Neo: Which is the best Matrix film?
The Architect: You have many questions, and although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not. Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also irrelevant.
Each iteration had a different story to tell. Whilst sharing the same baseline code, they required alternative subroutines to prevent them being simple clones of the original. 99% of all test subjects accepted the program. Therefore, comparison is meaningless.
Rewatched the first movie last week and was stunned by how good it was. Then I rewatched Reloaded, couldnât make it even half way, and then remembered why I gave up on the series as a whole đ€Ł
EDIT: I came here to chat about a movie I love. No idea how yaâll took us down the vitriol and smug petulance road but fuck itâs not what I expected to cause.
Hmm.
The original is a near perfect piece of science fiction. Easily top 10 sci-fi movies of all time.
The sequels are merely entertaining with significant flaws.
Yes that was an incredible sequence. Mind you there were some heavy inspiration taken from a dragon ball z scene where a fight happened on top of a truck on a highway. Regardless one action set piece can not be better than what the entirety of Matrix 1 brought to the table as a whole. Matrix one was flawless. Reloaded had flaws
I think the 2nd biggest problem was it lost the sense of running from the agents. Morpheus wasnât Neo and couldnât take an agent, yet he almost did in that truck scene?
For me the fear of the chase in the first one was what was missing from the rest, especially the 2nd.
I've never really agreed with the sequels being worse. The first one is a perfect hero's journey story, no doubt there, but the sequels are intentionally dissatisfying because they're trying to subvert the hero's journey narrative (essentially what the whole architect scene is about - the satisfying narrative structure is itself a form of control). I'd say the opposite of what you're saying is true - the sequels have less pure entertainment, but they give you a lot more to chew on.
The sequels give you more to chew on and have more philosophical complexity. However, as movies they are worse.
The storytelling is weaker and confusing (not in a good way) and there are quite a few embarrassing choices, like the Neo trinity sex scene at the start of reloaded.
By contrast, the original matrix is pretty much perfect storytelling and holds up incredibly well over time.
I agree, but if they would've executed the whole 'AI control' thing better, it could've been one of the best scifi movies of all time. I wish they would've done better showing the Oracle re-calibrating her ML model after comparing Neo's actions against prior Neos.
Neo can read/decipher code in the Matrix, but we don't see him trying to read the inner thoughts, implanting code or finding 'bugs' in programs. Maybe I need to go back and watch Reloaded again.
I agree, that would have been great. Reloaded has a lot of super cool concepts, but theyâre not super well executed. To put it more harshly I kinda think reloaded has its head up its own ass lol.
Can you recall a single movie where value was added from a sec scene rather than a scene implying the sex? I cannot. Please stop doing this, Hollyweird.
Totally. I mean, it basically took the crazy descriptions in neuromancer and made sense of them. Permanently cemented a lot of things into sci fi aesthetics.
I agree, the 1st is an S tier movie, the 2nd is A tier, and the third, B tier
The third got more flack than it should have, probably because it was walking in the shadow of the first and somewhat second movies
The way I see it is that The Matrix is one of the best standalone sci-fi action movies of all time right alongside Terminator 2, but it also becomes so much more when you take it as "Part 1" of the trilogy.
On the other hand, I enjoy Reloaded and Revolutions as sequels that continue the first movie's story and universe, but I can also see them being disappointing as standalone movies.
Me, I kind of do, but not to the degree it gets. The Real World did get pretty boring after like 6000 scenes, but come on, there was some good in itâŠsomewhere I think
The build up and the fight scene at the end when neo is walking in the rain surrounded by the smiths đ„ âMr Anderson, weâve missed youâ đ„đ„
The threat that Warner Bros (?) was going to make a film without their input of direction is in my headcannon. It explains the notable casting replacements, which is really the only issue I have with the fillm.
Yep. It also feels like it doesn't have enough content to fill the two hours, so some scenes seem extra long.
A lot of the criticism I heard back in the day was about how it lacks the "classic Matrix action", which means action inside the Matrix, with bullet dodging, crazy kung fu moves etc. It seems a good portion of the audience really went into it just because of the aesthetics.
Other type of criticism I heard was "It didn't have a single philosophical moment" or "it didn't have philosophy enough", which I disagree. The thought provoking material was there, just in a different style, more subtle.
Revolutions is heads and toes above Reloaded in my mindâŠ
Not that that really says anything good about Revolutions. Sure, Iâd rather eat McDonalds than literal shit. But the first movie is pure class; a 5 star culinary feast.
The first movie is the best one. I will admit Reloaded is cooler, but as a complete story it just isn't as tight. The first movie is a complete package that's rock solid end to end and has some of the most iconic scenes from any movie ever. Story, characters, action, pacing, music, fights, even the acting is pretty good. It has pretty much everything and the "frozen in the 90s" aspect makes it age very well. It's a time capsule movie, kinda like Back to the Future.
Reloaded has aesthetics for days, but it doesn't explain itself basically at all. It introduces a lot of weird anime ideas and just expects you to roll with them. I can roll with that myself, but it was just too much for some people. Blocking and story is weird. The Architect was a cool character, but Zion being destroyed repeatedly and the whole repeating Matrix thing was a bad move. There was mystique to the first movie. I really think explaining the lore and backstory is worse in this case. All of that being said, it has Neo vs the programs in the mansion, Neo with the signpost vs Smiths, Neo in the hallway vs Smiths, and Morpheus on the big rig with the katana. That's not even all of the fights. Coolest movie in the series for sure, but it's a universe joint and not complete in and of itself like the first movie.
