What in the world happened?

Rating: 1/10 (5 November 2003)

I'll attempt not to put too many spoilers in this one, but there WILL BE SOME. If you don't want any spoilers, DO NOT READ any further...
First, I'm above all else, a die-hard Matrix fan. I loved the first one, and even thought the "Reloaded" was brilliant. Reloaded was very thought provoking, well written, and really worked very well as a "bridge" in the trilogy. I was very much looking forward to the third installment, even taking the day off of work to go and see it.
All I can say is, WHAT were the Wachowski brothers THINKING? The mind-bending plots of the first two were completely non-existent in this one.
SPOILERS:
Early on, the battle at Zion begins, and as predicted, the humans are getting thoroughly thrashed. This became a running theme for the movie. EVERYONE gets their butts beat from start to finish, even up to the end of the movie. The 2 1/2 hour battle at Zion takes a break only long enough to bring you to a Neo/Agent Smith battle in the Matrix. This is the plot, people. No more, no less. Everyone loses, to boot. Zion gets their butts kicked, Neo gets his butt kicked, and it gets even WORSE from there. Almost nothing is accomplished (a temporary truce goes up between man and machine, and the Matrix still stands.)
My recommendation, though it really pains me to say this, is that you wait for it to come out on DVD, and watch it at a friend's house when THEY buy it. I own the Animatrix, The Matrix, and both Widescreen and Fullscreen versions of The Matrix: Reloaded. I'm debating whether or not to even spend the money when this one's released.
If you don't want to have to think about a movie, and you're just interested in some sci-fi eye candy watching people in machines shoot at other machines, this would be the movie for you.
I think the Wachowski brothers really need to pull this one out of theaters NOW, and change it while there's still SOME chance to save face.