Takes the rest of the step off the edge

Rating: 7/10 (11 April 2009)

I base this upon the Ultimate 10-Disc Set. An appropriate question to ask would be "where did it go wrong?". The first left little, if anything, to be desired. Already with the second it got worse, and this just does not work. Such a waste of potential. The dialog ranges, but it's too often simply not believable, or incredibly corny. This also has an abundance of cheese. The clichés are all over the place, with situations we've seen countless times before in typical mainstream pap. The plot isn't all bad, however, it spends so much time on characters that aren't fleshed out enough for us to care about them(and The Kid is downright intolerable in this). There are scenes that don't feel like they have a point. The effects are still almost invariably excellent, but more than ever before in the series, it feels like they were put there for no other reason than that they looked so great, to put something cool in, because the Wachowskis could, and without being well-integrated. The cinematography isn't as impressive. The editing is fine, but several things go on for too long. There is still philosophy, still ideas, still themes and symbolism. These, sadly, come off as being pretentious, like in Reloaded, and here they even take over, rendering this meaningless if you do not interpret it, and while that also somewhat rings true for the second one, the first one, whilst it would make it have considerably less impact on the viewer, could be enjoyed as nothing beyond another version of the old popular conflict between good and evil. This can't decide if it wants to be accessible and mere popcorn-flick fun, or smart and providing food for thought, and ends up failing to be acceptable as either. The acting ranges. The music is well-done. There is sensuality and definitely material in that realm, a fair amount of harsh language, and some quite bloody violence. This also comes with a text introduction(by the brothers, the same one as on the other two) for the commentary tracks(well worth listening to). One of philosophers, Dr. Cornel West(and yes, if his voice sounds familiar, he does, in fact, have a part in both sequels, as one of the councillors) & Ken Wilder, who like the three films, and one of critics, Todd McCarthy, John Powers & David Thompson, who were less positive. The double-DVD holds artwork, a time-line, and a couple of featurettes. I recommend this to those who want the whole franchise, at least the efforts that were put up on the silver screen, and/or those who are mainly interested in the concepts and thoughts explored in these. 7/10