo Ping's wirework and John Gaeta's effects into a virtuoso virtu-dream plucked from fevered brows..." 07/01/2003 p.94

Rolling Stone 8 of 10
Eyes will pop, nerves will jangle, thoughts will be provoked and other summer blockbusters will shrink in comparison. But to quote from one of the few cultural touchstones not referenced in this film: "Houston, we've got a problem." - Peter Travers
 
James Berardinelli's ReelViews 8 of 10
On balance, The Matrix Reloaded does an admirable job of filling the niche it's supposed to--that of an action-oriented science fiction adventure. Only time and Matrix Revolutions will determine if the material contained here is just a noisy, visually lively distraction or whether there are deeper currents we're not yet aware of. - James Berardinelli
 
San Francisco Examiner 7 of 10
The Matrix Reloaded presents a conundrum. On the one hand, it's a superbly executed action movie of the like we haven't seen in years. But on the other hand, it's a disappointing sequel to one of the biggest American film phenomena since Star Wars. - Jeffrey M. Anderson
 
ReelViews 8 of 10
Non-demanding fans of the original The Matrix will likely be enthralled by the second installment in the series. More demanding aficionados will likely have a few reservations, some of which will not be addressed until the release of the third feature, Matrix Revolutions. I fall into the latter category. Although there are things about The Matrix Reloaded that I like, the movie is so open-ended and riddled with gaping holes that it's virtually impossible to view this as a finished project...It is possible -- perhaps even likely -- that the shadow of Matrix Revolutions will be so long that it will fundamentally impact the effectiveness of The Matrix Reloaded...As always when expectations are this high, there's bound to be a level of disappointment. Whether it becomes the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time or the biggest movie of the summer is of interest only to those who view box-office results like sports scores. On balance, The Matrix Reloaded does an admirable job of filling the niche it's supposed to -- that of an action-oriented science fiction adventure. Only time and Matrix Revolutions will determine if the material contained here is just a noisy, visually lively distraction or whether there are deeper currents we're not yet aware of. - James Berardinelli
 
Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
Commander Lock: "Not everyone believes what you believe." Morpheus: "My beliefs do not require that they do." Characters are always talking like this in "The Matrix Reloaded," which plays like a collaboration involving a geek, a comic book and the smartest kid in Philosophy 101...The speeches provide not meaning, but the effect of meaning: It sure sounds like those guys are saying some profound things...That will not prevent fanboys from analyzing the philosophy of "The Matrix Reloaded" in endless Web postings. Part of the fun is becoming an expert in the deep meaning of shallow pop mythology; there is something refreshingly ironic about becoming an authority on the transient extrusions of mass culture, and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) now joins Obi-Wan Kenobi as the Plato of our age...I say this not in disapproval, but in amusement. "The Matrix" (1999), written and directed by the brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski, inspired so much inflamed pseudo-philosophy that it's all "The Matrix Reloaded" can do to stay ahead of its followers. It is an immensely skillful sci-fi adventure, combining the usual elements: heroes and villains, special effects and stunts, chases and explosions, romance and oratory...Toward the end, there are scenes involving characters who seem pregnant with possibilities for Part 3. - Roger Ebert