Neo and the rebel leaders estimate that they have 72 hours until 250,000 probes discover Zion and destroy it and its inhabitants. During this, Neo must decide how he can save Trinity from a dark fate in his dreams.
The biggest challenge `Reloaded' has facing it is trying to top what has come before. `The Matrix' was such a cultural phenomenon, and revolutionized special effects for both the film and commercial industry, resulting in countless rip-offs and deeply unfunny spoofs (I'm looking your way, `Shrek'). `Reloaded' brings back such familiar visuals as `bullet-time' and the wire-fu fighting, but meticulously takes it further, pushing the boundaries of what can be accomplished with a keyboard and mouse. Unlike the original film, `Reloaded' makes abundant use of digital body doubles (As seen badly in `Blade 2' and `Attack Of The Clones') to take the action to places the human body would break in two if attempted. This results in a video game appearance to some of the action, and that isn't exactly a good thing. Without the natural human movement in glorious sequences such as Neo's ballistic fight with 100 Agent Smiths (a scene stealing Hugo Weaving), it takes the audience out of the experience. What the Wachowskis achieve visually in `Reloaded' is often staggering and admirable, with the full, lush realization of Zion, and a 15 minute heart-stopping car chase that puts all others to shame, but as the Wachowskis attempt to raise the visual bar for these follow-ups, the reliance on computer effects are beginning to reveal themselves in increasingly negative ways.