In the production notes for The Matrix Reloaded, writer Alex Lasker talks about the movie's genesis as his effort (with co-writer Patrick Cirillo) to create his own The Sand Pebbles. His observation gives you a rough idea of where The Matrix Reloaded is headed. But the movies are very different. While The Sand Pebbles paid close attention to the lives of its characters and allowed them to exist as fully drawn people before thrusting them into battle, The Matrix Reloaded has no room for such a deliberate approach.