With the first movie being as excellent as it is, the sequels had really big boots to fill. The first matrix was original (kind of, there were predecessors with similar ideas), it was ground breaking and revolutionary. I think it is pretty safe to say it was iconic. It had an open ending, and I think it should have remained that way.
I might be wrong, but the sequels don't feel like they were counted on from the start. It is a different feeling when you plan to make a trilogy or you make one successful movie and stick two follow-ups onto it. This feels as the later, and the sequels are diminishing in returns. While the plot of the first movie is in essence pretty understandable with nerdy programmer stuff sprinkled in there for us geeks, the sequels double down on the geeky stuff and action.
The plot of the sequel is about saving Zion from an immediate threat of a robot army. It is highly advisable to watch the Final Flight of Osiris from The Animatrix, to better keep up with the characters, though it is not essential or necessary. The plotline inside the Matrix is basically a fetchquest with the goal to somehow save Zion as well, and there is a Smith Situation on top of that.
No-one will fault you if you can't quite keep up. I have seen the trilogy multiple times, am somewhat of a geek, an engineer familiar with programming (though not a programmer by trade) and I am not entirely sure that I understand it completely. The sequels dive really deep into philosophical waters at times with way too much expository dialogue that requires multiple rewatches to fully grasp. These parts are a determent to entertainment and do not stick with you as much as the messages of the first movie did. To balance this, there is the action which is excellent, though not really better than the first film. As a kid, I just used to watch the Burly Brawl and then the whole sequence since they get the Keymaker towards the end of the highway chase. You have some fighting with weapons, shootouts, highway chase including on a motorcycle. Very entertaining stuff.
Let me get back to the object of interest of the sequels, it being Zion. Personally, I don't like it very much and for the small runtime it gets it should have been left for the third movie and better developed. It had the potential to be an another memorable Sci-Fi set piece but what do we get? Everybody wearing dirty rags, a council of diverse characters we learn nothing about and a cringy cave-rave. While the look and feel of the first movie was groundbreaking, the look and feel of the sequel is rather disappointing. Thanks to the entertaining action I rate it as an average sci-fi which is a shame considering what came before. In fact, I'm going to give the first movie full marks if I already haven't done so.
I might be wrong, but the sequels don't feel like they were counted on from the start. It is a different feeling when you plan to make a trilogy or you make one successful movie and stick two follow-ups onto it. This feels as the later, and the sequels are diminishing in returns. While the plot of the first movie is in essence pretty understandable with nerdy programmer stuff sprinkled in there for us geeks, the sequels double down on the geeky stuff and action.
The plot of the sequel is about saving Zion from an immediate threat of a robot army. It is highly advisable to watch the Final Flight of Osiris from The Animatrix, to better keep up with the characters, though it is not essential or necessary. The plotline inside the Matrix is basically a fetchquest with the goal to somehow save Zion as well, and there is a Smith Situation on top of that.
No-one will fault you if you can't quite keep up. I have seen the trilogy multiple times, am somewhat of a geek, an engineer familiar with programming (though not a programmer by trade) and I am not entirely sure that I understand it completely. The sequels dive really deep into philosophical waters at times with way too much expository dialogue that requires multiple rewatches to fully grasp. These parts are a determent to entertainment and do not stick with you as much as the messages of the first movie did. To balance this, there is the action which is excellent, though not really better than the first film. As a kid, I just used to watch the Burly Brawl and then the whole sequence since they get the Keymaker towards the end of the highway chase. You have some fighting with weapons, shootouts, highway chase including on a motorcycle. Very entertaining stuff.
Let me get back to the object of interest of the sequels, it being Zion. Personally, I don't like it very much and for the small runtime it gets it should have been left for the third movie and better developed. It had the potential to be an another memorable Sci-Fi set piece but what do we get? Everybody wearing dirty rags, a council of diverse characters we learn nothing about and a cringy cave-rave. While the look and feel of the first movie was groundbreaking, the look and feel of the sequel is rather disappointing. Thanks to the entertaining action I rate it as an average sci-fi which is a shame considering what came before. In fact, I'm going to give the first movie full marks if I already haven't done so.
