May 14, 2003

W.W.N.D.
What Would Neo Do

In a thoughtful exchange with Harry J. Knowles about The Matrix Reloaded, many issues were raised. But there was one that stuck out in my mind. Harry hypothesized, unhappily, that Neo's character arc at the end of the first film would not realistically allow him to do some of the things he does in Reloaded. For the sake of this spoiler-free conversation, I will focus on one already publicized event in the new film, The Burly Brawl.

If you have managed to keep yourself so distant from the promotion of Reloaded that you don't recognize the name "Burly Brawl," I congratulate you and suggest that you stop right here and come back when you've seen the film.

For the rest of you, a simple question:

Faced with Agent Smith inside of The Matrix, What Would Neo Do?

As of the end of the last film, Neo was capable of destroying an agent… or so he thought, since Smith is back. At the end of the last film, Neo was capable of flying as a means of travel, expression and escape. That remains true.

So why would Neo fight Agent Smith? Why would he fight any agent? Why would he do anything other than destroy them and fly away from fights?

I, for one, find this question to be somewhat bizarre. Why didn't Gandalf get the dragon to give him and everyone else a lift to Mt. Doom and avoid this insanely long trip? Why doesn't James Bond call in an air strike when he finds the bad guy's lair? Why would anyone attempt a crime with Superman in Metropolis?

The funny part of all of this Bizzarro Universe of Film Criticism is that the Wachowski Bros clearly went way, way, way out of their way to deal with the problem of Neo's "superhuman" stature. In a search for ways that Neo can participate in fights without being the too-easy winner every time, new challenges are added and many of the major sequences are structured so that Neo is, to some extent, a non-factor.

It would be my position that much of the problem here is that viewers of the film walk in the door no-winning the movie. I am not blaming them. The first film was such a breath of fresh air that the urge to expect the same aesthetic breakthrough on Reloaded is simply human nature. But that's also why I believe that second viewings of this film are so significantly different.

One does not know what to expect when one walks into the theater. What you get are a lot of new characters, a significant upgrade in the fighting and effects, a view of a dingy life for humanity buried deep in the earth and a significant new arc for every single major character except for Neo.

Perhaps that is the quiet angst pushing at the back of the minds of the critics. Neo is, after being the only character with a major arc in the first movie, the only character that really does not evolve in this film. He is The One. He has gone from being the central focus of human hope in the first to being the key to The Prophecy, waiting to be put in the lock. His fights lack a certain tension because we know that he is capable of virtually anything. If it is primarily Neo with whom we are identifying, The Matrix Reloaded can't be too satisfying.

But the Wachowski Bros are tending to every other flower in the garden.

(I will now go to a spoiler page to list character arcs for everyone else. Please stay outside of the rabbit hole is you don't want to get dirty. Click here for that page.)

My point is that What Would Neo Do is lousy film criticism. It simply belies the nature of films. Perhaps the Wachowski Bros are responsible for this, as they so surprised people with their first Matrix. But as many have written in far greater depth than I, even The Matrix was a hodgepodge of ideas and philosophies cobbled together. Its originality was in how they were brought together. And since recreating originality is oxymoronic, The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions inevitably had to be something other than an effort to recreate originality.

Get over it!

Sadly, what so many are experiencing is a craving for that sweet, sweet ice cream of originality and getting instead, a piece of char-broiled meat. Of course, no everyone likes Filet Mignon. But for God's sakes, recognize that you are eating prime meat and that ice cream is another course. I fully expect The Matrix Revolutions to be one of the best salads I've ever had.

What Would Neo Do....||||...Character Arcs (spoilers)
Review .. |||.....Spoilers

PHYSICIAN HEAL THYSELF
The New Yorker & The Matrix Reloaded ......