one cliché after another

Rating: 1/10 (1 July 2007)

The strongest quality of the original "Matrix" was its writing; none of the CGI or goofy political subversiveness or borrowed Asian mysticism would have patched very neatly to the dark, even ugly, "cyberpunk" reality envisioned in the film had the script been any weaker. But the dialog actually drove the story, and without a lot of fancy words.
Outside of the fact that the direction is a mess, and the characters no longer know what they're doing there (and neither do the actors) and the CGI has become self-indulgent bloat, the weakest part of this film is its writing. The dialog is just one cliché after another - any Star Wars fan could have written it. The story, which no longer depends on the dialog, but rather on the flatulent visuals, is part Hong Kong action film, part old fashioned war movie, and part Star Trek rehash. The whole cyberpunk angst that made the first film fascinating, has utterly disappeared: in fact an "explanation" is provided (or rather hinted at) that all worlds are equally real - and equally false, since programmed by some intergalactic super race - a real cop-out.
The ending of the film - I won't give it away, but it is neither as satisfying as that of "Dark City" nor as amusing as that of "Men in Black".
Further evidence that Hollywood producers have nothing better to do with their money but flush it down the toilet. And those willing to pay them money for this just end up wiping their bums.