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Coming out of lurkdom because this movie made me *really* mad... 
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Now first off, I saw this last Thursday (the 15th), so maybe my memory is fuzzy by now or maybe I've blocked portions of it <g>. And let me say that I was
really excited about this movie. I loved the first one and the preivews for this one looked very cool. So maybe my expectations were too high. But my first reaction coming out of the theater was "What the he** was that?!"
I'm sorry, this didn't do it for me. It just... it didn't match the tone of the first one, the characters weren't the same, half the time I forgot why they were doing whatever they were
doing... You can stop now if you don't want to read my complaining ;-) But everyone I've talked to has just loved it, and I'm still waiting for someone to explain *why* <g>...
[You've been warned <g> Spoilers ahead.]
I could have done without the rave/sex in Zion, although admittedly that could have been worse in an R-rated movie. It would have been tolerable if it didn't last so long. I *really* could have done without the chocolate cake scene (and I still don't see that there was any point to it...)
The characters became less interesting. Trinity went from this very cool, talented, independent person to Neo's little girlfriend and comic relief. Even Morpheus got relegated to comic relief at times ("Does that include a bullet from this gun?" How did that line get past the first draft?!) I lost my respect for both of them. Niobe was cool but she's only in the movie for like half an hour and she stole Trinity's part. And there were threads that went
nowhere (ie, the kiss with Persephone... and I hated how Trinity reacted to that.) Admittedly some of them will probably get wrapped up in the next one, but overall it still felt like portions of the story weren't necessary.
And, like I said, at a lot of times they were fighting someone or trying to accomplish something and I honestly couldn't remember why they were doing it or care whether they succeeded.
Neo bringing Trinity back to life... Yes, it was supposed to be romantic and miraculous, but it ticked me off. If she was going to die, she should have died. If she wasn't, she should have been close to death or something and he could save her. I don't have a problem with him taking out the bullet, healing her up, whatever. But once she had actually died, in the matrix and in the real world, she should have stayed that way. Otherwise Neo *really* starts to get God-like and that upsets me. Also, even though she'd been dead on the ledge a second ago, she immediately jumps up and kisses him for all she's worth... No recovery, no minute to catch her breath... for goodness' sake, she was *dead* a minute ago!
On the other hand, it might have been very interesting if Neo had made the other choice and chosen Zion over Trinity. Would have led to different issues, whether she actually died or not.
The car chase was very cool... the first fight with Smith was very cool... The interweaving of scenes at the end, as they're planning their attack/talking about it privately/carrying it out was very nicely done. The shot of Smith at the end was good. I'm sure there were other moments I liked.
I plan to see it again and see if it is any better the second time around. But overall, it just felt like a bad sequel. It was like the first one had this kind of... emotional purity to it, maybe. The story was simple, the motives were clear, they were following this mystic prophecy and all that... This one just left me feeling cheated and dirty. I'd almost rather just have one movie than two/three. I'm hoping the next one will make me a fan again.
Anyway, that's enough from me for now
Kaylle
