It is fun to watch… But I don’t think it was a very good sequel. It is completely inconsistent with the first movie, and in dire need of some terse editing of the expository sequences. I mean, the first one ended with Neo seeing the matrix for what it was, and being able to manipulate it. That is COMPLETELY absent from the second movie. He can fly, and that’s about the extent of his understanding. So either Neo is a complete retard, and really only grasped how to fly and stop bullets at the end of the first one… and nothing more, or the film makers completely dropped the ball. It isn’t that I wanted to SEE Neo be a god in the Matrix, it is that this movie doesn’t line up with the last at all. On top of this, his compatriots are suddenly a lot more bad-ass. Fine. Why is Neo a stunted cow then? There are potential answers to that.
It is visually astounding, and some of the fights were beautiful (Marble Staircase). However, the car chase hardly compares to the one in Ronin, and the fights in general have no connection to the story whatsoever.
The only possible savior for this is the third movie of course. All of these things are potentially not actual ‘problems’ but are just hooks to which the third movie will have answers. Unfortunately, that in and of itself is bad. A sequel needs to stand on its own, and not rely on following movies to validate the entirety of its own content.
The makings of a great sequel were all there on the screen, but it is in dire need of a re-edit. The sense of urgency among characters is just plain missing. Blah Blah Fight Fight Boom Punch Kick Boom.
They were some damn purrty Fight Kick Boom Punch shots though ;) Fun to watch, but completely lacking in ways that matter.
I mean to sum it up, there is one scene where Neo meets this Asian fellow who starts fighting him. The audience is kinda like “Wha? They’re fighting? Umm, okay well this is kinda cool… An Asian dude at least…” (whatever that means) and then the fight just stops.
Asian Guy: “I could only know you by fighting you.”
Neo: “You could have just asked.”
Me: “Or you could have cut that scene entirely!”
My point being, that it was completely unnecesary. The only setup and reason for the entire scene was the one-liner at the end, and it was obvious. Someone will probably go “But that was Seraph! They’re setting him up for being a bad-ass in movie 3! That fight rocked!”
So what. It was brainless. The first movie was able to be smart about these things, this movie is not.
I'm a 30-year-old web producer and CSS Ninja working at Pop Art who has been making websites for over 12 years. I live in Portland, Oregon with my wife and baby daughter, where I spend my free time playing video games and watching movies.
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Well…
WARNUNG: Spoilers
It is fun to watch… But I don’t think it was a very good sequel. It is completely inconsistent with the first movie, and in dire need of some terse editing of the expository sequences. I mean, the first one ended with Neo seeing the matrix for what it was, and being able to manipulate it. That is COMPLETELY absent from the second movie. He can fly, and that’s about the extent of his understanding. So either Neo is a complete retard, and really only grasped how to fly and stop bullets at the end of the first one… and nothing more, or the film makers completely dropped the ball. It isn’t that I wanted to SEE Neo be a god in the Matrix, it is that this movie doesn’t line up with the last at all. On top of this, his compatriots are suddenly a lot more bad-ass. Fine. Why is Neo a stunted cow then? There are potential answers to that.
It is visually astounding, and some of the fights were beautiful (Marble Staircase). However, the car chase hardly compares to the one in Ronin, and the fights in general have no connection to the story whatsoever.
The only possible savior for this is the third movie of course. All of these things are potentially not actual ‘problems’ but are just hooks to which the third movie will have answers. Unfortunately, that in and of itself is bad. A sequel needs to stand on its own, and not rely on following movies to validate the entirety of its own content.
The makings of a great sequel were all there on the screen, but it is in dire need of a re-edit. The sense of urgency among characters is just plain missing. Blah Blah Fight Fight Boom Punch Kick Boom.
They were some damn purrty Fight Kick Boom Punch shots though ;) Fun to watch, but completely lacking in ways that matter.
Two Stars, aka “Meh”.
Sasha
May 16th, 2003 at 1:56 pm
i had a suspicion it’d turn out like that. :) i haven’t even seen it yet, but i haven’t been holding my breath.
May 16th, 2003 at 2:00 pm
Yah
I mean to sum it up, there is one scene where Neo meets this Asian fellow who starts fighting him. The audience is kinda like “Wha? They’re fighting? Umm, okay well this is kinda cool… An Asian dude at least…” (whatever that means) and then the fight just stops.
Asian Guy: “I could only know you by fighting you.”
Neo: “You could have just asked.”
Me: “Or you could have cut that scene entirely!”
My point being, that it was completely unnecesary. The only setup and reason for the entire scene was the one-liner at the end, and it was obvious. Someone will probably go “But that was Seraph! They’re setting him up for being a bad-ass in movie 3! That fight rocked!”
So what. It was brainless. The first movie was able to be smart about these things, this movie is not.
Ok, i’m done ranting :P
Sasha
May 16th, 2003 at 2:10 pm