Mind- and bum-numbing

Rating: 3/10 (12 June 2003)

Despite misgivings from the reviews I had read on this site, I still fell for it and parted with my hard-earned Â£4.80 to see this.
What a disappointment! From its tightly focussed predecessor, The Matrix Reloaded has turned into a flaccid, superficial and banal offering. Whereas in the first film the characters are understated and believable, in the sequel they are cartoon-like and lacking in depth. 'Superman' Neo (yes, he continues with the caped crusader antics which one might have thought was a humorous throw-away shot at the end of Matrix I) suddenly seems to have taken hormone injections and has the hots for Trinity. Morpheus on the other hand seems to be mainlining hot-air - both physically in terms of bulk, and verbally in terms of pretentious speechifying.
The fight scenes show very little development or tension and are consequently repetitive and boring. The main plot-line of machines threatening to invade Zion seems completely forced and lacking in believability. Much of the on-ship action together with the scenes involving the Zion Council seem redolent of old Star Trek episodes and, as such, are predictable and uninteresting.
Yes the CGI is amazing but because I never cared about the plot or the characters, this wasn't nearly enough. To cap it all, the intentional attempts at humour fell flat in the cinema where I was watching - yet the time when we all did laugh was the ridiculous **SPOILER** cardiac massage scene which presumably wasn't meant to be funny at all. Oh dear....