The Matrix Reloaded

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The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 science fiction film directed by the Wachowskis and the second installment of The Matrix film series. It was made back to back alongside The Matrix Revolutions.

The film delves into the history of the Matrix itself. The war between machines and the human resistance is heating up, and the heroes are searching for a series of wayward programs that can lead them to the source code of the Matrix and stop them forever. As Neo learns the true history of the Matrix, he starts to doubt himself and the plan. It is made even more complicated when Agent Smith returns as an anomaly working on his own terms and with new, very much virus-like, abilities. Reloaded is an action movie, to a much greater degree than the first film, which only really got busy in the third act. Reloaded also has much more of an epic feel to it, as well; the budget was a lot larger than for the first film, and there are a lot more characters and locations on the screen.


Tropes used in The Matrix Reloaded include:
  • Always Save the Girl: Addressed in the climax.
  • Beard of Evil:
    • Neo and his evil counterpart are lying unconscious. How do we know that Bane is evil? Well aside from the fact that we saw him get possessed by The Big Bad and the rumors that he sabotaged his teammates, the most compelling piece of evidence of his evil is probably the facial hair.
  • Big Bad: Agent Smith.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Neo coming to save Morpheus and the Keymaker at the end of the freeway sequence, ie: the longest action sequence in the whole trilogy.
  • Bilingual Bonus: The Merovingian's Cluster F-Bomb.
  • Black Dude Dies First: After the Keymaker escapes with Trinity and Morpheus, the Merovingian sics his goons on Neo...and the black guy gets a morning star to the face almost immediately.
  • Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: The Merovingian, exemplifying his Sophisticated As Hell nature.
  • Car Fu: When the Albino Twins try it on Morpheus, he demonstrates just exactly why Katanas Are Just Better.
  • Casting Gag: In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 "classic" Future War, Daniel Bernhardt plays an escaped human slave from the future being hunted by machines in the present day. In Reloaded, he appears as Agent Johnson, a machine from the future that hunts escaped human slaves in a simulation of the present day.
  • The Chessmaster: The Architect, who not only created The Matrix, but has manipulated five generations of "The One" into doing what he wants (letting Zion be killed off and then repopulating it).
  • Cluster F-Bomb: The only time that F-bombs are heard is during the exchange between Neo and the Architect, in the second "all the Neos in the monitors are reacting" transition before Neo says "Choice...the problem is choice."
  • Cool Shades: Custom-made ones at that. Special mention goes to Morpheus' silver, frame-less shades and Smith's oddly geometric ones. Even more deeply symbolic is the way Smith's and Neo's shades become closer in appearance over time, to show how their growth mirrors and contrasts.
  • Creepy Twins: The Twins (of course).
  • Cut the Juice: In order to bypass security measures at the door to The Source, the group decides to shut off the power. By blowing up an entire nuclear powerplant. Even then, there is a contingency system which has to be shut off simultaneously from an entirely different place.
  • Digital Head Swap: Used to create the armies of Smiths in the Burly Brawl sequences.
  • Disturbed Doves: The film shows that animals can sense evil even in the Matrix.
  • Dress-Coded for Your Convenience: Smith follows the rebels' theme by wearing a black suit. Also, see Cool Shades above.
  • Dystopia Is Hard: The Architect has this problem.
  • Escort Mission: The entire car chase/fight scene over the Keymaker.
  • Every Car Is a Pinto: The Twins' SUV and the two semi trucks on the freeway.
  • Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Including swearing, which is "like wiping one's ass with silk."
  • Evil Albino: The Twins.
  • Failure Is the Only Option: According to the Architect, Trinity would die in any case. It seems he was right.
  • Fauxreigner: The Merovengian is, of course, a computer program, so he's not really French any more than he's a human being at all, but he seems to enjoy acting like an Affably Evil bohemian French eccentric basically just because it's cool, and of course tres sexy.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • The Agents call Neo "the anomaly".
    • The Merovingian makes two mentions of Neo's "predecessors" about forty-five minutes before the Architect appears.
    • The Architect tells Neo that Trinity will die and there's nothing he can do to stop it. Neo proves him wrong minutes later...but it turns out he's only delaying the inevitable.
  • French Jerk: The Merovingian.
  • Future Music: There is a rave scene that seems to go on forever.
  • Hood Hopping: An Agent does this to pursue Trinity and the Keymaker.
  • Hot Consort: Persephone, played by Monica Bellucci.
  • Intimidation Demonstration:
    • During the Burly Brawl, Neo hits an Agent Smith with a pole and knocks the concrete off the end, then spins it around to intimidate the other Smiths watching.
    • During the fight in the Merovingian's chateau, Neo does a brief spin display with the two sai after he pulls them off a wall to him. Also, one of the Merovingian's goons spins his swords around in an intimidating way before attacking Neo with them.
    • During Morpheus' fight with the albino ghost twins, each of them does some fancy moves with their straight razors before fighting him.
    • During Morpheus' fight with Agent Johnson on top of the truck. After pulling the sword out of the side of the truck and slicing through Johnson's tie, Morpheus swings the sword around a few times.
  • Invincible Hero: One of the common complaints. Ironic, considering how it all ends. It's played with, most notably in the chateau where we see that Neo isn't invincible when he tries to block a blade with his hand and the Merovingian actually blows the later reveal that he's not the first One right there, twice. The scene progresses so rapidly while giving these points no special lip-service that many viewers completely miss it, or catch it but forget it five minutes later.
  • It's a Small Net After All
  • Jump Off a Bridge: Morpheus orders Trinity to get the Keymaker to safety, and she does so by jumping with him off the bridge and landing on a truck carrying motorcycles.
  • Lotus Eater Machine: The first iteration of the Matrix was too perfect, according to the Architect, which is why humans initially rejected it.
  • The Men in Black: The Agents, only they're the MIG (Men in Green).
    • Smith does become a literal Man in Black, though.
  • The Messiah: The Ones were actually designed for this trope, but Neo subverts it, as noted by the Architect.

