Posted 10:20 AM by Blah blah

The Scoop on The Matrix Reloaded (Entertainment)

These articles contain spoilers. If you haven't seen the movie yet, like me, don't read these, unless you're like me and addicted to film criticism.

Wayne (aka Laowai) just saw it: "Overall impression...thumbs down, way down." (See his May 14th post.) Just discovered Laowai and think he's an excellent writer about current events. He's an academic who spent much time in China and just returned back to the U.S. because of the SARS outbreak. Fascinating guy. He's going on my reading list!

From N S Ramnath: "The Matrix Reloaded: We Waited Four Years for This? (Slate) asks---regretfully---David Edelstein, who wrote a glowing piece on the first Matrix last week in the New York Times. About this: 'The grim news is that The Matrix Reloaded is as messy and flat-footed as its predecessor is nimble and shapely. It's an ugly, bloated, repetitive movie that builds to a punch line that should have come an hour earlier (at least).' "

My favorite places to check movie reviews are Metacritic and the Online Film Critics Society at Rotten Tomatoes. Here's what the major U.S. press says, from Metacritic.

Despite the film's psychobabble, Salon.com liked it.