It cost $300 million to make and they forgot to get a script with a plot. A triumph for childish posing and advertising.

Rating: 3/10 (27 May 2003)

Don't try to intellectualise this film its meant to be entertainment. If you know anything about Buddhism, you will laugh at the mock attempts to add a spiritual element. If you know anything about Kung fu you will be amazed at the lack of realistic fight scenes. If you know anything about Motor bikes you'll be amazed to see a Duccati road bike survive a 12 foot drop without its suspension giving way. At the end of the first Matrix we see Neo go into Agent Smith while in the Matrix and destroy him, yet we are supposed to be amazed when he is able to go inside Trinity and extract a Bullet and then start her heart. If Neo can stop a hail of bullets he should be able to stop anything so why does he get involved in fist fights? If the agents are so deadly in the first film how come the upgades dont seem to ingender any fear anymore? If Zion (please! i can hardly hold back the laughter) is hundreds of miles into the earth then the temperature would be at least 1000c. The part of the mantle near the crust, about 50-100 km down, is especially soft and plastic not at all a good place to build your refuge! At no point does the film carry you away, in places it utterly hammy. Sentimental scenes and slow moving and utterly predictable plot leave you wondering where all the money went. Certainly not where it was needed. And then comes the only thing that the film is sold on , the stunts. These looked spectacular but didn't have any purpose other than it was 'about time' for another fight. Let me put it another way, every fight scene is long but ultimately is limited by unimaginative special effects and repetitive action sequences. People will soon realise its more spectacular to see real humans doing these stunts than rely on mish mash dominated by computer graphics. The Matrix uses very good effects, I'm sure, but it still doesn't have the same impact as long fight scenes in for example crouching tiger,many Jackie Chan films or the inventiveness of some of the computer generated fight scenes in a contemporary film such as The One. Not that the later is a great example of film making. I'm sure people can name others. In the scene where Neo fights hundreds of Agents it is clearly obvious the figures are computer generated, the faces are rendered but lack any real human texture, you may say this is nit picking but when you read a review quoting the The Wachowski Brothers that says ` no will ever be able to do these effect again' you are forced to think constantly while watching the film I think someone will definatly do better and people may already have exceeded this. In spite of all the fighting I think we see Neo kills one person, Neo has become the fifth member of the A-Team and the film is obviously aimed at a similar market that the A-Team appealed to, young boys/men (remember there were many years when the A-Team was considered Cool). Neo fly's like superman and we are suposed to go 'oooo' that's new! and they mention it 'Hes doing his superman thing' so hey there self mocking, how clever of them!. Just for comparison Superman was made in 1978 at a cost of $55 million and contains almost identical flying stunts just a little rougher around the edges. $55 Million was a lot back then and $300 million is a lot right now, you'd expect more from a film in both cases.
Within the first 5 minutes an agent says 'Its happening again only different this time'. So we are told that we can expect to see the beginning at the end, this looping trick is as old as the hills, most films try not to give it away though. The Wachowski Brothers obviously think there audience isn't listening or is rather stupid, Maybe? What is the point of the Key man? thats right none. To make things worse they even manage to get a car chase into the film! With some stunts that reminded me of Smokey and the Bandit!!! In spite of the hype its nothing new. Interesting at best. I suggest you watch as many of the trailers as you can and you will have seen the best bits and wont have to bother with wasting your money and time at the cinema. I would say its probably quite good for a younger audience who are easily impressed, but such a shallow film will leave most adults saying they have seen it all before. Of course if you like the idea of a really long advert for Black Leather coats and sunglasses with the occasional acrobatic punch up then go. But don't try to tell me about the hidden mystical meanings. Read the books The Iliad , The Odyssey, (Persephone is captured by Hades, When she is with Hades in the underworld we get Autumn/Winter on earth, when with her mother Dementer(Harry potter!) walking the earth we have Spring/Summer, so expect to see Persephone walking the earth in a happy climax to the next installment).Kali Mother Earth in Hindi legend i wonder if she will play a fertile part in the new world? Obviously names are ripped off and nice enough but dont pretend a reference to Greek ,Hindu or even Jewish legend imbibes the film with mystical qualities. Its a cheap trick desgined to draw in the uneducated. Finally please dont try to tell me its ever so clever to spend $300 million on a film that is at best mediocre. Marks 2/5 both marks for the IT techies who created the stunts, none for acting ,plot,editing or directing.