DAVID EDELSTEIN WASN’T THAT CRAZY about The Matrix Reloaded. (Or its score: “The cheesy, tinny-sounding music doesn’t help. I’ve heard better orchestrations coming out of Game Boys.”) Jonah Goldberg (whose standards, I suspect, differ) found it very enjoyable. And Stephen Hunter writes: “No, it’s not great. No, it’s not a disaster.” (And he loves Monica Bellucci. Well, yeah.)
UPDATE: Jonathan Last liked it pretty well, but says it has too many “junk academics” in it:
while celebrity cameos are fine for “Friends” they can be disastrous in semi-serious movies. Nothing strains an audience’s suspension of disbelief like a slap across the face reminding you that behind the story are a bunch of famous people snapping towels.
So, was Cornel West snapping towels at Susie Bright, or was it the other way around? Inquiring minds want to know. . . .
ANOTHER UPDATE: Diana Hsieh has more on The Matrix. She says it was “awesome.”