The Matrix Reloaded (15)

Having melded philosophy and religion with PVC-bound chop-socky in their first sci-fi extravaganza, The Wachowski Brothers dive back through the looking glass but can't avoid leaving a few cracks. So here's the news, people: The Matrix Reloaded ain't perfect. It's sandbagged by portentous philoso-bollocks, the plot-holes are cavernous and the less said about all that sex stuff, the better.

But as hacker-turned-messiah Neo (Keanu Reeves) journeys to the core of The Matrix and the Real World braces itself for the Machines' genocidal attack, every fault is eclipsed by the sheer atomic dazzle of Reloaded's supercharged spectacle. If The Matrix set the walls of reality trembling, Reloaded smashes straight through them.

The sight of 100 Agent Smiths (Hugo Weaving, multiplying with grinning malice) scuffling with Neo hikes action cinema to a new plateau, only to be bested by an astonishing freeway chase guaranteed to have your eyes straining on their stalks. And, pepped by a snaking vein of dark humour, there's a devilish gallery of new characters populating this stretch of the rabbit-hole, from the switch-hitting Twins (Adrian and Neil Rayment) to Monica Bellucci's icy temptress.

Like some giddy drug overdose, Reloaded seesaws between soaring, gasp-grasping thrills and brain-swelling confusion, eventually dumping you on the other side, dazed but ready for another hit. Lucky that Revolutions is out in November then, eh?

DVD Extras:

Twenty-seven quid is a lot for a double-disc set - even if Reloaded is the biggest movie of the year (so far). What do you get for your hard-earned, then? Not a massive amount. Commentary hounds will whine at the fact that not a single gab-over track is included (the Wachowskis may be publicity shy, but producer Joel Silver's never been one to keep his thoughts to himself), while there's no innovative, interactive equivalent of the first DVD's White Rabbit feature.We do get a solid half-hour featurette on the execution of the freeway chase, including footage of the cast at driving school, details on all the strange mobile cameras they had to utilise and even mini-interviews with the extras. Other aspects of the production don't receive so much attention: despite there clearly being hours' worth of behind-the-scenes material, it's all crammed into a 22-minute skim-over Making Of that leaves you thirsting for more... Which, no doubt, will come in some future Super-Mega-Bonanza Edition after Revolutions is released.There's also a treat in the form of the 2003 MTV Movie Awards parody, starring Seann William Scott (as "a shitload of Stiflers"), Justin Timberlake and, best of all, Will Ferrell as "Larry" The Architect, as well as featurettes on the video game, The Animatrix, the "cultural impact" of the movies and the ad campaigns. Yet compare this with, say, The Fellowship Of The Ring DVD (four discs for £30) and you can't help but feel a little shortchanged.

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