65 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Only the third film can make it good, October 16, 2003
Warning - Spoilers ahead . . .
When I first saw the film, well, I didn't like it too much. It seemed to be over-packed with CGI Fight scenes and a storyline that didn't really mean anything. While Zion is under attack, Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus must find the keymaster to unlock the doors to the mainframe and end the war, thus freeing Zion.
This entire storyline, to me, seemed contrived, making the fight scenes seem meeningless, their overzealous and sometimes long running effects just becoming tiresome.
But, then I got it. Weeks after seeing it, it finally clicked.
They symbolism of these films is much deeper than the average action-movie viewer is usually given. Yes -- the entire "The One-Saves the world" storyline is meaningless, and that's the point. While paying too much attention to events within the computer-generated fantasy world of the Matrix, the real world, and Zion, fall into greater danger.
We are introduced to two 'french' characters, programs, which exist simply to experience life. While they are among the long list of villians in this piece, they are also the key to the story. They describe the situation in as much in the film, seeing our heroes as mere puppets in a meaningless plot, which, in fact, they are.
While are main characters are engaged in a meaningless task, struggling to achieve goal after goal in a virtual world, events of the real world are dire, and, just perhaps, if more attention were paid to the real-world events, perhaps the situation would not be so dire.
It is not until Neo discovers that his existance as 'the one' is simply another level of control set in place by the machines, that the entire struggle within the virtual world of the Matrix has no real meaning, only then does the truth come to light, just in time for this second chapter to come to a close.
Think about it, how many people do you know who obsess on politics, or sports, or their favorite television show, or even the Matrix itself? We engage in meaningless struggles to achieve goals that, in the end, really have no meaning but to feed our own ego.
A very profound statement to be made by an action film, that is, if the third and final installment draws this observation out.
As I see it, the value of this second episode is entirely dependent upon the content of the third chapter, but the potential is much greater than most people give it credit for.
Thank you for your time.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not the worst movie ever, but nothing approaching the first, November 18, 2003
Few things can kill a movie series like success.
Just as George Lucas' "Star Wars" films have gotten increasingly unwatchable, the sequel to "The Matrix" already shows that success, money and hype have successfully insulated the Brothers Wachowski from criticism or even the ability for someone around them to question "why is this action sequence so long," "why is there a Mad Max rave scene with Morpheus totally acting out of character," "what is the point of the whole sequence with the Merovingian," or, most importantly, "why would you go two hours of nothing but action and then dump all this philosophy and obscure information on audiences in the final 10 minutes?"
It's especially frustrating because "The Matrix" had built up so much good will towards it that the brothers didn't need to pander to their audiences -- being just as smart as the first film wouldn't have been rejected by the audience, but instead, we get a vastly dumbed-down film that fails to wow, and certainly fails to elicit any enthusiasm for the third installment in the series.
There are worse films out there, but few that have so squandered their potential along the way.
Recommended only for the most diehard "Matrix" fans.
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