The Matrix comes in like a mild wind....

Rating: Null/10 (17 May 2003)

Here's the premise: Rage against the machine... there's even a guy who reminds me of Zack Delaroca. But keep in mind that this movie is not nearly as cool as Rage. It built fairly nicely on the last movie. The mythology of the Matrix was expanded, explaining more about the workings of the system. Zion was explained in more detail as well. Overall, this movie expands the experience of the Matrix. It fills out what the first movie failed to express.
The fight scenes were wonderful, even if many of them echoed the first movie. Much of what I saw in a battle was the same as I'd seen before in this series; it was simply built upon (put into another background, fighting more people at once). Another problem with the fight scenes was that when Keanu Reeves had a stunt double, you knew it. The directors didn't even attempt to conceal it, often zooming in on an actor that was certainly not Reeves. Yet, these problems could not ruin the coolness of the film.
What did almost ruin the film was the cliched diologue. Unfortunately this was most noticable in the major revelation toward the end of the movie. I won't say what happens, but be sure to have your dictionary ready if you don't have a great grasp of the English language. And be sure to groan when you hear the truth. Actually, the movie was full of cliches. There was even a scene where the main characters travel behind a book case that hides a secret passage.
Relationships in this movie seemed to be thrown around, never seeming to make sense. There was a lot that did not progress the plot, which is a terrible shame.
The final thing I have to complain about is the last thing you see before the credits. I will only say this: the ending is soap opera worthy. And when you see it, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Overall, good movie. Don't even bother to see it if you haven't seen the first (or didn't like the first).
6/10 as a sequel; 3/10 as a stand alone