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wild-eyed, maniacal, laughing all evil-like
Tomorrow the part-time design job I've been working since mid-November will finally become a full-time design job. It hasn't sunk in yet that this means actually working more in order to get paid more. In celebration I've napped away half my Sunday, and right now I have the coolest bedhead ever. (Dig that totally fake-looking but absolutely real yawn.)
Last night I was feeling in the mood for manufactured philosophy and gothic kung-fu, so I slapped The Matrix: Reloaded into the DVD player and settled in for wide-eyed wonder. It never came, though. I suppose not many films can draw the same response from you after a half-dozen viewings, but I didn't expect to be as cynical about the thing as I ended up being. My two biggest complaints about this movie are the same two I had when it was released last summer: the CGI is too heavily relied-on, and the sense of awe that the first movie carried off so well is missing here.
Last night, though, it was all about the CGI. I got bored with the filler material between fights, so I just watched the action sequences. And I realized what the biggest problem with the computer-animated characters was. It's not that their clothing is textureless (which was an instantly noticeable problem on the first viewing). It's not that their extremities are too rubbery and flexible (another major issue, particularly when Neo's doing his baton major routine). The biggest problem, I've decided, is that the animated Neo has a wider range of facial expressions than Keanu Reeves has. It's literally like watching someone else step in to play the role while Reeves is off-set grabbing a cup of coffee, or signing autographs for fans during shooting. Don't believe me? Watch the scene where Neo fights Seraph; Reeves is mostly pretty straight-faced and concentrating hard on remembering his movies, you can tell. And then watch the infamous "burly brawl" scene, and Neo's all constipated and accusational-looking with each flying leap and swing of the pole.
Anyway, bottom line is that it just didn't quite click for me this time. And given that I absolutely detested Revolutions, I'm thinking these dudes should've stopped with the first flick.
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