You don't know Kung-Fu.

Rating: 6/10 (23 June 2004)

One of the most overrated films of ALL TIME, if not THE most overrated film of all time. Why people love this movie so much completely baffles me. I realize that different people have different opinions and tastes but even some fellow reviewers here that have comparable tastes to mine praise this film to my astonishment. There isn't anything great here, so why all the fuss? It's not original, and if you think it is you didn't see Dark City or a slew of others....the story is very slow, it's pretentious beyond words, and the acting is absolutely terrible to the point that it's hard to sit through without wanting to bite a running chainsaw, all thanks to the abysmally talented Reeves and Laurence Lamprey aka Cowboy Curtis. The ending is also weak, and don't tell me it's because they had planned on making a sequel because movies should be able to stand alone.....and don't even get me started on the sequels. At least they're not too overrated. I have felt this way since 1999 when it came out and I went to see it in the theater. When it was finally over, I said, "That's it?!"
Let's go over this piece, shall we? People praise this film for it's fight choreography, when the people fighting are tools like Fishburne and Reeves. Are you serious? I can't help but to laugh out loud at Keanu in the dojo training scene with Lamprey. He looks like he's got a Klingon dagger rammed up his butt! This is the "One"?! I can't think of anyone more miscast. Actually, I can't think of a film where he wouldn't be miscast. True, a lot of my discontent with this film comes from the actors, but even with decent actors I still think it would've failed. The story is also sloppy and filled with more useless techno-babble than a quantum-physics book from Brent Spiner's "Data" from the Star Trek: The Next Generation series. To sum it up, it doesn't make any sense. People as batteries? OK. For a movie that spouts so much techno-babble at you, it's not very technical. It's all a red herring.
My biggest problem with the people that like this film is that they praise it for it's originality when that could not be further from the truth. Do your research or just watch more movies and you'll begin to realize that this film is nothing more than a long list of rip-offs from others films....and it gets the credit for all of it. This isn't the film's fault, it's the uneducated fans....the same fans responsible for it's ridiculously lofty rating here at IMDb. I think the rip-offs were intentional personally, and I don't think even the Wachowski brothers thought it'd be as successful as it was because of it.
Criminally overrated....and will not stand the test of time. The epitome of the phrase, "Style over substance." Just another summer blockbuster.
It's a lot like Pokemon. People like it, but I can't understand why....and I don't think they do either. I think this will just be another fad. Time will tell.