Not a bad FA Cup final, but by no means a classic either. Pity Southampton didn’t win though. At least it was Pires who scored the winning goal (one of my favourite players) for Arsenal.
I went and saw The Matrix Reloaded on Friday with Nigel, Max, Terry and Shane. It was good, but not as good as the first installment. It was action packed, which, in my opinion, isn’t necessarily a positive thing. However, the plot wasn’t completely lost amongst the explosions, martial arts and extraordinary special effects. When inside the Matrix, Neo is superhuman, bending or breaking the "rules" of physics as he sees fit. In the real world, the machines are preparing to destroy Zion, the last human city. An argument ensues between Morpheus and his commander about how best to defend Zion. The commander wants to fight a conventional battle, matching hover ships against the sentinels. Morpheus, who believes in the prophecy of the Oracle, argues that the prophecy should be given a chance, that only Neo can end the war. The council of Zion grant Morpheus time to fulfil the prophecy. To fulfil the prophecy, Neo must go to The Source in order to save Zion and the human race. But to get to The Source, Neo must first find The Key Maker who is being held by a rather nasty chap by the name of Merovingian. To cut a long story short, Neo eventually gets to The Source after a few fights and explosions. At The Source he finds a guy calling himself The Architect who claims to be the creator of The Matrix. Of course, The Architect is a program of the machines, an AI. After some interesting philosophical banter, Neo manages to fulfil the prophecy. After reviving Trinity from death by massaging her heart, they exit The Matrix. But the war is not over. The prophecy was not fulfilled! But has Neo really exited the Matrix, or has he somehow managed to find himself in another "layer" of the Matrix? The reason this question arises is because his powers seem to have followed him from the Matrix to the real world!
I do not rate The Matrix Reloaded as highly as the first film. Roger Ebert apparently thinks the second installment is better than the first, but I’m not sure why. The complaints he had about the first film would seem to apply just as much, if not more, to The Matrix Reloaded. It’s OK if reviews differ from one reviewer to the next, but when you’re not self-consistent, there’s a problem. I don’t understand him at all sometimes!
