A Horrible Disappointment

Rating: 4/10 (12 January 2004)

I loved the first movie. I even liked the second in the hope that its ideas would be delivered on. But the third movie was a convoluted, ugly, violent, and confusing heap of trash. I left the movie so disappointed and depressed that I wondered why I even liked The Matrix in the first place. It was just that bad. I'm sorry, I just can't say much of anything that is redeeming about the film.
Much of the signature Matrix action is gone, and what there is of it (Smith vs. Neo) is laughable. The dialogue is horrible. So many characters are never developed. The ending is nonsense. And the gory scenes, missing from the previous two movies, gave the third installment a dark and unpleasant feeling. (Normally I don't mind that, but it felt out of place for series.) Once again, a complete disappointment. The best concept of the series (man vs. machine) is completely forgotten about in a messy shift toward pseudo-spiritual, philosophic drivel and a lame plot that make Agent Smith an independent bad guy from the other machines.
Rating: 4/10