Unbearably awful.

Rating: Null/10 (15 May 2003)

I am one of those people who enjoyed The Matrix, not to the point of obsession, but a point where I was very awestruck and admiring of the incredible plot and action. The acting was never top-notch, but never too bad that it took away from the story. The Matrix was one of the best movies of the 90s, if not the best action movie of the 90s.
That being said, I think The Matrix Reloaded is one of the single-most awful movies I have ever seen in my life, and I hate saying that. I went into this movie with medium expectations, because I had heard it was mediocre at best. I tried to like it so badly, but its impossible. I can honestly say that there is not a single redeeming quality of this movie.
First off, the originality and shock-value that was abundant in the first film is completely gone here. We know what the Matrix is now -- there is no big hush-hush secret going into the theater. The element of surprise is totally blown, which made this film seem like an attempt to glorify the action that the previous movie set up.
Plot-wise, I couldn't really tell you if the Wachowski Brothers had something ingenious here. Every time a plot element is introduced, it is introduced by some random new character (usually introduced in a pointless fight scene). These characters always say the same thing: "I know what you're doing here, the question is, do YOU know what you're doing here?" or "Why ask when you already know the answer?" Good god, is EVERYONE in the Matrix a frickin' psychic? Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent. These random characters will spend minutes rambling about stuff that doesn't make sense, because of poor dialogue and acting.
The graphics are nothing short of amazing, but at the same time are absolutely ridiculous. These would be FANTASTIC in a video game, but in a movie, some of it looks so silly. When Neo is fighting the various Agent Smith clones, you can see the clear difference between Keanu Reeves and the graphical counter-part. The flaws in the visuals are very apparent if you truly look for them, and will detract from your enjoyment of the film.
Let's not forget the action sequences. Same old slow-motion mid-air battles that we've seen before. If you're going to make a sequel to a movie like The Matrix, you don't simply re-tool the old formula, you make a new one. The Wachowski brothers failed to do this, unfortunately. Every battle seems to be the same and always ends up very anti-climactic. For instance, Neo fights 100 clones of Smith early on in the film. About 15 minutes later, he gets into a fight with eight baddies. Big frickin' deal! He just kicked the butt of about 100 Agent Smiths, and we're supposed to be impressed that he can take out eight people? God.
The acting in this film absolutely detracts from the enjoyment of the film. Surprisingly, it isn't Keanu that falls the shortest, but Laurence Fishbourne as Morpheus. He gives no feeling to his character whatsoever -- that unbearably blank expression on his face gives off the impression of an ignorant child, and his monotone voice could put anyone immediately to sleep. The only performance I found enjoyable was Harold Perrineau (Oz's Augustus Hill) as Link, the replacement for Tank. His scenes are fun to watch, due to his great acting, but there are not nearly enough scenes with him to make up for the terror that is the rest of the film.
I was afraid that this movie would go down the same path that Episode II went down, and sadly, it did. It relies solely on special effects (which, I'll admit, are nothing short of amazing, just overly exhausted) to sell the flick. For such an intelligent concept, they really are just trying to appeal to the less sophisticated audience who comes merely for an action flick. Those who were looking for the depth and meaning that the first Matrix had will be unpleasantly shocked. I am almost of the belief that the Wachowski Brothers made an intentional parody of themselves -- that is the only reasonable explanation.
I'm sorry to be the one to say it, but it must be said: The Matrix Reloaded is absolutely, undeniably awful.
* out of *****