Awesome, Best Mind-Bend Ever.

Rating: 10/10 (17 May 2003)

After reading the reviews here and the in the newspaper I was expecting a less than stellar sequel. They were wrong! Yes, the film dragged at first. Yes, the some of the Zion scenes dragged a bit. Yes, there could have been more polished editing in parts. And yes, the music could have been better, more emotionally pulling like the original one.
Beyond those minor annoyances this film blew my mind. The scene with the Architect is truly one of a kind. If you didn't follow all of the implications then I suggest you watch that scene again.
Spoilers Below:
In case you didn't figure this out:
1) The Oracle is the mother of the Matrix, and as such is maintaining the status quo. She is not on the humans side, and probably never was. She is simply doing what she does, which is to cultivate "The One" to perpetuate the cycle of death and rebirth of Zion, whose sole purpose is to give the humans they can't entirely control, the illusion of choice. In other words, Zion is merely a release valve for the most spirited humans to play out their choices in a safe and controlled manner.
2) Since this cycle has now played out 6 times, that means it's not even close to 2199 as Morpheus once believed, but probably closer to 2699, since each cycle appears to take a minimum of 100 years to get from birth of Zion to "The One".
This is mind blowing stuff. And that alone, I give this movie a 10/10. Oh, and some of the effects are absolutely mind-blowing, especially the truck explosion.