May 23, 2003
All in all, pretty damn good. The fight scenes were impressive. (How do you make Agent Smith a match for Neo? Make a few dozen of him.) The explanation for the Oracle didn't make too much sense when it was first explained (although it does make sense given her abilities) but when Neo has his talk with the Head Honcho at the end, it comes together a bit. Seems like they're setting us up for quite the mind-job in Revolutions.
The only real problem I had was with the pacing. There's so much setup work that needs to be done for both this movie and Revolutions that it seems to just plod along, with some Bitchin' Kung Fu to keep us all awake. The massive party scene in Zion I could have passed on, and I'd much rather have seen Carrie Anne Moss's naked butt than Keanu Reeves'.
Once it got going though, it was a pretty damn good ride. I just wish the final scene hadn't all but put a huge "to be continued" on the screen -- it felt like a cliffhanger episode instead of a movie.
All told though, I'm looking forward to Revolutions more than I am Return of the King. And I'm looking forward to both a great deal more than I am Episode III. But that's a whole 'nother rant.
