I know this is going to sound stupid, but...

[Darth Macho]

Woah, Neo can see and stop machines in the real world... wow how did he do that.. I gues we'll find out in the third film!...
(Matrix reload and revolutions spoilers, buuuutttt... you probably don't care at this point.)

Ok... where was the explanation... Yeah, he's the one but what... What does he have 802.whoah?  Does Neo have a blue tooth? WHAT!? Wait, even if he does why does banesmith give off energy like a machine... Isn't Bane a villain from batman? Why does trinity wear sunglasses under a tinted motorcycle helmet? Is The Matrix skynet's cousin? Why does everyone wear sweaters in the real world? Is it from the Fred Rogers collection?

Answers in no particular order.
Yes. To differentiate the 'crappy' real world from the 'cool' outfits in the Matrix. No. No. Because if she took them off she wouldn't look hip. Because there might still be morons in the audience that didn't get that Smith was possessing Bane. No. Skynet was nowhere near as preoccupied with psychoanalyzing itself to its victims. There was no explanation; they needed Neo to be badass in the real world (because that was where all of the plot mattered) so they broke the internal logic to give him actual superpowers.

[MSTJedi]

Woah, Neo can see and stop machines in the real world... wow how did he do that.. I gues we'll find out in the third film!...
(Matrix reload and revolutions spoilers, buuuutttt... you probably don't care at this point.)

Ok... where was the explanation... Yeah, he's the one but what... What does he have 802.whoah?  Does Neo have a blue tooth? WHAT!? Wait, even if he does why does banesmith give off energy like a machine... Isn't Bane a villain from batman? Why does trinity wear sunglasses under a tinted motorcycle helmet? Is The Matrix skynet's cousin? Why does everyone wear sweaters in the real world? Is it from the Fred Rogers collection?

Answers in no particular order.
Yes. To differentiate the 'crappy' real world from the 'cool' outfits in the Matrix. No. No. Because if she took them off she wouldn't look hip. Because there might still be morons in the audience that didn't get that Smith was possessing Bane. No. Skynet was nowhere near as preoccupied with psychoanalyzing itself to its victims. There was no explanation; they needed Neo to be badass in the real world (because that was where all of the plot mattered) so they broke the internal logic to give him actual superpowers.

Yeah, they didn't even bother trying to explain it with something like since he was created as "the One", more of his brain was used, thereby granting him telekenetic/psychic powers. Nope. It just was.

[dalem]

I agree with most of the criticisms of the movie.  On a broader scale, the 2nd and 3rd movies failed to make me WANT the "good guys" to win.  I'd 100% rather be plugged into a goo pod than slurping creamed corn in a torn up sweatshirt for the rest of my life.  Zion, the Real World, has nothing to recommend it.  Sure, being a battery is slavery, but being free achieves nothing - the war was unwinnable because the game was unwinnable because it's just two codebins playing tug of war in the land of 1s and 0s; even if it was winnable there are no freedoms in Zion - no joy, no color (except for the people - it seems that Whitey never really made it out of the goo pods ); no books, no music more complicated than a drum, etc.; no life - just a bunch of tattered people .

The Matrix though, especially if you're agenty, has all the good stuff, if you can live without the color red.

I think the sequels could have lurched toward a better reception by changing nothing except adding some appeal to Zion/The Real World.  Some hope.  Some difference.  Fighting the long defeat is a fine theme, as long as the enemy isn't more likeable than you are.

-dale

[DoggySpew]

Am I the only one who loved the whole trilogy and didn't think it sucked ?

[MSTJedi]

Am I the only one who loved the whole trilogy and didn't think it sucked ?

I loved the first one and liked the second and third. I don't think they suck, just that they could've done more with what they started in the first movie.

[Phantom of Krankor]

I think it was just a bad idea to bring Agent Smith back and have him take over the Matrix. The Matrix should be the main villain, not somthing completely different in the Matrix. Now I love Agent Smith, but they should've made a cooler new updated agent in the Matrix that's equal to Neo's powers.

And I agree about Zion. Very poorly executed, very hard to feel for underdeveloped sweaty people in rags.

[swstephe]

Call me crazy, but I would have expected, maybe, a *revolution*.  You know, where the people still inside the matrix revolt against their masters and get ejected from the human battery-pods like Neo did and the Matrix simply shuts down, then all those octo-droids simply run out of gas in the purely secondary Zion scenes.  Instead, we get a live-action anime clip and explosions and everything is just like it was before, but with more colors and the "peace" of servitude.  Oh yeah, and since everyone is supposed to be hackers -- maybe some hacking?

[Toyland Chairman]

I think its okay. Been a while since I last watched the DVD before viewing it with Rifftrax last night, but can be enjoyable. Course its like four movies slapped together.