I saw it Saturday morning and was disappointed. This story could have been told in 45 minutes. The pacing was that slow.
First of all, it's pretty apparent the studio wanted to deliver a post-Columbine R-rated film. Unfortunately, thanks to the studio's rating hang-up, a lot of the scenes seem forced. This film could have been shaved to a PG-13 rating and not lost a cent of revenue.
Speaking of arbitrary, check out those fight scenes. They've become so cliche and subject to parody, they're painfully redundant. It was more of the same, but this time with CG actors doing a fair amount of stunt work. In the context of a computer-generated matrix it's forgivable, but you can't help holding the first film in higher regard because of it.
And maybe I'm confused, but didn't the last film come to the conclusion that Neo was basically God in the matrix? Why does he have to fight at all? This is a guy who can stop bullets, fly at terrifc speeds, and bed Carrie-Anne Moss. He should be able to vanquish any opponent with the blink of an eye.
The car chase is the most interesting part of the movie, and the most anticipated given the amount of hype attached to it. Even this left me wishing it was shorter. How many times can Morpheus almost fall off the roof of a semi? Frankly I got bored counting.
When I went into the theatre, I tried to keep my expectations as low as when I saw the first film, which many considered at first glance to be a Johnny Pneumonic ripoff. While there were some interesting plot developments (the multiple Smiths, Neo's status as a modern day Moses), there wasn't enough for a two-hour movie.
This is obviously a bridge to the final chapter in the Matrix trilogy, but it was a bridge I came close to jumping off.
