Hopefully, this is the end of the line!

Rating: 6/10 (13 November 2003)

Better than Matrix II, especially the action sequences even though they are still largely senseless, but not completely. Some of the storyline presumably started in M II, but not by my memory -- Seems to just be there with a pretend origin. This was an interesting idea when it started [in M I], so it is a shame that no one knew what to do with it. It has degenerated into jibberish. One funny aspect is that the script keeps making a big deal out of the Oracle being a different person this time around [the original actress died], where, within the reality of this movie, it wouldn't make any difference. I quess it would be too much to expect the writers and directors to have even a fundamental understanding of their own storylines. As with a lot of interesting SciFi on film, the overarching storyline drifts into fantasy, rendering much of it pointless. In a sense the writers lose the understanding of their characters, etc. The old 'sky hook' thing replaces logical cause and effect. For example, when Neo defeats Mr Smith, how does he actually do it? What signals that he has won? Wasn't the [in the coma along with Neo] other 'bad guy,' simply Mr Smith in human guise or not? And isn't he a different person than we ended M II with? Doesn't Neo kill him? OK, So what did that mean? Apparently nothing! So, why is this better than MII? Well! While the story has become psychobabble, M III attempts to have a middle and an end, even though it doesn't really have a beginning. I suspect M II, if we overlook the inconsistences between the two, serves as the beginning. Too bad that M II is a waste of time & money. It has neither a beginning nor an end and not much of a middle. One of the worst movies of the year [M II that is].
Hopefully, this is the end.