Up there ... with Back to the Future II

Rating: 4/10 (15 May 2003)

Sequels, as a rule, never live up to the expectations of the original, and after reading all of the mixed reviews in the media, I really tried to lower my expectations from the get-go. Pretty hard to do, considering that the first Matrix blew me away when I originally saw it -- and still blew me away upon repeated viewings of it. Hard shoes to fill.
My lowered expectations, however, didn't prepare me for this: a movie that ranks right up there with the first sequel in the Back to The Future trilogy in the department of missed opportunities.
What do both movies share? A confused, muddled plot. Line upon line of mumbo-jumbo bafflegab, even moreso than the original. And, oh yeah, the words "to be concluded ... " followed by a trailer for the next installment. (Though, you'll have to sit through the credits to see it in Matrix Reloaded.)
That said, there are a few cool things about the reloaded Matrix. Yeah, the special effects were cool. Yeah, Ms. Moss is still as sexy as ever. But not only is this Matrix half the movie that the first one is, you can say it's half a movie. The story *is not* even remotely as self-contained as, say, Empire Strikes Back's or even X-Men 2's -- both of which, by the way, ended in cliffhangers.
I suspect that not only will you have to see the upcoming Revelations in order to finally "get" a lot of what's going on here, but you might have to buy the Animatrix shorts on DVD and play the Enter The Matrix video game in order to figure out who is who and what their backstory is. If so, that is *not* a stroke of genius story telling. It's sloppy. And it's a cash grab. And I won't be party to it, that's for sure.
Based upon the road kill I saw earlier this afternoon, I'm not sure if I'll be first in line for the Matrix Part 2 Part 2 this fall. Taking a cue from the first movie's reality vs. unreality mind games, I'm tempted to pretend that this sequel, at least, doesn't exist.