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What decisions does Neo have to make about his walk in Reloaded?

Neo has to begin to make some important choices about literally what door he's going to walk through. What does that mean for him? He begins the film saying to Trinity, "I just wish I knew what I was supposed to do."

He has turned to the prophets, he's turned to a spiritual mentor, and in the end nobody can really tell him what he's got to do. He's just got to do it. He's got to intuitively sense what's right and he's got to move in that direction. Some of those decisions may affect the lives of people that he loves, and those of the whole human race.

If Neo is a Christ figure, then who is Morpheus?

Most prominently he is John the Baptist. Part of what we've got to learn as we view these films is that whether it's Neo as a Christ figure or Morpheus as a John the Baptist, that doesn't exclude the other influences. At times, Morpheus is like God the Father. One of the characters on the ship in the first film turns and says, "Morpheus, you're more than a leader to us, you're like a father to us."

What do you make of Trinity as a character?

She's one of the most fascinating characters. She represents the Holy Spirit as that part of the godhead. She is the one calling out to Neo. She's the first one seeking him out. She reminds him, "I know what drives you. And the question drives you." Just like the Holy Spirit would come after us, Trinity goes after Neo. She's the backbone in many ways of their remnant.

What are some themes in The Matrix Reloaded that are being heavily discussed now?

Some of the most important questions in the movie are the discussions that people of faith have had for a long time about faith, predestination, and who's really in control. The question of foreknowledge and determination is really important.

There's another conversation with a character called a Merovingian. If we know history a little bit we know that the Merovingian dynasty was a Frankish dynasty that was said to have been from the lineage of Christ. The character talks a lot about causality. He says life is really about cause and effect. Morpheus says, "No, life centers around choice."

Later, when Neo reaches the crisis, he says, "Choice really is the problem."

So for a person who has not yet seen Matrix Reloaded, what are things they should look for?

Some of it is explicit Christian truth—like it came out of the Bible. At times in the Matrix films, Morpheus is actually reinterpreting some of King Nebuchadnezzar's words from the book of Daniel.

At other times, we see things that would be a Gnostic heresy or a Buddhist theology. There, we begin to say, "But it has just an element of truth in it that's worth discussing." Other stuff we'd say, "Well that's just garbage."

I think we have to begin to say, "Okay, what do I believe? How do I match this up with what I know of Scripture and God?" The best part of this film is that it leads us to discussion and to interact with one another.

To leave behind doubt and to embrace faith is really what this movie is about. Ultimately, we don't know what the movie is really saying or what kind of faith they're calling us to embrace—but as Christians we know what faith is.

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May (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47