Nothing Special

Rating: Null/10 (20 May 2003)

Many people will defend this movie as being composed of layers, as being some kind of tongue-in-cheek postmodern metamovie that pokes fun at itself. Umm... maybe the filmmakers intended all of this; knowing their target audience, they probably did. I'm sure that like many modern works of "art," the film contains a lot of clever references and puzzles, but ultimately before you start wading through every scene looking for cookies, you need to ask yourself, "Is this movie really worth analyzing?"
The answer is no. It has no value because it inspires no feeling. It is a soulless exercise, and if the viewer doesn't care about what is happening or what is being said, then who cares about cleverness? The matrix is a hodgepodge of Philip Dick science fiction, Hong Kong action, and philosophy. It borrows the shape of these forms but leaves behind the substance. It's a cake made entirely of store bought frosting.
Keanu Reeves cannot act. The dialogue is cheesier than the first movie if you can believe it. The action scenes are completely uninspired and actually boring. The actors have no grace. Watch a martial ARTS movie, and you will see people move fluidly, people who have devoted their lives to the study of an art. There is no art in this "film," only artifice.