The Matrix Reloaded - 6/10
(some spoilers for the original Matrix below, but I'm avoiding them for the actual films)
There's a lot of arrogance in this film - an assumption that you're totally familiar with the first film, that you'll enjoy the ridiculously leaden and contemplative dialogue, that you're happy to sit through virtually endless high-tempo action, that you're following the film closely enough that you'll register huge narrative points delivered in brief or speedily delivered dialogue snippets.
With those failings, it can't possibly live up to the original. Not sure if it's the editing or the screenplay, but there's something seriously wrong when you spend about a third of the movie in an enormous but narratively rather throwaway action sequence, then don't show vital pieces of exposition near the end of the film.
Another major failing is the putative state of the CGI during the first big fight sequence. It involves compositing digital characters into a scene, but the CG Neo is so primitive that it makes the scene devolve into what looks very much like a computer game.
With all that out the way, there's also a lot to like here. I mentioned the enormous action scene which lasts around a third of the film, and while it's small potatoes as far as the narrative goes, the production is astonishing. It could be the most ambitious action sequence ever filmed - they actually built their own loop of highway specifically for the film. It keeps up a steady flow of imagination and threat, and despite the length, the vast majority of it is very thrilling (the most weary part is actually the beginning, involving a Neo fight which I'll get to later).
The world of The Matrix becomes far more fleshed out in these two sequels, and becomes a place the viewer inhabits and feels invested in. Part of that is down to the incredible production (which is just out of this world in Revolutions particularly), but also the dialogue, which despite being incredibly clunky and unrealistic, encourages you to think about the themes at play. It also allows you to get a hell of a lot more out of the films on repeat viewing.
Getting into the minutiae, as in the first film, the acting is a mixed bag: Keanu Reeves is the blank-faced exception to a stellar cast who reel off the outlandish dialogue without difficulty. For me, Carrie-Anne Moss is the highlight, in that she convinces so thoroughly that I have a hard time getting my head around the fact that in reality she's not madly in love with Reeves.
The music isn't as successful as the other films, or The Animatrix for that matter. The first film hinged mostly on existing music, club anthems from artists like Powerman 5000 and Moby, with a couple of strong original themes thrown in. Revolutions' original music has an epic quality that suits the film perfectly. Reloaded, however, has a pulsing techno beat of original music throughout the film, and to my ear it contributes to the bloated impression this film gives off.
The final major negative is action involving Neo. The first film established him as someone free of the contraints of the matrix, breaking all its rules and becoming an unbeatable hero. Despite establishing this, Reloaded insists on throwing villains at him who're magically on his level. We're left thinking, why doesn't he just delete them, as he did with at the end of the first film? If he can break all the rules, why are these opponents any kind of threat to him? Many of the action scenes fall flat based on this fundamental issue.
The Matrix Revolutions - 10/10
Reloaded and Revolutions are essentially two halves of one giant film, so it shares the strengths and weaknesses of the dialogue, the unsurpassed production and world creation (with no ropey CG this time around), and follows directly on from Reloaded with absolutely zero concessions to new viewers.
The wire-intensive kung fu and slowmotion gunplay which made the first film's action so iconic is at a minimum this time around - Revolutions is a very different beast. The vast majority of the film is set outside the matrix, focusing on the last human army battling an invasion of hundreds of thousands of machines. The vulnerability of humans in the 'real world' has been well established in previous films, lending to a massive sense of threat and desperation throughout the film. The main sequence set in the matrix is one of the hugely OTT action spectacles that you may be familiar with from far east exports like Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle.
Essentially, Revolutions is a climactic and intense war film, the sci-fi equivalent to Return Of The King. Whereas Reloaded's long action scenes seemed like an indulgence, Revolutions' epic battles keep you utterly rivetted, with people you care about on the line. And they really are on the line - nobody's life is untenable here, and there are sizeable emotional punches throughout the movie.
It's perfectly paced, perfectly created, in my opinion an absolute masterpiece. Like the previous films it's thought-intensive, and you won't get the full potential out of the story if you watch with your brain switched off, but it's easier to follow and enjoy than Reloaded if you don't want to get drawn into the deeper picture.
The main point of contention that I hear about this film is the ending - some consider it anti-climactic and disappointing, or even that it's a bit of a cliffhanger. Your personal interpretation about the ending will probably be the decider for your opinion of the film - personally, I thought it ended the story perfectly, leaving room for your imagination to play with the aftermath (in the same way that you're encouraged to contemplate throughout all the films), but firmly closing the trilogy.