Disappointing

Rating: 7/10 (18 May 2003)

(SPOILER REVIEW) Like Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, it seemed that The Matrix: Reloaded would be a can't miss, sure-fire, awesome sci-fi film. But just like Episode I, Reloaded just didn't have it. I loved the first Matrix film. It was a great sci-fi film and a great movie going experience. A visual feast, and something I had not seen before. A perfect modern day sci fi epic. A sequel seemed a natural. How could it go wrong?
The fact that the Matrix slo-mo trademark effect has been done to death obviously hurt the film, but there were so many other problems with it. First off, unlike the first one where each character aboard the Nebecanezer (sp?) was vulnerable in the world of the Matrix, now we have Neo; The One, who is unbeatable. There is no danger in each fight scene in which Neo appears. He can't be beat so who cares. There is no danger and nothing new that we are seeing in his fight sequences. The previous crew of the ship is missed too. There are no new interesting characters in this film.
The pacing of the film early on is extremely slow. They spend a lot of time setting up the politics and conflicts within Zion. Then they show us the inner workings of Zion, which just isn't that interesting. The slow pacing of the film finally picks up and towards the third act so much happens so fast that I thought I was watching a tease to the next film Revolutions. It was very strange. After the directors spend so much time showing us Zion, we find out that it gets wiped out by the invading Sentinels. All of this happens off screen! Why the heck did the directors spend so much time characterizing Zion and presenting it's impending doom and then let it all happen off screen?
There are some great action sequences during the film and some of the bloated pretentious narrative is somewhat engaging, but all in all this Matrix film is a disappointment. The excitement and anticipation of what we would see next in the trilogy, how would the directors blow us away this time, is gone. I stayed for at least 10 minutes to watch the longest credit crawl in the history of film only to feel jipped once again by a 30 second lame trailer for Revolutions. Will I go see Revolutions..yeah sure; but I'm not expecting much. (7/10)