**1/2

Rating: 5/10 (17 May 2003)

Good movie. Better than the first? No, this one is weighed down by the Wachowski Brothers'... something. I'd like to call it overconfidence, but I don't think that applies. They don't have to be overconfident because there's no doubt the film is going to make a killing. I got the impression that they were, along with making a Matrix sequel, trying to make every other movie they've ever wanted to make. It's deep, talky, slow more often than not, bordering on dreary in some places. All punctuated by long, drawn-out and undeniably captivating action sequences. Audiences thrilled by the first one will not find the same kind of entertainment here. The movie is *different*. It is not The Matrix (I). It feels completely different. That's fine... it's bigger and more ambitious. The bad part is the self indulgence. There are at least two or three scenes that are bad, really bad... embarrassingly dumb bad. Fortunately the worst of these scenes occurs pretty early in the film. Is it really necessary to watch Neo have sex with Trinity, all the way to completion for five long minutes (no exaggeration) while intercutting a Zion rave party? That's ridiculous. Why are they dancing anyway? The movie lost me there. Up to that point, it had a cool Star Wars feel with the exception of the introduction of one particularly dumb character that should and could have been deleted from the movie. No problem with sex scenes... they could have kept the Neo and Trinity stuff intact, but the alternating Zion Dance Party looks ridiculous by even today's standards and will definitely date the film in years to come. Were the editors afraid of the Wach Brothers or something?
Ah, the self-indulgence. Countless scenes with characters spouting philosophic, existential hokum to no end. Some dialogue good, some painful. All very sloppy since it could have been condensed, or at least create interesting characters and/or actors to spout it. But there's no way that dialogue or at least the points therein deserved so much time. About the third instance Merovingian repeated his own dialogue I found myself becoming angry. Did they shoot the first draft?
The effects are amazing, everyone who's complaining about the CGI Neo needs to chill. Maybe two times I realized it was a CG Keanu flying around, but I defy any movie to do the sequences more convincingly. I will say this: The fights in this, while beautiful, do seem to lack the visceral thrill of the original. I read some review that said Agent Smith should've gotten his teeth knocked out at least once. Not sure about the non-human Agent Smith, but someone should have.
The freeway scene is spectacular, the jewel being the huge brawl between Morpheus and a Matrix agent atop a semi. This was somewhat ruined for me since I had dirtbags behind me talking on a cell phone. I had to change seats twice during the course of the movie. That didn't stop me from noticing Trinity mounting herself on the motorcycle though... YOW. That's destined to become a legendary screen grab. The cycle ride itself is nothing short of awesome.
So the slow stuff really grates on you after a while... it asks way too much of an audience that's been infatuated with the original. This is heady stuff, nowhere near as accessible as the four year-old original. For that reason, I expect it to die soon with mainstream audiences. It's just an exhausting experience. It's near Lord of the Rings length at just about two and a half hours. It's something to be better examined on DVD, with its nuances and extremely complicated story. Personally, it will take two or three viewings for me to absorb everything that's been laid out to determine if really is the overbaked morass it seems. In one of the climactic (non-action) scenes which is drawn out pointlessly, the movie suddenly becomes, or is trying to become 2001: A Space Odyssey. It also uses a movie gimmick I'm not very fond of: Using your own footage and/or stock WWII footage to decorate a scene or illustrate your pont. This movie uses both. Yuck!
See it in the theaters, buy the DVD. Embrace the trilogy for its ambition. You could learn to love it. Stay after the credits in the theater though, for the preview for The Matrix Revolutions. Only time and patience will tell if this is one of the most intelligent science fiction sagas we're bound to see in our lifetimes. But the entertainment value for this chapter wasn't always there for me. Then again, I did seem to find every dirtbag in the theater.