00s Movie Review - The Matrix Reloaded

Director: Lana Wachowski, Lily Wachowski
Genre: Action/ Science Fiction/ Thriller
Runtime: 136 minutes
Year: 1999
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Aaliyah, Harold Perrineau Jr., Monica Bellucci, Gloria Foster, Daniel Bernhardt

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2022 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 5: SECOND MOVIE IN A TRILOGY
 
Description: Freedom fighters Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) continue to lead to revolt against the Machine Army, unleashing their arsenal of extraordinary skills and weaponry against the systematic forces of repression and exploitation.  

Review: The sequel to the blockbuster “The Matrix” falls far short of the original. Some nice scenes are interspersed with uninteresting scenes that disrupt the rhythm of the film and undermine the story. In 1999, people worldwide were surprised by “The Matrix”, which gathered mostly rave reviews around the world and became a huge success. As a result, more films were made.
At first, the film seems to revolve around the machines’ attack on the city of Zion, with 250,000 human inhabitants who were freed from the Matrix or born on Zion. But actually, that’s not what the film is really about, since you also don’t get to see anything of the actual attack on Zion. This is one of the changes that “The Matrix: Reloaded” makes to the story and characters of the first film, which doesn’t really help the continuity and is also a disappointment to some.  
The film has some really cool scenes, like the fight scene between Neo and Agent Smith and the chase scene.
Overall, the film is not nearly as impressive and surprising as its predecessor. Even though I’m not a fan of the film, I can acknowledge its quality and see clearly that this sequel is okay, but never reaches the lever of the first film.

Rating: 3/ 5

00s Movie Review - Memento

Director: Christopher Nolan
Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller
Runtime: 113 minutes
Year: 2000
Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Mark Boone Jr., Joe Pantoliano, Jorja Fox, Stephen Tobolowsky

Description: Leonard (Guy Pearce) is a man with short-term memory loss and is trying to track down his wife’s murderer.

Review: Leonard Shelby is on the search for the killer of his wife. This search isn’t easy for him, since he suffers from short-term memory loss and can’t make new memories. To remember things, he shoots polaroid photos of important people and objects and writes notes on them. He also collects important facts that he later tattoos on his body. During his hunt for the killer, he gets help from a guy named Teddy, but also a woman named Natalie. But with his condition, it’s really hard to trust people and see if one is lying or not.
The story is pretty basic. It’s the way the story is told that makes “Memento” a unqique one-of-a-kind film. The story is told starting from the end, going all the way back to the beginning. Director Christopher Nolan is really screwing with your mind and us viewers know just as much as Leonard does. Each scene ends with the moment the previous scene starts with. And all the pieces of the puzzle eventually come together. And all though it sounds very confusing and you need to keep your focus, it’s not as complex as it sounds.
“Memento” is definitely one of the most original films I’ve ever seen and after seeing it multiple times you appreciate it more and more. It’s an unforgettable film 😉

Rating: 5/ 5