matrix overload

no spoilers.. read on..

like just about everyone else in the informed civilised world, i found myself drawn to watch Matrix Reloaded as soon as it opened in the theatres last weekend. after all, with all the hype surrounding this hot sequel, plus having a Matrix fan of a sister who obsessively ('cos the blue tack keeps giving way) hangs posters of Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss) posters on her wardrobe door, buys 8 Days just for the exclusive coverage of the movie and has seen the original like, er, 3 times (?), who can blame me? :)

admittedly, the movie impresses with its jaw-dropping action sequences, (somewhat exaggerated) kungfu stunts, clever use of glowing streams of falling katakana script (in mirror image), and outright attempts at philosophy. yet, what really amazed me, at the end of it, was not so much what was in the movie itself, but the many spinoffs from it. by this, i don't mean the game (Enter The Matrix) nor the manga (The Animatrix) or even the very popular book "The Matrix and Philosophy" by William Irwin.

instead, everywhere i surfed on the internet, i was bombarded by countless references to either the sequel or the original movie. suddenly, it was almost faddish to try to find affinity with it, for example, the hackers loved it, fans have found links in it to both Eastern and Western religions - Buddhism and even Christianity (??), Greek Mythology, Alice in Wonderland & Wizard of Oz and what have you.. apparently, some college philosophy lecturers have even started screening The Matrix to introduce to their students complex theories on religion and reality!

we even see head-spinning stuff like this: ...Chalmers, director of the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona, likens the perceptual challenge offered by ''The Matrix'' to the philosophical conundrum of an ''envatted'' brain, a laboratory brain stored in a vat and programmed to receive stimuli from the ''real world.'' (huh??)

i don't think we will be seeing the last of The Matrix for quite a while.. and then The Revolution comes! :O