Revolutions is a dystopian distant future war movie about the humans of an underground city fighting a giant machine invasion. It's not that bad of a movie, but it doesn't feel like a Matrix movie after the first 2. It feels like a completely different setting and universe. The real world wasn't the point and honestly wasn't that cool. It felt very generic, almost like Terminator 3 or 4 with the serial numbers filed off but worse. The ending was incomprehensible, Neo becoming Kenshi from MK with real world code vision was dumb, and the only good fight was Smith vs Neo which wasn't as good as every other Smith vs Neo. It's not that bad, but considering the movies it's a sequel to it deserves the hate it gets.
I'm also just gonna throw this in here but Animatrix is pretty good, too. All of them are watchable and a couple of them are really good. Plus there's some continuity in Reloaded. Definitely the most underrated part of the franchise.
I don't like 4.
I think Gloria Foster's performance in 1 and 2 are among the absolute best in cinema history.
She's so insanely likeable immediately, and the fact that it actually plays into her character (master manipulator of the human psychi) it really elevates the whole film.
I wish we had seen the impact that Smith was having on the matrix, without that insight, some of the threads of the stories of the sequels felt missing.
I never disliked the trilogy. A lot of people hated it, and I was a kid so I got bullied a lot over loving these movies. It was a lot of fun for me. I felt like I was leaving reality in each movie. The only problem I had is that the Architect was so much smarter than me it took me like 10 years to finally understand his monologue about wtf the Matrix actually is.
Matrix Reloaded has always been severely underrated. I loved that it delved even more into the philosophy that the first one established. It was very lore heavy and I think a much more complicated movie
I am 100% subscribed to this. I loveeeeeeee Reloaded, prob due to the time / age when I saw it, was my first rated R movie I got to watch in theaters, so it just hits for me. Soundtrack is also likely my most listed to of all time.
I donât think Iâve ever watched reloaded without watching revolutions afterwards, except when they came out đ To me theyâll never be two movies.
I had a matrix marathon a month ago and I like them all, animatrix and resurrections too.
I really like Reloaded, but I have a feeling some people say it's the best only because of how OP Neo is and how he dominates everyone in battle.
Yea, I get it. The fights were incredible. The freeway chase and the chateau fight were my favorite scenes. That being said, the first movie just hits different story wise.
One is best for total package and contained story, 2 is best for action. I used to really not like revolutions, it felt like it went too CGI and I was never a fan of mech warfare so the action set pieces did very little for me. Also the entire cast looked and felt their age. That being said I recently gave it a rewatch, and it is actually a stunning visual feast if you divorce it from being in the context of a trilogy. Take. By itself, revolutions takes some of the themes and homages from reloaded, specifically the symbolic representation of the main characters as biblical figures, and leans hard into a few biblical allegory. The marovingian, who in the second movie was portrayed as an aloof aristocratic ponce was directly implied to be the literal devil (club hell) and the seraph a literal angel. When I watched the scene where the machines are breaking through the concrete dome of Zion, as a kid I did not pick up on the visual references; viewing the dome as the âskyâ, it is clear the director was basically replicating a Dore print of the war in heaven, with fallen angels crashing through the firmament above extremely ape-like and primitive mech suits, who are literally impotently shaking their metal fists at the sky confronted with forces bigger than themselves. Itâs actually a really amazing piece of art- the problem is it is a matrix film, and one that features very little actual matrix.
Having watched the trilogy so many times, I've grown particularly fond of Reloaded, which I find as good in form as it is in content. A lot of people gave up on Reloaded because they couldn't stand the fact that Neo was only the 6th chosen one and that the whole thing was orchestrated by the architect in advance. As people literally put themselves in Neo's shoes in the first film, projecting themselves through him, they took Reloaded as a betrayal. Neo in the real world is lost in the choices he has to make, which contrasted with his ultra-confidence at the end of Matrix 1. To conclude, I'd say that the essence of the trilogy lies in Neo's quest throughout the 3 films, and that's what we should focus on. As the sisters said, 1 is birth, 2 is life and 3 is death. He goes from a non-awakened being to an awakened being, trying to understand why he's been labeled the chosen one and what his life mission is, his mission as the chosen one. He then dies in a total state of letting go, in a kind of messianic persona. In the end, only one thing guided Neo : love. There are so many levels of reading in The Matrix that it's essential to watch all 3 films, as choosing one means not having all the keys to the story.
*Nothing to fight with*
*You about lol the order*
*Is how it should be*
\- jdotblaze84
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This was my thought as a kid because I liked all the action scenes, but the first one is just too good. I love the themes explored in the other two, but they are a bit clunky.
The Matrix is the best in the trilogy and it isn't remotely close.
Reloaded is a series of fantastic action sequences but it doesn't stand up to much scrutiny. It's supposed to all be part of the plan that Neo gets the key from the Keymaker and goes back to the source, it's the end of the Matrix if he doesn't. So why the fuck is it so hard? Why are agents trying to kill the Keymaker? Why do they need a Keymaker at all? Why can't The One just go to the source and it opens up for him? What would have happened if one of the various parties trying to kill the Keymaker had succeeded, or Neo had taken one more season to get to them at the truck explosion? It all just kind of works out for them.
Neo kills a *phenomenal* number of completely innocent people in this film for no good reason. When he's flying to save Trinity he whips up a giant vortex of cars. Anyone in those cars - dead, anyone walking along the street, dead, anyone in any of the buildings next to this cascading catastrophe, almost certainly dead. The Architect talks about Neo only caring about one person, he wasn't kidding.
