Should Have Stopped After The Matrix...

Rating: 1/10 (30 May 2003)

Matrix Reloaded spends more time searching for purpose than its erstwhile hero Neo, wandering aimlessly, trying, like a posing intellectual, to impress you with a massive amount of useless multisyllabic gibberish until the only thing you understand is that you've exhausted 2 1/2 hours of your life that you'll never get back again.
*Spoilers*
All the elements that made the first film engaging are disposed of here, almost as if, well, the original idea was so thin that only one decent film could created around it anyway. We start off with Neo having bad dreams about Trinity; will the prophesy of his dream be fulfilled? We get to watch him worry through the whole film. Keanu Reeves worrying is about as interesting as Keanu Reeeves breathing. Then we are treated to Laurence Fishburne (25 pounds too fat, and enunciating all of his hard consonants to the point of utter posing) orating poorly and prophesying endlessly about nothing. Then we get to watch boring, sweaty ravers dancing in slow motion while Trinity & Neo bore us with sweaty, slow motion lovemaking.
But the real key is every 25 minutes we are treated to one stupid, needless fight scene after another. You can absolutely set your watch by the intervals. And here is the ultimate downfall of the film: the whole affair is merely uninspired, overbearing filler that pads out the dead space between the dull, repetitive fights. As exciting and fresh as they were the first time we saw them, now they are excessive and unoriginal. I guess we've seen the technology too much by now. But the trend has passed by and outlived its usefulness.
I can wait a long time for the 3rd installment.