Matrix Online: What Is The Reloaded Revolution?

The Matrix Trilogy are superhero movies. Although it doesn't have the normal trappings of the genre, the links are there. The incredible powers. Special costumes that visually separate them from the normal population. A bad guy that is potentially more interesting than the hero. Access to special knowledge that drives the characters forward. Parts of the Matrix movies look to have been shot like panels from a comic. Favourable critical reviews or not, the Matrix Trilogy has altered how superpowers are viewed by the mainstream.

Indeed, the original Matrix can be seen to have kicked off the superhero film trend that is currently going on. It showed the Big Studios that people were willing to go and see large budget films about characters in silly costumes who could do spectacular things. Special effects technology was demonstrated to have moved past the point where characters could simply just be made to fly - it could be made to look like they were able to control time itself. Action films didn't have to be stupid anymore; the audience could and would follow a plot that was at times convoluted and philosophical.

This isn't to say the Matrix Trilogy was perfect. It contains plot holes, cliched dialogue, clunky dialogue and too many characters. A large number of the audience has walked away from parts of it claiming to not understand what was going on. Whenever the action left the Matrix and went to the 'real world' things slowed down. Echoes of Star Wars and Star Trek appeared in sections. But as a perspective on the modern superhero it is a breath of fresh air that has been rapidly copied and absorbed into film and even general culture.

Of course, other themes run through this series. The Saviour / Messiah imagery looms large right from the start, as does the eternal conflict between the 'evil' System and the 'good' Counter-culture (read: Empire versus the Rebellion if that makes it easier to understand). Aspects of philosophy and reality are discussed at length. It would be misguided to say that superhero idioms are the only thing you could see in this series. But it forms the backbone.

The way superpowered characters act and look has changed thanks to the Matrix Trilogy. Gun use by superpowered characters isn't as generally despised as it once was, provided you are able to fall back on something else (eg advanced martial arts). Having a long coat or perhaps some Bianca Beauchamp-influenced bodysuits are now slightly more believable as costumes (even if running in them isn't).

Away from the hype, the Matrix Trilogy is an important set of films. It may date badly, but it changed the concept of what a superhero could do in a movie. This ideology has moved across culture in general and in comics specifically. The Matrix Trilogy breathed new life into superpowers for a wide audience.

This can only be a good thing.