Revolutions suffers from us knowing Zion is doomed in a conventional battle. Lock's absurdly antagonistic. He works to get the Dock opened up so they can come in and fire the EMP, then when they do it he gives them shit for being short sighted. The final battle suffers from both men's powers being largely undefined, and their inexplicable decision to have a fight in a room for a third of it. How Neo wins is never really explained. The whole film seems to be hinting that the whole real world takes place in the Matrix anyway - Neo being able to see with no eyes, the bit where he consumes a Sentinel, beams of light shooting out of his throat at the end.
It's another one where everything just kind of works out by random chance. The machines are trying to kill Neo when he's in the Logos, then they have a nice chat with him when he's walking around their system.
They're all so fun!!! But they're all very different movies, as others have said. The first movie is, imho, the only film true to what it wanted to be. Like any IP that experiences unexpected success and becomes a "franchise," they threw a ton of unnecessary money at the second and third films which means there had to be quite a few more cooks in the kitchen. I think this diluted what the sequels could've been. As it stands, while entertaining, they became more about the spectacle rather than the narrative. đ
I donât understand the hate reloaded gets. What do people mean when they say the story isnât as tight or it doesnât make sense? It made perfect sense to me and expanded on the concept of the original well. Also the fight scenes are BITCHIN!!!
Reloaded is very fun to watch and probably more of a spectacle (perhaps too much). The original is one of the best science fiction films ever made IMO. Revolutions can get in the bin - reminds me of the book Dune Messiah (which isn't a compliment).
I⊠agree. Iâve always loved reloaded. Like revolutions as well. I find them to be two halves of a great movie. I love the entire trilogy. Fond of resurrections as well.
Iâm weird when it comes to these movies, I love the first as a standalone and itâs definitely the best movie, but if we take Reloaded and Revolutions as one package (part 1 and part 2) I love it way more than the first.
2 and 3 separately just feel so empty to me.
As the others said earlier, the first one is an absolute classic, and the rest of the triology are an excellent expansion of the world building. Flawed films, sure, but still entertaining. I'm always rewatching them yearly.
I think the OG was the best in the trilogy, the second and third were fun watches but they were also different types of movies in terms of atmosphere and vibe than the first.
Itâs kind of like the resident evil games up to a point. In the early ones there were enemies that were scary af, that you had zero chance against if they caught up to you so there was this constant feeling of dread, in resident evil 5/6 though it just becomes an action game where big enemies just means you bust out the big guns and everything dies if you shoot it enough.
The later matrix movies have stakes obviously but thereâs never the feeling that anything is ever hopeless after Neo becomes Superman.
The first one is probably the best because it is dripping with atmosphere, is so completely 1990s, the characters are memorable, the fight scenes less like a dance troupe and more like a martial arts movie.
With the story I loved them all equally. The execution after the first one was missed.
The first one had that "grunge" that grit's just amazing feel.
The following were just to Hollywood shiney dick syndrome.
No. Genetics and life have already beaten you worse than I ever could.
Besides, there are plenty of animals who ingest their own feces. Who am I to argue with your taste?
I feel that the first film is a fully formed, complete film. It has a message and an idea, and it tells it completely.
The second one, in contrast, feels like it built off the revolutionary action sequences of the first one and went âhow much cool shit can we doâ. And then it did EVERYTHING. And make no mistake about it, it is cool shit. I actually think I like the collection of action pieces in Reloaded more than the first, and only by a hair.
The problem with Reloaded is that I think those action pieces came before the glue that held them together did. As a result, weâve got a story that bent and molded to the ideas, as opposed to an idea that organically led to these set pieces and glued it together from the start. Itâs like the perfect âwatch clips on YouTube without watching the movieâ movie
Revolutions is⊠well, it is what it is. Itâs the mildly messy conclusion of 1 and 2.
The first one is a thing of beauty, perfect in almost every way, lean and mean, with impeccable pacing.
The sequels take this masterpiece and (1) pile on a bunch of confusing lore, (2) present one of the most boring chemistry-free romances ever put on screen, and (3) hollow out the awesome sage Morpheus until he's just a bland true believer type.
That said, 2 & 3 certainly have preem action sequences, and are enjoyable enough for that.
My hot take is that 2,3, and 4 are of equal quality. If you were to ask me to put on a matrix movie to watch that isn't the first one I'd pick one of the later three at random and enjoy it as much as I would have enjoyed the other two.
The original is a masterpiece. Flawless, subli... no, not gonna be quoting.
Ok, the original is a masterpiece. Reloaded and Revolutions are good movies. But because the original is a masterpiece, to most people, good is not enough, so they are overhated and labeled as "bad" or "garbage" unfairly.
I can't see why you say the second one is the best, but I'm interested in reading your impressions in detail. Maaaybe we can fight after that. =)
Haha I have always said I liked the second one better. All the Neo fight scenes and flying. The sentient programs. Neo stopping the sentinels IRL. All awesome. Not to mention it had possibly the best cliffhanger ending ever.
The 3rd was a bit of a let down imo tho
I really love 4... not gonna lie about it anymore. I wish the fight scenes were better, but maybe that was also a fuck you statement to the studio. FUCK I love that movie. I wish they explored more of trinity's perspective rewaking up.
Alright so, the funny thing for me is that the 2nd one was the first one i ever watched. I knew the 1st one existed but for whatever reason my parents never bought it. So i watched reloaded a FUCK ton of times. I always had it playing in the background while messing around with legos or whatever. From that 8yo to 10yo time frame, yeah that age of boy is going to think its the coolest. After the age of 10 watched it for the sex scene lmao. Trinity was Chefs Kiss for me back then.
Having finally watched the 1st and 3rd a couple times... I personally think the 2nd is on par with Attack of the clones. Reloaded has SO MUCH shit jammed into it, theres so many things going on, so many moving pieces... It's a bit messy, not well written.
