Great action, confusing dialogue

Rating: 8/10 (15 May 2003)

The first "Matrix" is an experience that I will never forget. The awesome action, good dialogue, the subtle references to Socrates' "Allegory of the Cave", and a plot that keep you on the edge of your seat. Unfortunately, the sequel, though great action, lacked the punch of the first movie.
The second movie, though great action, seemed to lack a bit in the dialogue. Its not the movie was poorly written, on the contrary, it seems so perfectly written that you had to have read the previous rewrites of the script to make any sense of it (I kind of felt like I was reading "Finnegan's Wake" again). After having seen the movie, I am still not sure what happened. I remember the awesome fight scenes, but can't recall I word of dialogue. Though, the movie did build well off the dialogue in the original, the movie flows more like a class in philosophy rather than a class in film making.
That said, the only other problem with the movie involves Neo himself (this has nothing to do with Keanu's acting performance, mind you). There is a point halfway through the film where you realize, "Ok, he is the One and no one can even hurt him, move on." The only moving scene with Neo in it is his final choice (which I won't go into here).
All in all it was a great flick, though the ending is nothing but a promo for the September Matrix movie. I can't wait to see it again, not for the action, like I was looking forward to, but rather so that I can understand "the words that were coming out of their mouths."