We deserved better

Rating: Null/10 (6 November 2003)

On the day that the final segment of this hugely ambitious trilogy opened simultaneously in 65 countries, I was there, eager with anticipation for a clever and satisfying denouement, but it was as I feared - visually stunning but plot-wise a real disappointment.
It's still cool: the sunglasses, the long coats, the balletic fighting, the heavy armoury - but we've seen this twice before. The ferocious sentinel attack on Zion is the best part of the movie, reminiscent of the last-ditch massacre that concluded the 1969 western "The Wild Bunch", while deploying technology that seems to be borrowed (but further enhanced) from "Aliens". The titantic battle between Neo and agent Smith that ends the story is fun, but not a long way from Superman's encounter with General Zod in "Superman II".
Yet the Wachowski brothers have let us down on so many levels. Although we are spared most of that philosophizing from "Reloaded", the dialogue is pathetic and The Oracle in particular spouts meaningless nonsense. The twin love stories and the heroics of the 16 year old kid are toe-curlingly trite. Lambert Wilson (Merovingian) and Monica Belluci (Persephone) are appallingly underused. There are so many loose ends (or false trails) - what was the point of capturing The Keymaker and visiting The Architect in the second segment?
Above all, what does it all mean? As one character states towards the end: "It doesn't make sense". And, so far as one can put a construction upon it, it seems to be a relatively simple, if rather loose, retelling of the basic Bible story about the conflict between good and evil. We wanted more. We deserved more.