Matrix Misloaded

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2003)

What a disappointment! What a letdown! What a supreme contradiction was this movie. I have seen the first matrix at least 6 times and I was absolutely thrilled each time by the determination of Morphius, the sagaciousness of the Oracle, and especially by the strength and very human complexity of Neo himself. Even though my hopes were never as high with Matrix II, still I expected somewhat more of the same.
Alas all I got was a confusing and disconnected demonstration of graphic art, a complete deemphasis of character development and a hokey and miserable non-ending. Whereas Star Wars set the tone for modern sci-fi genre, matrix II seems to have broken every rule of success and customer satisfaction. Not only did the `to be continued' ending hearken back to the days of Wild West serials (al la Roy Rodgers), it represented a supreme departure from accepted norms, and was a huge disappointment to the viewing audience. This was an out-and-out betrayal of the very thing that we fans have come to love and respect in our sci-fi movies.
Even though I was somewhat overwhelmed by the 500 Agent Smiths jumping around and streaming ratlike through doorways and up side streets, the thrilling Freeway chase and the ubiquitous evil Twins, still none of this could make up for a truly disastrous non-conclusion. It seemed to reduce the entire matrix story to nothing more than a cheap Saturday afternoon matinee.