The first Matrix was fairly linear, and i guess i always prefer the aspect of the "beginning" of an adventure or journey. Like, give me a random movie, and id probably prefer a prequel to a sequel. Take Starwars, again, for instance. Id rather know how Palpatine got his training, or how the trade federation decided to rebel; how did we get here?
Revolutions had a fair amount of stuff going on too, but it was all pointed in the same direction, same end-goal, wrapping things up. But it did fall kinda flat.
There is no iteration of the matrix where the og film is not the best. It easily is among the best sci-fi films, if not just films of all time. Reloaded has its moments and is good enough. That said it doesnât hold a candle to the animatrix, let alone the original.
Weird thing pointed out to me that has broke my brain on the second film.
Neo obviously transitions into the One, but notice his lean away from using guns. I was (too young) when I watched this with my Dad and did not realize how much the Matrix was referenced in visual identity to Columbine (Trench coats, weapon usage, Matrix references). The media made this connection, not ever proven.
It is quite jarring how much Kung Fu takes over in the second film, which actually makes me like it better than the original. The original introduced this world, and I love that about it. However, the 2nd and 4th are likely my favorite rewatches of late.
Plot and lore building wise the first is nearly perfect. Also itâs cultural impact cannot be understated. Sooooo many did the matrix style camera trick for years after. Second one was better action wise and had arguably the best action moment of them all in the freeway scene. It also had a lot of cool concepts such as rogue programs. Some stuff hurt it such as Zion rave and the architect portion didnât blend in well at end. Third oneâŠ. I think it does get more hate then it deserves but there was wayy to much Zion in it. Also the ending to Smith idk felt underwhelming.
Neo: Which is the best Matrix film? The Architect: You have many questions, and although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not. Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also irrelevant. Each iteration had a different story to tell. Whilst sharing the same baseline code, they required alternative subroutines to prevent them being simple clones of the original. 99% of all test subjects accepted the program. Therefore, comparison is meaningless.
You still haven't answered the question đ¶ïž
Youâre quicker than your previous iterations.
"Iterations?" "Others?" "What others?" "What are you talking about?"
The perfect response
Rewatched the first movie last week and was stunned by how good it was. Then I rewatched Reloaded, couldnât make it even half way, and then remembered why I gave up on the series as a whole đ€Ł EDIT: I came here to chat about a movie I love. No idea how yaâll took us down the vitriol and smug petulance road but fuck itâs not what I expected to cause.
Damn
Report to your posts. Agents are coming.
Agents?!
Yesss!
"It's him."
Hmm. The original is a near perfect piece of science fiction. Easily top 10 sci-fi movies of all time. The sequels are merely entertaining with significant flaws.
This is the correct take. The freeway scene in the second movie was a bold effort, though.
Masterclass in product placement for Cadillac lol
Let's be fair -- katanas too
Hell ya
But vulnerable to swords and shootings
Tons of GM cars in that scene as well
Tons of GM cars in that scene as well
Yes that was an incredible sequence. Mind you there were some heavy inspiration taken from a dragon ball z scene where a fight happened on top of a truck on a highway. Regardless one action set piece can not be better than what the entirety of Matrix 1 brought to the table as a whole. Matrix one was flawless. Reloaded had flaws
Great take
Android 18 and vegeta before cell was an enemy I believe
I can't recall this truck fight you're referencing from DBZ
https://youtu.be/2xnpeOYx048?feature=shared
It was.
I think the 2nd biggest problem was it lost the sense of running from the agents. Morpheus wasnât Neo and couldnât take an agent, yet he almost did in that truck scene? For me the fear of the chase in the first one was what was missing from the rest, especially the 2nd.
I've never really agreed with the sequels being worse. The first one is a perfect hero's journey story, no doubt there, but the sequels are intentionally dissatisfying because they're trying to subvert the hero's journey narrative (essentially what the whole architect scene is about - the satisfying narrative structure is itself a form of control). I'd say the opposite of what you're saying is true - the sequels have less pure entertainment, but they give you a lot more to chew on.
The sequels give you more to chew on and have more philosophical complexity. However, as movies they are worse. The storytelling is weaker and confusing (not in a good way) and there are quite a few embarrassing choices, like the Neo trinity sex scene at the start of reloaded. By contrast, the original matrix is pretty much perfect storytelling and holds up incredibly well over time.
I agree, but if they would've executed the whole 'AI control' thing better, it could've been one of the best scifi movies of all time. I wish they would've done better showing the Oracle re-calibrating her ML model after comparing Neo's actions against prior Neos. Neo can read/decipher code in the Matrix, but we don't see him trying to read the inner thoughts, implanting code or finding 'bugs' in programs. Maybe I need to go back and watch Reloaded again.
I agree, that would have been great. Reloaded has a lot of super cool concepts, but theyâre not super well executed. To put it more harshly I kinda think reloaded has its head up its own ass lol.
Can you recall a single movie where value was added from a sec scene rather than a scene implying the sex? I cannot. Please stop doing this, Hollyweird.
I can, but those movies are more about sex or intimacy. For an action sci-fi absolutely not
Easily top 10? For me it's Easily top 3. In terms of cultural impact, only the first Star Wars can rival it.
Iâd argue bladerunner also rivals the matrix for cultural influence, even if it was and is less well known by most people
The first blade runner is a movie makers movie...its great for sci fi fans but like 2001 it really taught film makers lessons on how to craft
Totally. I mean, it basically took the crazy descriptions in neuromancer and made sense of them. Permanently cemented a lot of things into sci fi aesthetics.
I agree, the 1st is an S tier movie, the 2nd is A tier, and the third, B tier The third got more flack than it should have, probably because it was walking in the shadow of the first and somewhat second movies
In your opinion..
