A Disappointment

Rating: 1/10 (16 May 2003)

People often say that sequels will always disappoint. There are two schools of thought for this: either you loved the first one so much that the second will be disappointing due to high expectations, or sequels just always suck.
That's a rather defeatist way to look at movies. First, there have been numerous successful sequels. "The Empire Strikes Back" was quite good, establishing a large chunk of story and still managing to be involving. Same for "X2", which wasn't perfect but was very enjoyable.
So sequels can be good. This is just a case of one that isn't.
There is a widely-established myth that "The Matrix" was a perfect movie. It definitely wasn't. It was very derivative, ripping most of its technobabble and sci-fi base from Dick and Gibson. Where it excelled was the way the story was told. The world was (mostly) believable and gritty, the characters very involving, the actors perfect.
The sequel fails because the Wachowski brothers seem to have fallen victim to the same trap that befell George Lucas: they believe people loved their movie for the plot (which was shoddy at best) and spend an inordinate amount of time expounding upon said plot. And expounding. And so on.
There are so many lengthy scenes of people debating emptily about the meaning of life. Very little is actually said in these debates and lectures. It's just rambling, and it becomes irritating. Most egregious is the final speech given by "The Architect", where it is obvious that the Wachowski brothers were thinking "If we make it confusing and use big words, people will assume it's deep." The Architect prattles on about fate and choice (for the fiftieth time) while 400 images of Neo do painful emoting exercises on the background screens. It's unbearable.
The problem with the movie is that these scenes make up the majority of the film, along with excruciatingly long and detailed kissing and romantic scenes. This is not an epic, it is sci-fi schlock with very good action scenes. When did the Wachowski's start to believe the fanboi hype?
Another major problem is that the action is amazingly well choreographed, but not in the least bit compelling. Neo is Superman, he cannot be killed and we know this. It is unlikely that Morpheus or Trinity will die (although the possibility of one is presented as a tease). Thus, when they fight you're just admiring the choreography.
Jackie Chan has repeatedly noted that in order for a fight scene to sell, people have to be hit. The viewer has to _feel_ the impact. But it is obvious that the punches aren't landing in this movie. Everyone is fighting so fast and doing so many acrobatic movies that the punches are secondary. In the Burly Brawl (the popular name for the fight against the myriad Agent Smiths) Keanu is just doing kata, dancing and spinning and it never feels like any punches land.
That and the over-reliance on bullet time and wire-fu seriously detract from the battles. In several instances you can clearly see where the wires take over, so Keanu will smack someone and they will jolt up, then back at an incredible speed as the wire pulls them into some obstacle. It's just not compelling. Real fans of kung fu movies want to see real fights, not dancing. Not to mention the way Keanu escapes from danger (flying away in a Superman pose) just begs the question, why doesn't he do it sooner? If he can swoop in and save his friends, why waste time punching and kicking?
I don't hate the film, it had its high points. I expect it would be a better experience at home, with a remote control, to skip past all the pretentious speechifying and cheesy romance scenes.
But in the end I can't help but feel taken. "The Matrix" was not planned as a trilogy (no matter what they tell you now, it was a standalone movie and was "developed" into a trilogy when it became a success, which is why it took four years). Thus the newer movies are plagued by a feeling of padding, of "haven't we already seen and heard this ten times?" that is neither compelling nor interesting.
It has an 8.1 rating here on IMDB, and it is already a financial smash. How ironic that a movie about being enslaved by machines has turned into its own mechanical franchise, where fanbois and yes-men salivate and prostrate themselves before the altar.