I finally watched The Matrix Reloaded yesterday. There are no spoilers, here, fear not. Obviously, I'd heard an awful lot about the film, both good and bad. Primarily, the reviews seemed split between those who found it disappointing and overly heavy on special effects and those who were 'wowed' by it, much like the first.

To start with, one should accept that this trilogy of films is much like the Star Wars trilogy was for my generation: it's the biggest film-changing event in the lives of this generation, much as the latter was for mine. New ways of seeing things, a new idea, new direction methods and special effects that had never been seen before. Consequently, views are split, much as they were for the latter.

As far as I'm concerned, there are three main parts (in order of importance) to the film: the story, the acting and the effects. The first of these was handled surprisingly well. I remember being a bit miffed at the messianic end to the first film, which led to my apprehension of a 'preachy' story in the second. Let's face it, the whole 'The One' thing appeals mostly to adolescent males who want to believe they could be as important as Neo, wear the shades and coat and do all the funky martial arts.

Thankfully, there aren't a whole load of sermons in the film: I was surprised, to say the least. Particularly with Morphius believing in the 'Prophesy', I'd feared that virtually everything he said would be dramatic, important and overly heavy: it wasn't. His speeches are, obviously, a little heavier than others, but they're well-written, well-balanced and don't make the viewer wish he'd shut up!

The story also fits well into the trilogy: the first film could really have been left as it was, but the continuation makes sense, works well and stitches seamlessly in. Much like The Empire Strikes Back, the second episode leaves the viewer wanting to see the completion and, one could say, is not a story in its own right. This is fine: it's intended to be like that.

Secondly, the acting was good. I have a well-known and public disliking of Keanu Reeves, who I consider to be too boring and forced in most of his serious roles. Surprisingly, again, he was quite acceptable: suspension of disbelief almost achieved and wooden personality almost gone! I may have to re-think my opinions of him if he carries on like this. Unfortunately, I personally found the disappointment in this episode to be Mr Fishburne: I don't really know why, but I found him less imposing and less interesting than in the first. Trinity is, of course, still lovely.

Finally, the special effects. Now, we all know that The Matrix is what might be called effects-heavy. That would, of course, be an understatement! The budget for the effects in Reloaded would probably fund a small country for a decade, there's so many. However - and much respect to the Wachowskis for this - it's all somehow appropriate. Bullet-time is not overused and is still used in context (i.e. when there's a seriously life-threatening situation). That pan-round-while-in-freeze-frame effect is also rarely seen and used to good effect. Slow-motion appears often, but makes sense, much as the lack of camera changes in older Jackie Chan films does.

Of course, there's a whole load of new effects, too. I particularly liked the ghosting and shock-waves: it's only after a moment that one realises the stuff in the background is all affected, as it should be in real life.

All in all, I must admit to enjoying the film immensely: it's a lot better than I had anticipated and makes for a lot of fun. And yes, I admit I was wrong in my pre-viewing assumptions!