- Directed by: The Wachowskis
- Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss
Neo: Are there other programs like you?
from the movie
The Oracle: Oh, well, not like me. But… look, see those birds? At some point a program was written to govern them. A program was written to watch over the trees, and the wind, the sunrise, and sunset. There are programs running all over the place. The ones doing their job, doing what they were meant to do, are invisible. You’d never even know they were here. But the other ones, well, we hear about them all the time.
Neo: I’ve never heard of them.
The Oracle: Oh, of course you have. Every time you’ve heard someone say they saw a ghost, or an angel. Every story you’ve ever heard about vampires, werewolves, or aliens, is the system assimilating some program that’s doing something they’re not supposed to be doing.
While “The Matrix,” the first installment in The Matrix film series, asks the existential question of reality and illusion, “The Matrix Reloaded,” the second installment, is more about the technical side of the Matrix. As a computer engineer, it was fascinating to watch how the Matrix evolved even though many of the secrets are not revealed yet.
The Matrix is more extensive than we thought in the first installment. Even though the Matrix is a program, likely with the capacity of AI (Artificial Intelligence), it becomes like an organism. Some parts attached to the main program are detached and started to work like their own. The Oracle is a program, but she acts like a person with free will, which might be a deception as well. The battle between the machine and the human becomes more complex.
Agent Smith: But, as you well know, appearances can be deceiving, which brings me back to the reason why we’re here. We’re not here because we’re free. We’re here because we’re not free. There is no escaping reason; no denying purpose. Because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist.
from the movie
[Several Agent Smith Clones walk in]
Agent Smith Clone 1: It is purpose that created us.
Agent Smith Clone 2: Purpose that connects us.
Agent Smith Clone 3: Purpose that pulls us.
Agent Smith Clone 4: That guides us.
Agent Smith Clone 5: That drives us.
Agent Smith Clone 6: It is purpose that defines us.
Agent Smith Clone 7: Purpose that binds us.
Agent Smith: We are here because of you, Mr Anderson. We’re here to take from you what you tried to take from us.
Agent Smith, which was the pawn program of the Source, became detached. Actually, he became a virus, which clones itself indefinitely. Even though he is not directly linked to the Source, he cannot escape from the Matrix because he is a virus and needs a host. He acts only for the purpose, which he only knows but does not understand.
Neo: Why am I here?
from the movie
The Architect: Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the Matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably, here.
The highlight of the movie is when Neo, the One, meets the Architect, another program that representation of the creator of the Matrix.
The Matrix is controlled by the main program, which cannot handle all anomalies caused by individual choices made in the Matrix. The irregularities, or entropy, inevitably grow, and the Matrix will crash, and even Zion is demolished as well.
Neo has to choose again. At this time, the choice is not for himself only. It is the choice of everything. The One is another construct of the Matrix. The One is meant to stop the Matrix’s fatal crash. He can choose to reboot (reload) the Matrix, and a small number of survivors will continue Zion. Or he can choose the end of both the Matrix and Zion. Neo is not the first One. His five predecessors decided to reboot the Matrix. It is a choice based on utilitarianism, the good of most people. But Neo chose a different end, and we will see the result of his choice in the next installment.
Even though the film is packed with never-ending actions and special effects, it lacks the overall consistency. Most of the action scenes do not fit into the overall plot. It is a worth watching sequel but disappointing as well.
Scriptorium 