A third of the Matrix Reloaded is not worth seeing (minor spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (19 May 2003)

One of my teachers told me once: when you are writing a paper, you have to ask yourself, every line, every word, why should anyone take the time to read this ?
This is exactly what the Wachoswki brothers did not do with the last part of Matrix Reloaded, although they had previously done it so well with the original Matrix.
Special effects are great and inventive, the characters look just as cool as before, the story in itself has one or two interesting twists (not much more than that) and one welcome new character played by Lambert Wilson (the bad guy is French (sortof) and he lives in a trendy hotel bar surrounded by supermodels).
Unfortunately, during the first 1h and a half, a great deal of sound and fury builds up a great climax: the (amazing) car chase on the freeway and then... oh god, how are we going to end this? The last 45mn are excruciatingly painful to watch, as the movie tries to speed up and to squeeze in the last and although crucial elements of the story. This last part looks hastily done and devoid of any punch, especially after the climax: it actually looks like a teaser for the next movie, or rather like the quick summary you have in TV series, before the opening credits (except it is at the end, they could have started it with a voice-over "on the next matrix..." without surprising anyone)
The Zion scenes (especially the party) could have been shorter, the action scenes (the Smith fights, the Seraph fight, the fight with the Merovingian guards) could have been shorter to (1) make the movie shorter, (2) dedicate more time and better direction to the last part in which the main plot twist is unveiled.
Go watch it until the car chase, and then go home to read an online summary of the last part. It will be less painful for you.