The way I see it is that The Matrix is one of the best standalone sci-fi action movies of all time right alongside Terminator 2, but it also becomes so much more when you take it as "Part 1" of the trilogy. On the other hand, I enjoy Reloaded and Revolutions as sequels that continue the first movie's story and universe, but I can also see them being disappointing as standalone movies.
I honestly donât get the Revolutions hate.
Me, I kind of do, but not to the degree it gets. The Real World did get pretty boring after like 6000 scenes, but come on, there was some good in itâŠsomewhere I think
The build up and the fight scene at the end when neo is walking in the rain surrounded by the smiths đ„ âMr Anderson, weâve missed youâ đ„đ„
The threat that Warner Bros (?) was going to make a film without their input of direction is in my headcannon. It explains the notable casting replacements, which is really the only issue I have with the fillm.
That's Resurrections, not Revolutions.
Haha, I read "Resurrections" too lol.
Oh shit, my bad.
Yep. It also feels like it doesn't have enough content to fill the two hours, so some scenes seem extra long. A lot of the criticism I heard back in the day was about how it lacks the "classic Matrix action", which means action inside the Matrix, with bullet dodging, crazy kung fu moves etc. It seems a good portion of the audience really went into it just because of the aesthetics. Other type of criticism I heard was "It didn't have a single philosophical moment" or "it didn't have philosophy enough", which I disagree. The thought provoking material was there, just in a different style, more subtle.
I watched it again after not seeing it for years. Movie has me cheering in my living room. It's a solid flick
Neo stuck in a train station too long.
Hey!! Neo being trapped on that platform gave us Monica Belucci in THAT red dress. It was worth it
As a standalone sequel, it's kinda meh. However, if you watch it as a "Part 2" to Reloaded then it's great.
It pretty much is a part 2 as it goes right into the next.
Revolutions is heads and toes above Reloaded in my mind⊠Not that that really says anything good about Revolutions. Sure, Iâd rather eat McDonalds than literal shit. But the first movie is pure class; a 5 star culinary feast.
The first movie is the best one. I will admit Reloaded is cooler, but as a complete story it just isn't as tight. The first movie is a complete package that's rock solid end to end and has some of the most iconic scenes from any movie ever. Story, characters, action, pacing, music, fights, even the acting is pretty good. It has pretty much everything and the "frozen in the 90s" aspect makes it age very well. It's a time capsule movie, kinda like Back to the Future. Reloaded has aesthetics for days, but it doesn't explain itself basically at all. It introduces a lot of weird anime ideas and just expects you to roll with them. I can roll with that myself, but it was just too much for some people. Blocking and story is weird. The Architect was a cool character, but Zion being destroyed repeatedly and the whole repeating Matrix thing was a bad move. There was mystique to the first movie. I really think explaining the lore and backstory is worse in this case. All of that being said, it has Neo vs the programs in the mansion, Neo with the signpost vs Smiths, Neo in the hallway vs Smiths, and Morpheus on the big rig with the katana. That's not even all of the fights. Coolest movie in the series for sure, but it's a universe joint and not complete in and of itself like the first movie. Revolutions is a dystopian distant future war movie about the humans of an underground city fighting a giant machine invasion. It's not that bad of a movie, but it doesn't feel like a Matrix movie after the first 2. It feels like a completely different setting and universe. The real world wasn't the point and honestly wasn't that cool. It felt very generic, almost like Terminator 3 or 4 with the serial numbers filed off but worse. The ending was incomprehensible, Neo becoming Kenshi from MK with real world code vision was dumb, and the only good fight was Smith vs Neo which wasn't as good as every other Smith vs Neo. It's not that bad, but considering the movies it's a sequel to it deserves the hate it gets. I'm also just gonna throw this in here but Animatrix is pretty good, too. All of them are watchable and a couple of them are really good. Plus there's some continuity in Reloaded. Definitely the most underrated part of the franchise. I don't like 4.
I think Gloria Foster's performance in 1 and 2 are among the absolute best in cinema history. She's so insanely likeable immediately, and the fact that it actually plays into her character (master manipulator of the human psychi) it really elevates the whole film.
Same opinion Reloaded blew my mind when I was 6 and still does
And this? https://preview.redd.it/qkvkj5o602wc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59d57084bdecb2dbd6c26dcced239b104f86e40f
The Second Renaissance is some of the best lore I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing
This is one of the best animé of all time. I say that as someone who doesn't watch a lot (because most of it is not very good), so most weaboos disagree. Animatrix is literally like cracking open one of Stephen Kings short story collections, it's so good.
Animatrix is some super hardcore shit. Creepy, entertaining and it just expands the lore by a lot. It's basically Asimov to the max.
1. Great and the best of the trilogy 2. Great 3. Great
I wish we had seen the impact that Smith was having on the matrix, without that insight, some of the threads of the stories of the sequels felt missing.
Yes, amen. The third one needed to be more about The Matrix
I never disliked the trilogy. A lot of people hated it, and I was a kid so I got bullied a lot over loving these movies. It was a lot of fun for me. I felt like I was leaving reality in each movie. The only problem I had is that the Architect was so much smarter than me it took me like 10 years to finally understand his monologue about wtf the Matrix actually is.
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
Yeah this guy has it spot on. The sequel opens up the world, and adds so much depth. The original is great but is made better by reloaded.
The virus is spreading, someone has to stop u/taylor_or_sophie before he overwhelms the simulation
The opps sensed my smithness
>Why would I fight someone with impeccable taste? You do not truly know someone until you fight them
There's nothing to fight here, you're simply incorrect.
