The Matrix Reloaded
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: May 15, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
All you could hope for from a summer movie: dazzling action, jaw-dropping effects, cool clothes, steamy romance and more of the nifty "Matrix" mythology introduced in the 1999 original. Read full review
90
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
The Matrix Reloaded is about sensation, not logic. As such, it delivers, in spades, exactly what you should expect from a popcorn flick -- thrills, chills and spills -- plus a little more for good measure, just to keep anyone from whining who might want a beginning, a middle and an end. Read full review
90
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Delivers enough thrills, kicks and cool moments to satiate geeks, fans and mere general viewers worldwide -- until the "Revolutions" installment wraps up the trilogy in November. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It is an immensely skillful sci-fi adventure, combining the usual elements: heroes and villains, special effects and stunts, chases and explosions, romance and oratory. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Moves like a bullet and, even if they're overblown, the action sequences are still mostly exhilarating and hypnotic. Moreover, the film's human dimension and character development is richer and more rewarding than the genre requires, and its philosophical underpinning more intellectually audacious and seductive: The film is more of a mind-trip than I expected. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverAndy Klein
The Wachowskis still hold the current franchise on intellectually engaging action films. It's not like I won't be heading back for a second (or even third) look. Read full review
80
Film ThreatClint Morris
Not unlike its predecessor -– might be hard to swallow, but it’s so delicious you just can’t help but want more. Not unlike one of those gobstoppers you can find in any candy store -- Hard to chew, nice to endure, if you will. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
I found The Matrix Reloaded so exhilarating. It's a sadder, wiser, more grown-up movie than its predecessor. It was made, one might almost say, for a sadder, wiser, more grown-up world. Read full review
80
NewsweekDavid Ansen
A cliffhanger with no real ending. When the lights come up, think of it as the start of a six-month intermission. For better and worse, Reloaded leaves you hungry for more. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
If The Matrix Reloaded is a trip through high-toned mediocrity, not nearly as suggestive or cohesive as ''The Matrix,'' it's one of the most wizardly mediocre movies I've seen in quite some time. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The Wachowskis have put together a mix of culture, kung fu, sci-fi and speculation, that makes them the warped wonders they are. When the film ends with a "To Be Continued," the hooks are in for The Matrix Revolutions on November 5th. Maybe I've been programmed to say it, but I am so there. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Only time and Matrix Revolutions will determine if the material contained here is just a noisy, visually lively distraction or whether there are deeper currents we're not yet aware of. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
All of the elements that made The Matrix a mass-cult phenom -- breathtaking physical gymnastics wedded to the brain-cramping mental and spiritual kind -- resurface in Reloaded. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The philosophy is even less plausible. But the action -- oh, the action! There's nothing else out there like it. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
The dazzling 14-minute chase includes cars, motorcycles, a couple of 18-wheelers - and nonstop martial-arts battles and leaps inside and on top of the vehicles. That scene alone will justify the price of admission for many. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
Salvaged by its rally, Reloaded seems less tired than "X2," its current sequel rival. But since its creators have said it's only half of a movie, we won't really know until The Matrix Revolutions arrives Nov. 5 whether this chunk is fizzle or sizzle. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Turns out the first "Matrix" was the One, but the second is still loads of fun. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The thrill isn't gone from the sequel, but the surprise is, and it hurts more than you'd think. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
One dazzling (if overlong) bridge: technologically advanced, brilliantly designed, spectacularly executed, solid as steel in its unspectacular elements. But unlike its 1999 predecessor, this is a movie that nobody but avid video gamers and motorcyclists needs to see more than once. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Relax, the staging of the action sequences is as viciously elegant as you've been primed to expect, though there is a dispiriting more-of-the-same aspect to the picture. Read full review
70
TimeRichard Schickel
