Zion Disappointing but Great Car Chase

Rating: 6/10 (15 January 2014)

It's a little while after The Matrix. Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) believes that Neo (Keanu Reeves) is the key to defeating the machines. Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) is now with Neo. Meanwhile the machines have start digging, and will breach Zion in 72 hours. Also Agent Smith is now free from the code and is even more powerful.
It's a good start to the second installment of the series from the Wachowski brothers. There's a ticking clock. It's leading to a big battle. We're going to see Zion for the first time. Agent Smith is even more powerful. But then we get to Zion.
Zion is a sweaty mess. And for people with 72 hours to live, these people go have a dance party. Instead of great running battles, the first half is a very, very excruciatingly slow grind. The program world has some interesting ideas, but that also gets too slow at times. There are too many slow expositions. There is generally too much talking and not enough doing.
I still love the kung fu fighting. The addition of the twins is quite nice. The first fight against the Agent Smiths is a disappointment. It turns into a CGI video game. That's never been cool in a movie to keep switching from real stunts to CG animation cartoons. Other fights are much better. Even the later fight against the Agent Smiths is pretty good.
The best part is the big highway chase. That is an amazing bit of movie-making. It's a super fun time.
And I like Colonel Sanders. He's uniquely original. He's certainly memorable.
Overall the first half is a major drag. The movie gets better in the second half. It's a disappointing sequel, but still has great sequences.