Even more disappointing than many reviews indicate.

Rating: Null/10 (31 May 2003)

I have a fairly strong background with science fiction and philosophy, and while I think the original Matrix is highly overrated both as SF and as philosophy, I have to admit: it is an action film par excellence. Not so with the sequel.
On a science fiction level, the sequel never really manages to get over the embarassingly silly idea of the first one, with the "humans as batteries" explanation. And I have to say, Zion is the home base in a hundred different banal space operas; why did the Matrix franchise feel the need to ape this bad cliche? Philosophically, it's weaker; rather than as a sort of exploration on the same lines as Descartes' famous essay that led to his conclusion, "I think, therefore I am," the Matrix Reloaded tries to deal with the problems of free will and causality, which are almost unbreachable in film. The film has some ponderous dialogue about causation, but there's no nuance to it, nothing to suggest that any characters have any interest in the subtleties of modern philosophy. I'd love to see a filmic depiction of something like the Frankfurt example (where a hypothetical person is about to make a choice, but is then literally forced to make that same choice - bringing the "could have done otherwise" principle of free will-based morality into question), or in general dealing with the rather fascinating subject of whether or not we make the choices that we seem to make. Despite the claims of some of its supporters, the Matrix Reloaded offers nothing insightful into this discourse. It's a shame, because the first movie did open up a lot of people into realms of philosophy.
The plot is also much less focused. The entire first film can be mapped on the Campbell-derived hero's journey structure; while I'm not a proponent of the structure myself, I have to admit it makes for solid plotting in its own particular niche (proven by Star Wars and The Matrix). The sequel's plot is much more stereotypical genre hackwork: the hero goes from destination to destination, collecting plot coupons and using them along the way. That it is set up in such a way that insufferable, wooden dialogue and stock SF in Zion precedes insufferable, wooden dialogue in the formerly more interesting Matrix only serves to make the film's plot dry and of interest only to that sort of fan who made up explanations for why the human-as-battery thing worked in the first one. The twist of the Architect's speech was really the only interesting part of it all, and I must admit it makes me curious as to how they'll finish it up. All in all, though, it does a terrible job of structuring and delivering its plot.
And then there's the action. Reportedly, this is the reason we all came, to see Neo dancing on the faces of a hundred Agent Smiths and a killer car chase scene. And I'm all one for good medieval weapon fighting and car chases and kung fu, so don't get me wrong here. It looked really cool in the trailer, and indeed on screen - but it was all just sound and fury, signifying nothing. The battle with the Agent Smiths was completely uncompelling, because Neo was so good that he was never in any danger. The same went for the whole business with the weapon fight sequence. Even the acclaimed freeway sequence was too long, and it kept pushing the heroes to the brink and then bringing them back so many times that it stopped being interesting and became trite and boring. Slow motion was used because it looked cool, not to emphasize any interesting aspects of the fight scene. Good action depends on the audience caring about the outcome, and that is not in the Matrix: Reloaded. Watch the original movie again; in every single scene, right up until the end, the characters' lives and missions are in very real danger; it makes the race to get to a phone nailbiting stuff, the relief on seeing no body palpable. The Matrix Reloaded doesn't even come close to this level, instead hoping that you will be so dazzled by sfx and choreography that you won't care that the fights are pointless, long, and have no dramatic impact.
And the special effects are glitzy indeed, but frankly - there's nothing in them that we haven't seen a hundred times since the original movie debuted. What the Wachowski brothers really proved was that CGI, when mixed with reality, still looks fake no matter how much money you spend on it.
It's really a shame; the first movie was quite intriguing and really intense in the action department. The sequel isn't even in the same class.