Oh wow, we’ve all been bamboozled. I walked out of the theatre with mixed feelings. On the other hand I had thoroughly enjoyed the movie (but then, don’t we all love the movie-going experience as such?) but found myself feeling embarrassed for the actors more than once.

The cons were almost too numerous to list. The movie was flooded with horrible pseudo-philosophical babble. I’m sorry, but just first saying one song and then the exact opposite doesn’t mean it would be profound. Then there was the action, which was utterly and completely over the top this time, devoid of almost all interest. Take, for example, the scene where Neo confronts Agent Smith, battles him for a good while and then finally flies away. I mean, why didn’t he take to the skies immediately? Then there’s the rule bending. Basically most of the things we were told about the nature of the Matrix were toyed with in an unexcusable way (I feel like the crazed woman in Misery here). The film is almost entirely devoid of foreshadowing except for the final moments, which is unforgivable as the last two parts of the trilogy were planned and shot back to back. Where’s the sense in making a movie so self-sufficient it doesn’t even leave you wanting for more?

You know they say that you can always tell the difference between a real actor and a CGI construct. Well, in this case you can’t, so I guess the Wachowski’s should feel grateful for casting Keanu Reeves, a man so plastic in flesh that you really cannot tell the man from the machine. But it’s not like he’s a real person anyhow.

But as I said, I was truly and well entertained by the movie. Obviously this means that the flick had its moments. My favourites weren’t the few almost impossible CGI effects (Neo fighting a billion agents) but rather the totally impossible ones, like the moment in the highway chase when the camera apparently passes through an oncoming truck. And the plot has its moments as well, it’s just that the ideas are usually completely obfuscated by the thick dialogue. Extra credit has to be given for flashing an image of George Bush Snr near the end in an appropriate context. And in no case it’s a total turkey like Equilibrium, just that it doesn’t stand up to the promise of the original.

I guess my sense of delight at the movie can be at least partly explained by the Star Wars generation phenomenon. The people who were in their teens or early twenties when New Hope came out were forever altered by that experience, as it was like nothing they’d ever seen before. When the prequels started rolling out, the original fans kept praising them as well, even though it was quite clear to everyone else that George Lucas’s fable had long since lost its essence.

But then again it would be unfair to ask someone to create something new more than once in their lifetimes.

Rating: € € €

Note that this doesn’t mean I think the original Matrix movie was the best thing since sliced bread, I’m just pointing out the effect it had on the collective opinion concerning action movies.