The saga continues... wait, what saga?

Rating: 4/10 (20 March 2011)

Matrix: Reloaded, the highly anticipated sequel to "Matrix", is the prime example of a movie that didn't need to be made, but, it was anyway. The result is just a train-wreck of pretentiousness and visually exhausting sequences which fail to entertain. Yeah, in the first movie the "slow-mo" sequences were interesting, now it feels like the movie is just ripping itself.
What's the problem with this movie?. The Matrix was a rather unoriginal, but fine movie, with some minor issues, such as over-pretentiousness and self-indulgence: Matrix Reloaded is blown out with these problems. The dialog is dull and pretentious, the "plot" (spoilers!) is a pointless search which is supposed to "resolve everything" and then, it doesn't... but there's a last minute cliffhanger... That's pretty lame.
The main problem with the plot is that Neo isn't a good protagonist anymore. He was fine when he was "learning to unleash his powers", but now he's a "super-human", so all the tension surrounding him inside the matrix evaporates: the best "action" scenes are those in which Neo isn't there, such as the infamous "highway chase", which ends with, you guessed it, Neo coming and saving everyone. That's the reason why this movie shouldn't have been made. The "Neo-cycle" was completed and closed in the first movie: the story of a guy being a "super-human" is not as interesting as the story of a guy becoming a "super-human", unless you craft a creative story... which the directors just didn't.
Why this movie was somewhat well received, then?. I can think in two reasons: 1) The visuals were somewhat impressive 2) Had a cliffhanger at the end... and that's it. I remember that the Internet was swarming with "theories about the Matrix", after this movie was released: that there's a "Matrix inside the Matrix", and such. But then, came the next movie... and surprise: the emperor was naked.
4/10