This is a terrible, terrible film

Rating: 1/10 (18 May 2003)

First off, let me say I enjoyed The Matrix, the original, greatly. I found it to be a slick, sophisticated little piece of what would ordinarily be Sci Fi fluff. The story was clever, intense and kept the viewer nicely wired right from the word go.
Not so the sequel. From the drab, boring opening sequence, the film is a let down. Gone is the hip, high energy sound track populated by 'name' bands. Instead we have meaningless, banal tracks of little substance that do little to add to the film. Imagine some of the key scenes from Matrix I without the soundtrack? And the sound effects leave a lot to be desired. The fight scenes (and God knows there are a lot of them) lack in the impact of the first film, there isn't the same energy or 'feel' to them- you don't get excited, you get bored as the fighters catch air with every second blow.
Bullet time is so chronically overused that it ceases to have any impact. An endless stream of confusing dialogue and poorly developed characters with nowhere to go does not help, and to make matters worse most of the film is Neo walking through a series of fights with little purpose or intensity. What should have been a thrilling battle between Neo and multi-Smith was unimaginative and repetitive.
And to top it all off, the film is *boring*. I found myself almost nodding off during the long, pointless monologues, including a particularly pointless scene with a ridiculously cliched French program I didn't even bother catching the name of.
Bottom line- DUD. If you don't believe me, by all means blow your cash, and then honestly tell yourself it is even a shadow of the original. And where, for Pete's sake, was the cool cool idea of uploading new programs into the characters? Who can forget- I know kung fu. Only once was it even mentioned, and it wasn't even used!