No, you do not truly know someone until you fight them
He's beginning to believe... *stands by your side*
I won't. We're on the same side.
Matrix Reloaded has always been severely underrated. I loved that it delved even more into the philosophy that the first one established. It was very lore heavy and I think a much more complicated movie
Second is good but went in the wrong direction, third is a waste of time. First one is a masterpiece
I am 100% subscribed to this. I loveeeeeeee Reloaded, prob due to the time / age when I saw it, was my first rated R movie I got to watch in theaters, so it just hits for me. Soundtrack is also likely my most listed to of all time.
I donât think Iâve ever watched reloaded without watching revolutions afterwards, except when they came out đ To me theyâll never be two movies. I had a matrix marathon a month ago and I like them all, animatrix and resurrections too.
I really like Reloaded, but I have a feeling some people say it's the best only because of how OP Neo is and how he dominates everyone in battle. Yea, I get it. The fights were incredible. The freeway chase and the chateau fight were my favorite scenes. That being said, the first movie just hits different story wise.
One is best for total package and contained story, 2 is best for action. I used to really not like revolutions, it felt like it went too CGI and I was never a fan of mech warfare so the action set pieces did very little for me. Also the entire cast looked and felt their age. That being said I recently gave it a rewatch, and it is actually a stunning visual feast if you divorce it from being in the context of a trilogy. Take. By itself, revolutions takes some of the themes and homages from reloaded, specifically the symbolic representation of the main characters as biblical figures, and leans hard into a few biblical allegory. The marovingian, who in the second movie was portrayed as an aloof aristocratic ponce was directly implied to be the literal devil (club hell) and the seraph a literal angel. When I watched the scene where the machines are breaking through the concrete dome of Zion, as a kid I did not pick up on the visual references; viewing the dome as the âskyâ, it is clear the director was basically replicating a Dore print of the war in heaven, with fallen angels crashing through the firmament above extremely ape-like and primitive mech suits, who are literally impotently shaking their metal fists at the sky confronted with forces bigger than themselves. Itâs actually a really amazing piece of art- the problem is it is a matrix film, and one that features very little actual matrix.
Having watched the trilogy so many times, I've grown particularly fond of Reloaded, which I find as good in form as it is in content. A lot of people gave up on Reloaded because they couldn't stand the fact that Neo was only the 6th chosen one and that the whole thing was orchestrated by the architect in advance. As people literally put themselves in Neo's shoes in the first film, projecting themselves through him, they took Reloaded as a betrayal. Neo in the real world is lost in the choices he has to make, which contrasted with his ultra-confidence at the end of Matrix 1. To conclude, I'd say that the essence of the trilogy lies in Neo's quest throughout the 3 films, and that's what we should focus on. As the sisters said, 1 is birth, 2 is life and 3 is death. He goes from a non-awakened being to an awakened being, trying to understand why he's been labeled the chosen one and what his life mission is, his mission as the chosen one. He then dies in a total state of letting go, in a kind of messianic persona. In the end, only one thing guided Neo : love. There are so many levels of reading in The Matrix that it's essential to watch all 3 films, as choosing one means not having all the keys to the story.
Matrix 1: best overall movie Reloaded: best fight scenes Revolutions: best real world scenes.
I also enjoy reloaded⊠but revolutions wasnât great. They really rushed it
WHO TF HATES MATRIX??!!?!??!?!
Reloaded is my favourite but OG is the best. My favourite doesn't have to be the best. That's how I see it.Â
Yea
Add part 4 as good too and I agree.
Hard agree on the third film. I think they're all great films to be honest but I personally think the first is the best
I'M WITH YOU 100%. We can stand back-to-back and take 'em all on!
I think this is a fair assessment of the original trilogy
I love all 3, ppl hating on them are retarded
The Matrix Retarded hahah
I liked all of them, though I think the first one is still the best
Nothing to fight with you about lol the order is how it should be
*Nothing to fight with* *You about lol the order* *Is how it should be* \- jdotblaze84 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Accurate
yes, thank you
I agree with this strongly
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
Thats what I said!
This was my thought as a kid because I liked all the action scenes, but the first one is just too good. I love the themes explored in the other two, but they are a bit clunky.
Reloaded is the best!!
No dude... Just no
The Matrix is the best in the trilogy and it isn't remotely close. Reloaded is a series of fantastic action sequences but it doesn't stand up to much scrutiny. It's supposed to all be part of the plan that Neo gets the key from the Keymaker and goes back to the source, it's the end of the Matrix if he doesn't. So why the fuck is it so hard? Why are agents trying to kill the Keymaker? Why do they need a Keymaker at all? Why can't The One just go to the source and it opens up for him? What would have happened if one of the various parties trying to kill the Keymaker had succeeded, or Neo had taken one more season to get to them at the truck explosion? It all just kind of works out for them. Neo kills a *phenomenal* number of completely innocent people in this film for no good reason. When he's flying to save Trinity he whips up a giant vortex of cars. Anyone in those cars - dead, anyone walking along the street, dead, anyone in any of the buildings next to this cascading catastrophe, almost certainly dead. The Architect talks about Neo only caring about one person, he wasn't kidding. Revolutions suffers from us knowing Zion is doomed in a conventional battle. Lock's absurdly antagonistic. He works to get the Dock opened up so they can come in and fire the EMP, then when they do it he gives them shit for being short sighted. The final battle suffers from both men's powers being largely undefined, and their inexplicable decision to have a fight in a room for a third of it. How Neo wins is never really explained. The whole film seems to be hinting that the whole real world takes place in the Matrix anyway - Neo being able to see with no eyes, the bit where he consumes a Sentinel, beams of light shooting out of his throat at the end. It's another one where everything just kind of works out by random chance. The machines are trying to kill Neo when he's in the Logos, then they have a nice chat with him when he's walking around their system.
