Howard Stern minced no words when he said of this movie (The Matrix: Reloaded):
"I thought it was horrible!"
(click for transcript)

The Matrix was a mind blowing film and one of my favorites. It ranks right up there with great innovative and creative science fiction films like Blade Runner. Generally if I go into a movie with low or no expectations then I'm not that disappointed by a bad movie and certainly elated by a good or great one. However in the case of The Matrix I figured that the guys who made it must be so cool and creative and cutting edge that the next film, Reloaded, would follow in that same category. So I went into the movie with high expectations. What a mistake and geez what a disappointment! I can say a lot of things but the reviews and people cited below with links to the full articles say it pretty well. Links open a new window.

Here's what the critics are saying (everyone's a critic!):

"I became aware, during the film, that a majority of the major characters were played by African Americans. . . It has become commonplace for science fiction epics to feature one or two African-American stars, but we've come a long way since Billy Dee Williams in "Return of the Jedi." The Wachowski brothers use so many African Americans, I suspect, not for their box-office appeal, because the Matrix is the star of the movie, and not because they are good actors (which they are), but because to the white teenagers who are the primary audience for this movie, African-Americans embody a cool, a cachet, an authenticy. Morpheus is the power center of the movie, and Neo's role is essentially to study under him and absorb his mojo."

-- Roger Ebert in his excellent review of Matrix Reloaded

Share the love with all the Fanboyz at Aintitcoolnews.com reviews:

"What is THE MATRIX RELOADED? It’s a film filled with cool images and ideas, that never has the courage to live up to its own imagination. A film that never truly takes flight..."

Harry says what many people are too afraid to say because they've been condition by the hype!!! The fanboy comments (I got my 2 cents in!) can be pretty funny!
Moriarty has a nice counterpoint review. Then Harry makes some other comments after a second viewing. 

"Part of the suckitude of this afternoon was attributable to the actual moviegoing experience: five minutes of Pepsi and Jordan Furniture commercials really gets me into the mood for a suckass movie."

This guy must live in New England like me because where else do they have Jordans Furniture commercials at the movies?! 

"the entire movie was crap and that I wanted to leave halfway through it. I said that the theatre I was in was overwhelmingly disappointed with the movie and barely reacted to the film. I summed it up by comparing it to Highlander 2, the worst sci-fi movie of all time. I had a violent and extreme reaction to this movie. I disliked it so much that it made me angry. The last time I reacted to a movie that way was Phantom Menace." 

--Scott Kurtz, some guy who wrote this and more on pvponline!
 

Salon.com's review is more like cultural study than a lambasting or lovefest. 

insecure.org details an actual nmap hack used in Reloaded with screenshots! Too funny!

/. of course!

Howard Stern's Comments

Oh and here's an amusing article someone sent me: 

'MATRIX'-MAKER 'STOLE' A WIFE 

THE estranged husband of the sexy dominatrix who accompanied reclusive "Matrix Reloaded" director Larry Wachowski to the movie's L.A. premiere says the filmmaker is a cross-dressing wife-stealer. 
Jake Miller, 40, says he's still married to Karin Winslow, 36, a professional dominatrix who walked down the red carpet with Wachowski, 37, alongside "Matrix" star Keanu Reeves. 

Miller claims the director and the dominatrix get down and dirty in kinky sessions where Wachowski dresses up in drag, and says that he personally witnessed their illicit antics. 

"I want people to know the truth," Miller told the London Mail on Sunday. "When Larry walked down the red carpet with my wife, he was probably wearing [something else] under his suit." 

Miller, who says he himself is a transsexual, claims Wachowski dumped his wife of 15 years, childhood sweetheart Thea, for the curvaceous Winslow. He claims the director is obsessed with Marilyn Monroe and likes to wear a blonde wig, pink dresses and stiletto heels prior to being punished by his mistress and acting as her slave. 

WHOA!!!

"He stole my wife from me and he crossed over the boundaries," Miller, who ran an S&M parlor called The Dungeon in L.A. with Winslow, fumes. 

"Larry [is] living a lie. He has been cross-dressing for years and everybody knows it. But in Hollywood, money talks. And if you are the director of a hit like 'The Matrix,' you can get away with anything." 

Reps for both Wachowski and "Matrix" studio Warner Bros. had no comment. Miller confirmed his quotes to PAGE SIX. 

Miller says Winslow is an accomplished dominatrix with a large collection of whips, chains and sex toys. He says Winslow visited Warchowski on the set of "Matrix Reloaded" for weeks at a time, and notes that the picture contains many "sadomasochistic" elements. 

Wachowski, who co-directed the "Matrix" films with his brother Andy, is a former carpenter and comic book writer from Chicago. The media-shy duo, who stand to make an estimated $35 million from the latest installment, have a "no publicity" clause in their contract.