I went to see the Matrix last night. First my spoiler-free thoughts, then comments on the film.

I didn't like it as much as the first film. I didn't think it was very well put together, and it jumped around a bit. They could have cut an hour out of the movie and I wouldn't have minded. Too many special effects, some good, some cheezy. I was more interested in the plot, which only seemed to progress in spurts. It was sorta like, 2 big action sequences with eye candy, then 10 minutes of straight dialogue to catch up on the plot. Because of this you go from mindlessly watching crazy CGI shit to having to pay close attention to every word someone says or you'll miss what's going on. I didn't like that. The movie made ya think afterward, but I found myself enjoying trying to figure out what happens next more than I did watching what just happened. And with that...

****WARNING : SPOILERS****

From the begining I wondered how Agent Smith could be transported through the phone lines into the "real" world. Towards the end of the movie, I sorta figured out why, and as I thought about it more it made sense.

At the end Neo stops the sentinals somehow with his powers. Except he's in the real world, he has no powers! That is of course unless the "real world" is yet another matrix. If that's the case a lot of what happened makes sense. The fact that the architect said there's been 6 Neo's, that Zion has been destroyed numerous times, that it's been going on much longer than 100 years as Morpheus and everyone in Zion thinks it has. Hell it even explains the blackened skies. With no stars, there's no way for them to tell what year it *really* is!

This would explain why Neo can use powers in the real world because it's not a real world at all it's a second matrix. The architect said that 1% of people reject the original matrix. Thus, they need to build a second matrix for those people to *think* there is a reality, and a purpose for it. Thus, everything we've seen thus far in the movies is a matrix, we haven't seen reality yet.

Therefore we have no idea what the real relationship between man and machine is. And apparently Neo will be able to see past this second matrix, in a way the others will not. Remember when the Oracle gives him some candy? He takes it but does not eat it. She does, and it's red. A red pill? Will Neo find this in his pocket in the next film and "get out" of the second matrix like he did the first?

The other thing that made me think was the architects comments about how Neo is different from the others because of his love for Trinity. I thought, why is this weird? Then I figured, perhaps Neo isn't human at all, perhaps he's a program like everything else. It would make sense then why the architect is surprised, since all the other programs of the matrix don't seem to be capable of true love, and how could a program fall in love with a human? This could also explain the test of the kiss in the bathroom, to see if Neo really is capable of true human emotion. It could also explain why Neo can see the future. Has he been through this before? Everyone seems to be "expecting" him, they too must have been through this before with him as well, this is just the next time in the continuous cycle.

In a sense I think this is where it gets a big foggy, and there are a lot of questions. I think most people will get the matrix in a matrix thing, but I don't think many people see Neo as possibly being a program like the rest of them. It could be the real kicker at the end. Perhaps with Trinity having to choose a life in reality without Neo or one in the Matrix with him. Or, perhaps everyone is a program, with Neo being the main reason the program is running, to attempt the ultimate in AI, each time getting better and better, until the AI (Neo) reaches a true state of consciousness. Who knows, I guess we'll see.

Anyway, that's what I saw in it all. I loved the stuff w/ the architect, and the oracle. The philosophy and psychology of that stuff was top notch, it's just that there wasn't much of it. It will be interesting to see how it turns out, assuming my theories are correct. If, however, they are instead turning Neo into some sort of God figure and Agent Smith into some sort of Devil, and metaphysical BS, I don't think it'll even be worth my time.

I welcome comments and speculation.