Much ado about nothing

Rating: 4/10 (22 May 2003)

This has got to be the WORST sequel I've ever seen (with possibly the exception of Return to the future II), and this is why:
The first Matrix movie had everything: mystery, spirit, originality of approach and technical bravado of new inventions that made it "fly". But first and foremost it had an intelligent Sci-Fi rendition of the New Testament story complete with all the archetypes: John the Baptist, disciples, Judas, demons and of course the Savior (I will not bore you with the all the fine and not so obvious details that parallel the Biblical account). Just to make it clear: I have it in my DVD collection and consider it a masterpiece.
As opposed to that, what does this sequel have to offer? Tones of special effects blown out of every proportion to the point of being distracting (I heard chuckles from the audience during the action scenes). And this is quite deliberate. They have to distract you from the fact that there is no substance to this hodge-podge. There is no story (what story there is, can be told in one sentence), there is no spirit, and there is no mystery aside from what is cleverly "concealed" within the title.
This distraction is brilliantly executed, no mistake about it, but the fact remains: this is all much ado about nothing. In the first half hour of the movie hardly anything significant happens and there is one excruciatingly long scene that had me thinking "oh, for crying out loud - get it over width!" Someone from behind me actually voiced the same opinion.
I am stupefied by the fact that the same crew that made such a masterpiece as the first Matrix movie could produce this. My only hope is that they redeem themselves in the next (and hopefully last) sequel.