I hated this movie. Hated it for its blown potential...

Rating: 6/10 (20 May 2003)

saw this film once and I was disappointed. I saw this film twice, hoping, just hoping that the film would grow on me. No dice. Matrix Reloaded is basically a movie written around large fight, stunts, and special effects scenes. It seemed as if the Wachowski brothers were intent on topping themselves and as a result, they forgot that it's the story that makes the movie, not large set pieces. (Sigh). What a shame... The first half hour was filled with tedium. Though I was anxious to finally see the city of Zion, all I got was exposition upon exposition between council members and lead characters. I wanted to see how the city operated. What power made it run? What was it's defensive capabilities? I loved the design of Zion-how it was a contrast between extreme industrialization and a primitive culture. But the movie never dwelled below the surface. Of course, one of the movie's biggest selling points was the "great freeway chase." It was promised that no one would ever view a high speed chase as the same. Granted, the scene was exciting and fun to watch, but I'm betting that more than a third of it was CGI. I never really got a sense of speed and mass destruction especially when you know the actors are performing in front of a green screen. And the ending! How anti-climactic! Joel Silver promised that the ending would have audiences holding their breaths. SPOILER. The ending scene has Neo in a coma, but we already know he is going to be okay based on the trailer for Revolutions at the end of the credits. END SPOILER. Regarding the trailer, it seems as if Revolutions is just more of the same. There is of course, the standard kung-fu fights, the showdown between Neo and Agent Smith, and battles between hovercrafts and squids in the real world. This is looking like a bleak ending for once a promising franchise.