The biggest showpiece of the summer!!!, but a slight letdown

Rating: 8/10 (18 July 2003)

The first was a classic and quite possibly the greatest action or science fiction film ever. The sequel had an uphill task matching its predecessor and while it can't match it in the story department and character department, in the sheer scale of the action it manages to top the first film and that is an impressive feat.
The films significant problem is being a middle part, there is no real conventional start and finish. No real exposition, and no resolution, we have the complication and the climax but we are left open mouthed waiting for the third chapter like a baby having it's ice lolly snatched away on a hot day. The opening grabs you by the nad's and sets the level for the action, once again it looks great. Then there is forty minutes of pondering, this is where the basic expo is given. There is more talk of prophecies and destiny etc and a few scenes that could have been trimmed. Neo is still unsure of himself and his new found powers and awaits word and guidance from the Oracle. He is also visited by troubling dreams involving his lover Trinity.
Once he meets the Oracle and discovers something shocking about her, the action kicks in and the film shifts into overdrive. The story in this is good, it does suffer by not being told in the conventional way but of course this is a middle part so that will always be a problem, also some of the dialogue is hokey and is more noticeable in this one than the more engrossing first film.
The story itself has some great revelations and leaves some interesting questions, hence my need to see the third part more so than any other follow up to another film. The cast are once again good, balancing the posterior inside the Matrix with their more vulnerable sides in the real world and of course looking like Kung-Fu gods. Hugo Weaving takes delight in chewing the scenery in this, while disappointingly Carrie Ann Moss doesn't look nearly as sexy as she did in the first instalment, usually sporting dirt and a rather dodgy barnet. Of some of the new cast, Jada Pinkett Smith is playing Trinity's black clone but still looks good (oh those eyes!) and Monica Belluci has a juicy role as a sexy Vamp, she is very sexy and steals her scenes and like some people say Belluci means cleavage in Italian, on the evidence of this it must be true.
The action is the number one asset of this film aside from the fantastic cinematography and atmospheric score. All the action will blow your nuts off, especially the much talked about burly brawl between Neo and 100 Agent Smiths (yes it is true and jaw droppingly good) as well as a 15 minute car chase through a town and then on a freeway, particularly exciting is Trinity weaving through oncoming traffic at 140 mph. Only the action in the Hulk comes close to this out of the summers movies. The action really is chair grippingly, ball sweatingly, eye crossingly good.
The film is flawed yes, but, it is still interesting, all that we learn about Neo and the Matrix is intriguing and the final segment can't come soon enough. Definitely the most exciting movie this year and the most groundbreaking. ****