You are never exactly bored by The Matrix Reloaded. But there is something alienating about it, maybe because it fails to fulfill its possibly loony intellectual aspirations. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Where The Matrix was a heady cocktail of gnostic Zen Philip K. Dick cyberpunk '60s psychedelic bull, well spiked with high-octane digitally driven Hong Kong action pyrotechnics, those elements reloaded soon separate out. The refreshing draft of effervescent movie magic leaves a sludgy sediment of metaphysics. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Inevitably, the one ingredient that does remain constant are the performances -- once again, there aren't any (the lone exception is Gloria Foster's mommy Oracle, although, even here, the shine is off the joke). Of course, for the hyperactive principals, this gig isn't about acting -- it's about athleticism, which suits Keanu Reeves's talents just fine. Read full review
63
PremiereGlenn Kenny
The intellectual aspirations of this series are just window dressing. Which left this viewer to enjoy the freeway chase sequence (which really is cool), Hugo Weaving’s smirk, and even the PlayStationish stuff. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
This cold, generally soulless movie does feel like it was made by people who are taking themselves way too seriously. Remember the delicious anticipation you felt when The Empire Strikes Back was over? You won't feel that way when The Matrix Reloaded reaches its cliffhanger finale. You'll just feel relief. Read full review
60
Washington PostStephen Hunter
No, it's not great. No, it's not a disaster. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
In this second installment of the trilogy, lithe bodies endowed with superior brains do all sorts of spectacular things, but the movie has the dead soul of a video game.
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
More comic book-like and less intriguing than the original, the film's punch-drunk cyber-mysticism still has a darkly seductive allure that sets it apart from juvenile, Star Wars-style space opera. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
If a concept is to sustain itself over a multipart story, it must make an emotional connection, and this "Reloaded," especially with stars cast for their lack of affect and affinity for blankness, cannot do that. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Unlike "The Matrix," all fights and stunts -- including a 14-minute freeway chase -- have a disturbing tendency to repeat intricately choreographed action. Thus, computer technology and overkill supplant the ingenuity of the original film's action. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
As a whole, The Matrix Reloaded is thin on magic, charm, surprise and fun. It's less like an all-out escape, or even a thrill ride, than a sensory workout. At best, it's a treadmill-like bridge to the hoped-for splendors of episode three, The Matrix Revolutions. Read full review
50
The New YorkerAdam Gopnik
For anyone who was transfixed by the first movie, watching the new one is a little like being unplugged from the Matrix: What was I experiencing all that time? Could it have been . . . all a dream? [19 May 2003, p.68] Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
For such a rich visual movie, "Reloaded" tells far more than it shows; the pivotal scenes involve people explaining things to Neo. Too many plot turns resemble detours, and even the ever-amusing Smith feels like a red herring in the scheme of things. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
This monstro-budgeted sequel to The Matrix has more than twice as many special effects as the original... there is also more than twice as much philosophic bull as before--and there was plenty of that the first time around. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Suffers mightily from sequelitis. Forced to explain what’s going on and what’s going to be going on in the next and final installment (due out in November), the Wachowskis have laced the film with a series of crushingly dull and often incomprehensible scenes of exposition and yakky gabfests. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Like its predecessor, it's a hugely ambitious picture...But also like its predecessor, it cares far more about action, adventure, and violence than feelings, relationships, and ideas. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
In making The Matrix's leaden answer to "The Phantom Menace," the Wachowski brothers seem to be afflicted with George Lucas Syndrome: They're so enthralled by the convoluted mythology of their own private universe that they've lost touch with its human core. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The martial arts choreography is neither graceful nor exciting--it's worthy of a video game. Only after cars, trucks, and a motorcycle join the action--easily outclassing all the actors--does the movie take on a modicum of vitality. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyJohn Powers
Although (Reeves) acting inclines toward the wooden, it's always been his weird genius (if that's the term) to exude a charmed aura, an uncanny sense of being the chosen one -- remember, he's been the Buddha. I'm not sure any other actor could play Neo nearly so well, for the others would all be working to seem like The One (as he's known), while Reeves conveys that quality just by showing up. Read full review
30
SlateDavid Edelstein
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). Read full review
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