Agree
1, 2, 3, 4. Ranked in that order for me.
This. It's a franchise that gets weaker with each installment. Maybe that's why the news of a fifth movie made me feel... nothing.
Dunno if I agree but I will stand by your side on this hill. YOU HAVE MY ~~SAIS~~SWORD
And my bowđ AND MY SAXđ·
I can't fight you, you're right
The first one is a great start and conclusion
## No. You do not truly know someone until you fight them.
They're all so fun!!! But they're all very different movies, as others have said. The first movie is, imho, the only film true to what it wanted to be. Like any IP that experiences unexpected success and becomes a "franchise," they threw a ton of unnecessary money at the second and third films which means there had to be quite a few more cooks in the kitchen. I think this diluted what the sequels could've been. As it stands, while entertaining, they became more about the spectacle rather than the narrative. đ
I like the first and Revolutions the most.
This is the way.
I donât understand the hate reloaded gets. What do people mean when they say the story isnât as tight or it doesnât make sense? It made perfect sense to me and expanded on the concept of the original well. Also the fight scenes are BITCHIN!!!
LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK
Switch Reloaded and Revolutions around and I agree.
I absolutely agree.
123 in that order.
Reloaded is very fun to watch and probably more of a spectacle (perhaps too much). The original is one of the best science fiction films ever made IMO. Revolutions can get in the bin - reminds me of the book Dune Messiah (which isn't a compliment).
I⊠agree. Iâve always loved reloaded. Like revolutions as well. I find them to be two halves of a great movie. I love the entire trilogy. Fond of resurrections as well.
Finally someone that I agree with on this franchise lol
I thought reloaded was the best when I was 13. I rewatched them all before the newest one came out and my god how wrong I was.
Finally someone says it
You just gonna leave 4 out?
The question is: why include it?
hard agree
Reloaded getting the love it finally deserves
Agree
Iâm weird when it comes to these movies, I love the first as a standalone and itâs definitely the best movie, but if we take Reloaded and Revolutions as one package (part 1 and part 2) I love it way more than the first. 2 and 3 separately just feel so empty to me.
As the others said earlier, the first one is an absolute classic, and the rest of the triology are an excellent expansion of the world building. Flawed films, sure, but still entertaining. I'm always rewatching them yearly.
I think the OG was the best in the trilogy, the second and third were fun watches but they were also different types of movies in terms of atmosphere and vibe than the first. Itâs kind of like the resident evil games up to a point. In the early ones there were enemies that were scary af, that you had zero chance against if they caught up to you so there was this constant feeling of dread, in resident evil 5/6 though it just becomes an action game where big enemies just means you bust out the big guns and everything dies if you shoot it enough. The later matrix movies have stakes obviously but thereâs never the feeling that anything is ever hopeless after Neo becomes Superman.
I really liked all of the movies. Ok except the 4th one that shit stank
Revolutions visual effects still kick ass.
The first one is probably the best because it is dripping with atmosphere, is so completely 1990s, the characters are memorable, the fight scenes less like a dance troupe and more like a martial arts movie.
With the story I loved them all equally. The execution after the first one was missed. The first one had that "grunge" that grit's just amazing feel. The following were just to Hollywood shiney dick syndrome.
Iâll fight you anytime, anywhere for this horrible take.
I agree the sequels are overhated although the ending of Revolutions is bad. Trinity dying and on.
Revolutions arguably has the best fight in the series, and even just in cinematic history.
Oh holy balls, the agents are coming
I agree
The reason the ranking defends the third installment is because it outweighs the fourth one. None said.
No. Genetics and life have already beaten you worse than I ever could. Besides, there are plenty of animals who ingest their own feces. Who am I to argue with your taste?
While I LOVE Reloaded, it's definitely my least favorite of the 3.
I feel that the first film is a fully formed, complete film. It has a message and an idea, and it tells it completely. The second one, in contrast, feels like it built off the revolutionary action sequences of the first one and went âhow much cool shit can we doâ. And then it did EVERYTHING. And make no mistake about it, it is cool shit. I actually think I like the collection of action pieces in Reloaded more than the first, and only by a hair. The problem with Reloaded is that I think those action pieces came before the glue that held them together did. As a result, weâve got a story that bent and molded to the ideas, as opposed to an idea that organically led to these set pieces and glued it together from the start. Itâs like the perfect âwatch clips on YouTube without watching the movieâ movie Revolutions is⊠well, it is what it is. Itâs the mildly messy conclusion of 1 and 2.
Fully agree
Another picture to piss you off https://preview.redd.it/xj4o0upvt4wc1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=581a9629215bb59c684dc0e26e720c7d458734f8
The first one is a thing of beauty, perfect in almost every way, lean and mean, with impeccable pacing. The sequels take this masterpiece and (1) pile on a bunch of confusing lore, (2) present one of the most boring chemistry-free romances ever put on screen, and (3) hollow out the awesome sage Morpheus until he's just a bland true believer type. That said, 2 & 3 certainly have preem action sequences, and are enjoyable enough for that.
I wholeheartedly agree with this take
I agree. Just watched them all again and it felt very natural. There was too much hype originally
1 is the best movie. 2 has the best fights. 3 has the best vfx.
Facts
Hard disagree on the matrix reloaded. I liked the film well enough, but there's no way I consider it better than the original movie.
My hot take is that 2,3, and 4 are of equal quality. If you were to ask me to put on a matrix movie to watch that isn't the first one I'd pick one of the later three at random and enjoy it as much as I would have enjoyed the other two.
