First one was tops, this one was average

Rating: Null/10 (29 June 2003)

*Minor*SPOILERS*
At the end of the first movie I thought it would be really hard to make a sequel to the matrix, since Neo was now superman, the alternatives were creating better foes or making more action outside the matrix.
The fight sequences on the first film were well made, always had a point, and not too lengthy (just enough to make the point!). The fight sequences in this new movie look like endless Jackie Chan fights but without the fun, hence boring and pointless. I liked the Bruce Lee tribute in the first movie, it really fit in and made the movie even cooler, but in this one it didn't have the same effect, they should have used more references from more kung-fu or anime flics. This movie has a pointless plot and the characters are just flat and sterile. For example Smith was completely out of tone because he lost what made him such a "good" villain in the first movie. He was that 50's corporate or FBI guy controlling the agents, now he's a renegade but he didn't change his nature, he is just pointless. Nothing really surprises you in this film, you can easily guess what is going to happen next, and that is what makes it so bad in light of the first one. I also think this movie suffers from the "don't make it too violent so we can market it for kids too" syndrome (which pretty much ruined the first starwars movie from the new batch), that takes us to a fight sequence with blades where no one gets chopped up. The music didn't help! The background music can pretty much make or break a movie, and in this movie it was bad and they over used a specific part of the music that was only used in the first one when they were doing some really extraordinary thing.
*BIG* *SPOILER* NOW: oh, and pushing in some characters from the animatrix smells like a cashin.