More rumors continue to be heard about the Matrix sequels; now we’ve got another unconfirmed one to add to the recent list. Our latest scooper writes in to say he had the chance to speak to an employee of Manex, the special effects company that created the “bullet time” sequences for the film, and who are returning to create additional SFX for the sequels. “I was in San Francisco last weekend talking with a guy I know who used to work for ILM and now works for Manex,” writes the scooper. “He is currently working on the effects on the Matrix II and III.
“Last week it was reported on AICN that Mannix was working on new techniques to make characters fly realisticly. He further corroborated this with saying ‘Expect a big epic fight scene along the lines of Braveheart but with the characters flying like Supermen.’
“For what’s worth it seemed like an interesting piece of news.” [That’s from ‘Godchild’.]
This is the first report we’ve heard of a large battle sequence in the movie. We know for a fact from our sources that the visual effects envelope is being pushed by the brothers for the sequels, but really, nothing else describing possible fight sequences has been heard, until now that is. Something like this may be hard to prove right now, but we’ll work at it.
A scooper named “Haven” told us to check out this month’s Rolling Stone for some interesting and never-before-mentioned Matrix sequel information straight from an interview with Keanu Reeves — and sure enough, there it is.
What he does know is that the Wachowskis want the character’s fighting skills to progress, hence all the new training. “Before, we fought one at a time, and I know they want me to do five,” he says. “Which is master. That’s the real deal. If you can fight five people, that’s Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee stuff. So you need a whole other technique for that. You need a whole other level of proficiency, to be able to film close to real time and to be consistent and to have power on blows and to sell the punches. I’m sure there’s going to be more wire work, because the characters can fly.” And he wants to learn to fight on three vertical levels: “Basically, our fights were really one level. Eye-to-eye fighting, or me going low to do a leg sweep, or me jumping in the air to kick you, that would be three levels. So I could fight low, fight middle, fight high. Then, with this one, I’ll fight in the sky….”
Be the first to comment