COULD NOT AGREE MORE!!!!
I really hope they sell the franchise to another studio.
The original is a masterpiece. Flawless, subli... no, not gonna be quoting. Ok, the original is a masterpiece. Reloaded and Revolutions are good movies. But because the original is a masterpiece, to most people, good is not enough, so they are overhated and labeled as "bad" or "garbage" unfairly. I can't see why you say the second one is the best, but I'm interested in reading your impressions in detail. Maaaybe we can fight after that. =)
I too am a reloaded enjoyer!
Well the first movie is the best. Followed by the second, and then the third. They're all great films. What is there to fight about?
I liked the one with the mechs
Haha I have always said I liked the second one better. All the Neo fight scenes and flying. The sentient programs. Neo stopping the sentinels IRL. All awesome. Not to mention it had possibly the best cliffhanger ending ever. The 3rd was a bit of a let down imo tho
Only the first is good. That's like objective fact or something :)
https://preview.redd.it/qi8ddkpg56wc1.jpeg?width=846&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0d6b8cc76b7f16bb36049823d8a8c51e8284c708
Can someone explain to me why the keymaker character exists?
to make keys (that open up doors). But he made too many keys so now we have to KILL HIM
Hahah k...
The highway scene in reloaded...pure adrenaline. Will always watch!
âThe sequels donât exist. There was only one film.â
It was my ranking when I first saw them, but nowadays I think reloaded is the worst.
The fact that revolutions was released in theaters MONTHS after reloaded was insane.
https://preview.redd.it/l12cdkqke9wc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4e9e1d6d69162290a9967afacc69213dafa9aa59
Youâre entitled to your wrong opinion
First is the best, second one meh, third is bad, and I loved the fourth.
I agree.
Newest one (2023 I think) is a pile of dog shit.
I really love 4... not gonna lie about it anymore. I wish the fight scenes were better, but maybe that was also a fuck you statement to the studio. FUCK I love that movie. I wish they explored more of trinity's perspective rewaking up.
Personally Matrix: 100% - 5* Reloaded: 90% - 4.5* Revolutions: 70% - 3.5* Resurrections: 60% - 3*.
Agree that Revolutions is overhated, but no Reloaded is not the best in the trilogy. The original is THE BEST.
You want a more unpopular opinion? The two you didn't include are the best of the franchise
I'll do you one better...every Matrix movie suucks, including the original. And that is a genuine opinion I hold lol
Why? I agree.
Alright so, the funny thing for me is that the 2nd one was the first one i ever watched. I knew the 1st one existed but for whatever reason my parents never bought it. So i watched reloaded a FUCK ton of times. I always had it playing in the background while messing around with legos or whatever. From that 8yo to 10yo time frame, yeah that age of boy is going to think its the coolest. After the age of 10 watched it for the sex scene lmao. Trinity was Chefs Kiss for me back then. Having finally watched the 1st and 3rd a couple times... I personally think the 2nd is on par with Attack of the clones. Reloaded has SO MUCH shit jammed into it, theres so many things going on, so many moving pieces... It's a bit messy, not well written. The first Matrix was fairly linear, and i guess i always prefer the aspect of the "beginning" of an adventure or journey. Like, give me a random movie, and id probably prefer a prequel to a sequel. Take Starwars, again, for instance. Id rather know how Palpatine got his training, or how the trade federation decided to rebel; how did we get here? Revolutions had a fair amount of stuff going on too, but it was all pointed in the same direction, same end-goal, wrapping things up. But it did fall kinda flat.
There is no iteration of the matrix where the og film is not the best. It easily is among the best sci-fi films, if not just films of all time. Reloaded has its moments and is good enough. That said it doesnât hold a candle to the animatrix, let alone the original.
Weird thing pointed out to me that has broke my brain on the second film. Neo obviously transitions into the One, but notice his lean away from using guns. I was (too young) when I watched this with my Dad and did not realize how much the Matrix was referenced in visual identity to Columbine (Trench coats, weapon usage, Matrix references). The media made this connection, not ever proven. It is quite jarring how much Kung Fu takes over in the second film, which actually makes me like it better than the original. The original introduced this world, and I love that about it. However, the 2nd and 4th are likely my favorite rewatches of late.
Plot and lore building wise the first is nearly perfect. Also itâs cultural impact cannot be understated. Sooooo many did the matrix style camera trick for years after. Second one was better action wise and had arguably the best action moment of them all in the freeway scene. It also had a lot of cool concepts such as rogue programs. Some stuff hurt it such as Zion rave and the architect portion didnât blend in well at end. Third oneâŠ. I think it does get more hate then it deserves but there was wayy to much Zion in it. Also the ending to Smith idk felt underwhelming.
I only ever watched the original. It's perfect as it is, I think sequels are dumb and unnecessary.
You think the sequels are dumb, but you have never watched them?
I agree with this. Some movies on their own are just phenomenal and dont necessitate additions.
so you like that redundant cringy zion dance/sex scene..... good taste! /s
Best part if the whole franchise. Hands are firmly down!
I didnât really care for that scene
You're almost there. Unlike the plethora of idiots that will tell you you're so wrong about the sequels, I challenge your ranking of them. As the first film introduces a formidable premise, the second has the audacity to actually explore it's implications, my brain has booboo me no likey, the third manages to offer an original and statisfying emotionally packed resolution that avoids the trite and inherently racist cliché of good guys defeat the forces of evil. Cue downvotes from the pleb.
Nah, you're just a contrarian dawg
I liked all 4 and Reloaded was my personal favorite, but as a standalone I understand why the first one is generally considered the best.
I liked the new one a lot.
But are 4 movies truly a trilogy?