"You should watch this film, I think you'd like it"
It was unusual of my brother to recommend a film to me. First of all, he was older than me and off experiencing this that and the other at university so had no time for an A-level student like me anymore. Secondly, his idea of cinema was a chance to switch your brain off, not something to be reviled and shared with others. The fact that he’d taken the time to give me a recommendation was enough to pique my curiosity and send me to the cinema.

Over the course of 136 minutes, I sat captivated, my mind completely engrossed in this rollercoaster ride of a film. I'd never experienced a feeling quite as emotionally overwhelming as I did when watching this modern day epic. Even the lead role being played by a notoriously bad actor couldn't detriment my experience of this film. I walked away realising I'd just watched the best film ever made.

I wasn't alone in my love. Word of mouth caused the popularity of the film to spread like wildfire. Within months, there wasn't a single person I knew who hadn't seen it, and the praise for it seemed to be unanimous. The unity that this film could bring between strangers and the ice breaker in conversation it served as showed that its cultural effect had spread far beyond the big screen.

That film, of course, was The Matrix.

In the ensuing months, rumours flew abound that there would be a sequel! No, a prequel. No, a prequel and a sequel! No, TWO sequels! Discovering that this classic was going to have two sequels was fantastic news! The anticipation was too much. The excitement of the prospect of two more instalments of this was something I wanted NOW, not in three years time!

Fast forward to years later, and the release date lingered just a month away. I was living in Chandlers Ford now and the ensuing release date had stirred the excitement once again that had lain dormant whilst the film was being made. We ensured that we pre-booked tickets for the first available performance. Sure we were paying full-price despite being placement students with an insultingly small pay-packet. How could we not? This was the sequel to The Matrix after all. Not something trivial like Christmas.

The days rolled by slowly until eventually the great day came and the queue at the cinema (yes, people had turned up early and queued despite having pre-booked tickets and seats) was wrapped in an electric atmosphere that saw a line of chattering people all buzzing with nervous energy in anticipation of the spectacle they were about to witness. Those last few minutes felt longer than the months that preceded them.

Then we watched The Matrix Reloaded.

I could easily stop there and label the baffling mess of a film as my biggest disappointment, but that wasn’t it. I'll admit, I came out of the film feeling deflated, not to mention confused, but as is with these things, a lengthy debate then started at the pub next door to try and make sense of what we'd just watched and debate as to whether it was worth it. Opinions ranged from "That was absolute shit" to "You have to have faith that the answers will be in the final part" via "Come on, you had to love the special effects!". Whenever someone starts commenting on the special effects of a film, you know it's the sign of shenanigans. I made a mental note to buy that guy Waterworld on DVD when I had some money. Despite all these warning signs, we'd communally managed to convince ourselves that the best was yet to come and in the meantime we could content ourselves by shouting "NEO DIES!" at the lobby of the cinema as the next lot of fools awaited the late showing.

It wasn't long until the final instalment was due thankfully. With a second part of a trilogy like that, it would have been cruel to expect people to wait another three years for the final chapter, so with a weary optimism there was a positive reason to look forward to winter that year.

The ensuing months involved a lot of 'net browsing to see what others had made of the hundreds of open ended questions from the second part of the trilogy. It was a conspiracy-theorist playground out there with everyone and their dog having an opinion on what was in stall next. Their tales were fanciful and engaging. It actually managed to stir my interest once more as some of these theories managed to sound pretty interesting, reminding me that I shouldn’t lose faith in the same writers who delivered that startling original.

By the time December rolled around, I'd pretty much finished the trilogy in my head already. I had narrowed it down to going one of four ways, all of which were fairly ambiguous, but I was eager to find out whether I was right. I stood in the queue of the cinema once again, feeling more nervous than before. As nervous as though I were about to take an exam.

Then I watched The Matrix Revolutions.

From start to finish.

And I wondered.

Where's the money, Wachowski?

Cunts.
( ma0sm, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 15:29, 7 replies)

Clicks
Matrix:

"Wha...? Very clever...."

Matrix Reloaded:

"Wha...? Perhaps the next one will be better?"

Matrix Revolutions:

"Wha...? Why?"
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Thu 26 Jun 2008, 15:33, closed)

Fantasticly
Written.
*clicks*
( Cawl, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 15:33, closed)

The worst thing about the 2nd and 3rd films for me
was that they spoilt the first one for me. Now I think it is pretty average, most of the characters are annoying, and the idea is alright but nothing special.

Everyone is far better off watching Equilibrium.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 15:41, closed)

*clicks*
Reloaded was such a huge disappointment to me, I decided to avoid seeing revolutions.

I'd claim I win, but I did watch Reloaded, so I clearly lost there.
( catness, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 15:47, closed)

When I am High Empress of the World
I shall veto the making of sequels to good films as it only serves to spoil them.

Sequels to mediocre films are fine, but Godfather excepted, no other decent films should have sequels
(Jugular, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:04, closed)

You think that's bad?
My former flatmate started his masters dissertation based upon the Matrix and it's masterfulness with the intention of incorporating the second two as they were due to come out before he had to hand it in.

Having seen the pile of wank excreted by the Wachowski's, he quit the course and went off to make his own films in Belgium.

Never liked him much anyway
( fuck shit up the best you never had, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 19:06, closed)

Grrrr....
I`m glad you remembered to tell everyone that some of us *cough* me *cough* used the phrase "That was absolute shit" about The Matrix: Reloaded. God that was a load of crap. They even managed to make the fight scenes boring. I turned the third one off after about 30 minutes as I could feel it wasting my life from under my feet. I still don`t know how it ends. One day when I`m REALLY bored, I`ll watch it.

Still, at least we got to go to the pub.
(Bifta, Fri 27 Jun 2008, 4:47, closed)