I’d noticed that some people on various weblogs didn’t like the new Matrix movie.  I generally tried to avoid their reviews, because I didn’t want to get into spoilers, but I suppose that the overall tone lowered my expectations for this movie.  This was helpful, because with that in mind, I generally liked the movie.  I will be going to the next one, if for no other reason than to find out what happens.

There were a few things that bothered me about the movie, though (although they aren’t really about deep subjects like governments like some other bloggers have had).  First, while the effects were really good, I hit a saturation point where it just felt like it was all gratuitous.  I realize the Matrix allows for superhuman feats of strength and agility, but it started to get in the way of the story line, rather than being an integral part of it like in the first movie. 

While I realize that anything is possible in the Matrix (as opposed to the dirty and messy real world), there was one thing that bugged me about the freeway scene.  As far as I know, new motorcycles are always transported in big wooden crates without batteries or gas.  And with these high-end bikes (like, for example, the Ducati 996), I think the dealer also has to attach the fairing.  The idea of transporting a bunch of Ducatis on a car carrier just threw me (maybe people do this in other parts of the country, but I’ve never seen it).  I know, in the midst of all the other improbable crap that happened in that sequence, it’s a small thing, but it wrenched me out of my suspension of disbelief.

And then there was the ending.  I won’t say exactly what happened (in the hopes of not spoiling things), but the idea of the Matrix always seemed to me to be that one could do just about anything inside, but out in the real world everyone was human and subject to the laws of physics.  It looks like the movie makers decided to take a different path, although we won’t know for sure until the next installment.