Where are the extras?

Rating: 5/10 (25 November 2005)

The Matrix was good. It had a fair amount of innovative effects put to good use on an interesting plot. It even had an inhabited virtual world. With Reloaded and Revolutions two things went wrong. The effects were less convincing, even though Smith was a load of fun, and there were practically no people in the virtual world - only Smiths, cars and buildings. Where's the fun in that? As for effects; sometimes they degraded to computer game quality - for instance: When Neo fought single opponents you could see him breathe and even lose his breath (poor physical condition would show more when fighting a zillion suits, wouldn't it?). In scenes where he fought many opponents and in particular Smith & Co., he was completely void of expression as was his opponents. He even lacked the poor shave otherwise characterizing his character. Talk about effects standing out like the proverbial thumb. Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the completely ridiculous massive effect overload in the war scenes - please! Following up on The Matrix should've been forbidden by higher powers. And watching the trilogy in one sitting doesn't add to the positives, I might add.