Reloading Neo & Trinity

I just re-watched The Matrix Reloaded a few days ago. I was curious how I would find the film on the N-th rewatch. This time I think I could finally reconcile my expectation of the film as a successor of The Matrix (one of my favourite films) and what I saw on screen.

As a starter, I was surprised to find the dialogs not as intelligent as I thought it was. I think Reloaded's trick is to portray the characters as if they have personal thoughts not revealed to the audience. For example, both the Oracle and the Architect present Neo with options and the dialog makes it as if Neo knows what he will choose. One particular line (the Oracle's) that stuck with me is "We are all here to do what we are all here to do." I used to find this kind of circular dialog interesting; now I see it as a trick a story-teller uses to avoid giving explanation (which is not necessarily a bad thing).

Next is the visual. I watched the film in the cinema when Reloaded was out. Then, I was not informed about special effects techniques (later on, I took a fun module related to special effects in university) but I could see that certain effect shots are computer-generated (e.g. Neo "doing his Superman thing", Neo spinning during the burly brawl, Neo saving Morpheus & the Key Maker from truck collision). With such a high expectation on its shoulder, Reloaded did quite badly. For some reason, I could accept this only now. Maybe because I love The Matrix too damn much.

(I wonder if anyone gets the reference in that last sentence. I couldn't believe that Neo actually say this line in the emotional climax of the film.)

A related factor is the fighting scenes. In The Matrix, the fight scenes are tightly edited. The longest fighting scene I could remember is perhaps the dojo fight between Morpheus & Neo. In Reloaded, the fighting scenes are just too long. I don't know if they are long to show that Neo actually enjoys being a God in the Matrix or whether it's simply having too long fighting scenes. And as cool Keanu Reeves is, he just does not look convincing in fighting scenes.

Next is influence. I read a lot of articles and books about how anime influences The Matrix. I like anime and I've watched a reasonable number of anime titles; but I could never see concrete manifestation of anime influence in The Matrix. Well, one particular scene in Reloaded that hit me was a close up to Neo's hand gripping his chair holder as he flew in the Matrix to save Trinity. I think it is a common visual cue used in manga & anime.

This is just a small, trivial manifestation; but it convinced me to think of the characters in a different light. I've always thought of them as American action film characters. To me, such characters always seem to know what to do next. They usually know their surroundings well enough to grab an object to get them out of any situation. They never seem to have to stop and think (even if there were indeed a number of scenes in which Neo actually ponders on his dream in Reloaded).

Anyway, I started to think of Neo as an anime character. I tried to match the anime tropes I know of with his actions in Reloaded. The result was surprising to me. I've always thought Neo is like Batman: sure he has personal problems, but he is tough enough to ignore all his personal problems to safe others. But maybe Neo is like... Kira Yamato in Gundam Seed. The reason that he saves people from the Matrix is not because he is tough or because he is a good person. The reason is an opportunity to once again escape reality and get into the Matrix because he is a God in the Matrix. Perhaps Neo defines himself as his ablity in the Matrix, which is in conflict with his love for Trinity because Trinity is always in danger when they are in the Matrix.

And that finally brings me to another realization about Trinity. Again, I started to interpret her as an anime character. I used to think that her character is strong and independent. Sure she admires and loves Neo; but if Neo dies, she will perhaps grieve and then carried on with her life. I saw her as a woman brought up in American culture (I don't know how to describe this well; I just know that there definitely a trend in personality difference between people growing up in Asia, America, and Europe; what follows below may explain what I mean better).

Seeing her as an anime character opens some possibilities. For example, it is possible that her decision to go into the Matrix (despite her promising Neo not to) is partly motivated by her valuing herself less than Neo. It's a kind of partial selflessness. I find this trope used very often (if not always) in tragic Chinese love stories; but surprisingly rare in American films. With this interpretation in mind, I can see that scene on the rooftop (where it climaxed with Neo massaging Trinity's heart) could have been made with much heavier melodrama if Reloaded were a tragic Chinese love film.
(Imagine this: Trinity teary and smiling with a mortal wound, saying that she is happy that she could safe Neo's life and that she has no regrets. Then she stops breathing, complete with her head turning to the side. Neo will then start crying and calling her name loudly multiple times before finally, with tears streaking down his face, he shook his head, saying that he could not accept this. She's his one love and she must live! Only then did we get to the heart-massaging-in-code scene. I'm not saying that this alternative is better; I'm just saying that I suddenly could see this alternative and all the cultural assumptions behind such a scene.)

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Anyway, I just found this little song by Chiaki Ishikawa called Uninstall. Never mind the weird title, it is very addictive. I found myself humming "uninstall, uninstall..."