Architect: It is interesting reading your reactions. Your five predecessors were, by design, based upon a predication, a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, thus facilitating the function of the One. While the others experienced this in a very general way, your experience is far more specific, vis-a-vis, love.

  • Messianic Archetype: Take a wild guess. Neo is the sixth and hopefully, last, although it is implied he will return as a seventh.
  • Me's a Crowd: Smith's power.
  • Mister Exposition:
    • The Keymaker when explaining about the bomb-trapped building that houses the door to The Architect—and how to break into it.
    • The Architect also fills this role in his speeches to Neo, telling him about the entire history of the Matrix and why Neo is an essential part of it.
  • Mr. Smith: All the Agents have bland pseudonyms.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Persephone wearing the tightest dress known to man.
  • Neck Lift: Agent Thompson does it to Trinity.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The Architect's statement that the Matrix will suffer a system crash if the One does not sacrifice himself in order to reload it.
  • Not Quite Dead: Smith.
  • Won't Work On Me: Neo grows so strong by the end of the first movie that when he fights three enhanced Agents alone in the second film, he casually quips "Huh, upgrades" when one of them blocks an attack.

Smith: Oh no no no no no... No, it's not fair.

  • Omnicidal Maniac: (Agent) Smith turns into this in after he's 'unplugged' from the system's control, eventually growing far beyond the machines' control.

Smith: The purpose of all life...is to end.

Twin 1: We are getting aggravated.
Twin 2: Yes, we are.

  • The Virus: Smith, quite literally.
  • Watching Troy Burn: Morpheus watching his ship burn.
  • You Can't Fight Fate: The Architect informing Neo that the prophecy to save Zion was a lie, and that "The One"'s true purpose is to restart the war, not end it.
  • You Have No Chance to Survive: Smith. Repeatedly (see above). The Architect also informs Neo that the human race has no chance to survive (he calculated.)

Architect: We won't [meet again].


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