A steaming pile...

Rating: 2/10 (30 June 2003)

I can't remember ever being as disappointed in a sequel before.

There were several very good scenes, the highway chase in
particular. I thought the martial-arts-ballet sequences went on way
too long, but your mileage may vary. The acting was good, but the
actors were betrayed by the incomprehensible screenplay.
And the magic is gone. The visual style and effects that seemed
so fresh in _The Matrix_, have since been milked dry by
rip-offs--and this one just seems like one more rip-off.
In between the action, this movie is talky and boring. Character
after character gives long ponderous, pretentious speeches. The
plot is incomprehensible.
I hope it will not be considered a spoiler if I mention that the movie
just comes to a dead halt at the end, with the plot completely
unresolved. It's as if the producers, like Ralph Bakshi in the
animated "Lord of the Rings," had simply run out of money before
it was completed.