Doesn't maintain the standard of the first film.

Rating: 8/10 (21 May 2003)

The Matrix Reloaded will never stand on its own as a great film like the original The Matrix will. The storyline is great, most of the action sequences are amazing if not a little over the top and the ending if definitely a cliff hanger of epic proportions but its missing what made the original a classic, atmosphere. While the original film had it in bunches this film seems to have it in places. The Agents don't seem as unstoppable as they did in the first film and the movie doesn't have that greasy look that the first film did which helped give it that wicked feel. But I'll admit its hard to tell the middle stanza of a 3-part story and have it stand on its own as a film. The Empire Strikes Back is one of the few films to do this very well. Late last year I felt that The Two Towers suffered from the same thing. The Matrix Reloaded is definitely rife with eye candy and will boggle the mind and the senses, but don't expect it to be as good as the original, it just isn't. But good none the less.