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CNN Live At Daybreak

'The Matrix Reloaded' Opens Nationwide Today

Aired May 15, 2003 - 06:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: These people cueing up for a preview of "The Matrix Reloaded" may have stood in line longer than the movie lasted. Part two of the Matrix trilogy officially opens nationwide today and those who got an early look seemed to be contradicting some critics who have panned the movie. If you're wondering what "The Matrix Reloaded" is all about, the plot goes something like this -- life is an elaborate illusion created by an evil cyber intelligence.
CNN's Daryn Kagan has more on the perilous part two.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): More side effects, more stunts, more men in black. When the Matrix was reloaded, they put more ammo in the chamber.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE MATRIX RELOADED")

LAURENCE FISHBURNE, "MORPHEUS": This promises to be beyond anyone's expectations for the first one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The first Matrix was released back in 1999 and it had the advantage of coming out of nowhere. Since then, its effects have been widely copied, forcing filmmakers to up the ante.

JOEL SILVER, PRODUCER: Our wire work was more sophisticated. With respect to the choreography, it was much more involved and much more intense.

KAGAN: There are twice the number of effects. In the sequel, Keanu Reeve's character takes flight and Neo blocks more shots than Shaquille O'Neal. For extra measure, writer-director's Larry and Andy Wachowski threw in a massive freeway chase. All that action took its toll. Carrie-Anne Moss, AKA Trinity, broke her leg in rehearsals.

CARRIE-ANNE MOSS, "TRINITY": I came into the process really gung ho and excited and then I was taken down within seven days of training.

KAGAN: She'll be back in "The Matrix Revolutions." That's the third part in the trilogy, which comes out in less than six months. Releasing two sequels so close together is an unprecedented strategy.

SILVER: We really felt that our fans would be unhappy if they had to wait a year to see this movie. The Wachowski brothers' first intention was to actually show it right away, to put them both out within the same summer.

KAGAN: The final film promises to answer questions raised in "The Matrix Reloaded" -- is the oracle on Neo's side or not? Will Niobe, a new character played by Jada Pinkett Smith, get together with Morpheus? Fascination with these and other questions have turned the Matrix into something of a cyber age soap opera -- part myth, part romance and part intellectual puzzle.

Some think it's more about ideas than action.

JADA PINKETT SMITH, "NIOBE": It's like edutainment to me. You know that you can actually come and watch a film and get all the i- candy that you need but also have food for thought.

KAGAN: Or, as Andy Richter, a Matrix fan, told us at the premiere...

ANDY RICHTER, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: This is, make no mistake about it, a nerd movie. Underneath all the long black raincoats, this is all, this is nerd porn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE MATRIX RELOADED")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Daryn Kagan, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Nerd porn that will make a gazillion dollars. CNN's Paul Clinton calls the Matrix sequel visually stunning but he says it's pretty empty. You can read his entire review and a whole lot more on "The Matrix Reloaded" on our Web site. That's cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 15, 2003 - 06:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: These people cueing up for a preview of "The Matrix Reloaded" may have stood in line longer than the movie lasted. Part two of the Matrix trilogy officially opens nationwide today and those who got an early look seemed to be contradicting some critics who have panned the movie. If you're wondering what "The Matrix Reloaded" is all about, the plot goes something like this -- life is an elaborate illusion created by an evil cyber intelligence.
CNN's Daryn Kagan has more on the perilous part two.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): More side effects, more stunts, more men in black. When the Matrix was reloaded, they put more ammo in the chamber.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE MATRIX RELOADED")

LAURENCE FISHBURNE, "MORPHEUS": This promises to be beyond anyone's expectations for the first one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The first Matrix was released back in 1999 and it had the advantage of coming out of nowhere. Since then, its effects have been widely copied, forcing filmmakers to up the ante.

JOEL SILVER, PRODUCER: Our wire work was more sophisticated. With respect to the choreography, it was much more involved and much more intense.

KAGAN: There are twice the number of effects. In the sequel, Keanu Reeve's character takes flight and Neo blocks more shots than Shaquille O'Neal. For extra measure, writer-director's Larry and Andy Wachowski threw in a massive freeway chase. All that action took its toll. Carrie-Anne Moss, AKA Trinity, broke her leg in rehearsals.

CARRIE-ANNE MOSS, "TRINITY": I came into the process really gung ho and excited and then I was taken down within seven days of training.

KAGAN: She'll be back in "The Matrix Revolutions." That's the third part in the trilogy, which comes out in less than six months. Releasing two sequels so close together is an unprecedented strategy.

SILVER: We really felt that our fans would be unhappy if they had to wait a year to see this movie. The Wachowski brothers' first intention was to actually show it right away, to put them both out within the same summer.

KAGAN: The final film promises to answer questions raised in "The Matrix Reloaded" -- is the oracle on Neo's side or not? Will Niobe, a new character played by Jada Pinkett Smith, get together with Morpheus? Fascination with these and other questions have turned the Matrix into something of a cyber age soap opera -- part myth, part romance and part intellectual puzzle.

Some think it's more about ideas than action.

JADA PINKETT SMITH, "NIOBE": It's like edutainment to me. You know that you can actually come and watch a film and get all the i- candy that you need but also have food for thought.

KAGAN: Or, as Andy Richter, a Matrix fan, told us at the premiere...

ANDY RICHTER, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: This is, make no mistake about it, a nerd movie. Underneath all the long black raincoats, this is all, this is nerd porn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE MATRIX RELOADED")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Daryn Kagan, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Nerd porn that will make a gazillion dollars. CNN's Paul Clinton calls the Matrix sequel visually stunning but he says it's pretty empty. You can read his entire review and a whole lot more on "The Matrix Reloaded" on our Web site. That's cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com