Most disappointing sequel to a classic since Godfather III

Rating: 4/10 (26 May 2003)

First things first, The Matrix (1999) was a true classic and all concerned should be proud of it. Joel Silver backed a hunch, gave the (largely untried) Wachowskis a huge amount of faith (and a fair amount of money) and they delivered breathtaking originality.
However, for anyone who'd ever read any decent science fiction (or even watched more than half a dozen episodes of Star Trek), the originality of The Matrix was never EVER the story line (despite the "hidden depths" that Matrix geeks are endlessly determined to point out). No, the originality was almost entirely visual, and how wonderful it was! The plot, characterisation (etc) were all necessary hooks to hang the visuals on but they had little merit of their own. Most importantly, they were kept out of the way of the action. Simple plot + breathtaking visuals = great film.
Matrix Reloaded (as everybody who has seen it will know) is FULL of attempts at plot and characterisation. Usually this would be a good thing, but not here. What we have is lots of screen time taken up with plot and "meaningful relationship dialogue" which is in practice banal in the extreme. I would say that Reloaded has significantly LESS character or plot interest than Matrix I, despite wasting seemingly endless minutes of screen time, actors, sets and money on an ultimately futile attempt to demonstrate "depth".
I have no doubt that many people will spend much time (indeed they already have) in ascribing all sorts of hidden meaning and deep significance to all sorts of aspects of Reloaded (and yes, I do realise that "Neo" is an anagram of "One" . . . ). Many will profess that they feel deeply sorry for my apparent inability to luxuriate in the subcontext. Well, sorry guys, but I fear that all you're trying to do is to describe to me in great detail what the Emperor's New Clothes look like. Believe me, I'm perfectly willing to see them, but I'm pretty sure they ain't there . . .
If you've read this far you will probably guess that my greatest anticipation in advance of this film was not in what it would say about the "world of the Matrix" but in just how darned cool it would look up there on the screen. However, as has been commented by many before me, the incremental visual effects of Reloaded (relative to what we've seen before) are at most vaguely impressive; they simply fail to have the impact of those seen in Matrix I. This is of course a reverse compliment about Matrix I, which set an impossibly high standard of originality to beat, but it is still disappointing (especially after all the hype) that Reloaded does not contain anything resembling a quantum leap.
Moral of this story: the brothers appear to have been given far too much money, far too much time, and nowhere near enough proper "production control" in making this film. Shock horror, they may even have started to believe all the Hollywood hype that's been written about them over the last four years. It's a bit like Michael Cimino after Deerhunter (with two differences - Heaven's Gate was actually a good film, and Warner Brothers will still make a ton of money rather than going bust like UA).
Maybe I should have expected it? You're probably right, but (just like Morpheus) I like to cling on to my hopes . . . I will go to see Revolutions, and maybe I'll be positively surprised; for sure I'll go in with lower expectations than I did for Reloaded, and I guess that must help . ..