Video game in motion

Rating: 1/10 (6 June 2004)

I just can't write enough to comment on how disappointing this movie was. I can barely stay awake through it, and that is unusual for me to say the least. The movie plays like a video game, going from one level to another, fighting each and every time we hit a new level. I was not intrigued one bit by this unsuccessfully disguised action flick, unlike the first Matrix which I thought was terrific and thought provoking.
That's not to say the action wasn't really amazing - it was. It was ballet in motion, and it is very interesting to see in slow mo how a hit is taken, how flips are completed, etc. But, the acting is stiff, the story very elementary and unworthy of the first movie, and to be perfectly frank, I didn't think that Carrie Ann Moss looked particularly good as she did in the first film. In fact, everyone looked older, more tired, and some actually looked a little unsure of themselves in their parts, as if following the directions and not owning the part. Bad actors or bad direction, inadequate preparation or bad casting? Probably a combo of prep time and casting in most cases, and maybe there was so much concentration on the physicality of the film that the quiet, character building parts were forgotten.

I hate to genderize this Matrix, but the first one to me appealed to all techno-geeks, gen x and y'ers, regardless of gender. This one, as an almost pure action flick, seemed to me to be very male oriented in a sense. That's just too bad, as the first held so much hope and currency.

I can say this for the movie - it can put me to sleep faster than the sound of light rain!