Matrix Revisited
I recently watched the Matrix trilogy again. It is growing on me. I suspect that the hype around the two movies combined with the fact that they were released so close to each other may have diminished the effect that they had. I still feel the first movie by far has the fewest flaws, but the other two movies aren't as bad as I originally thought. The Wachowski brothers don't do well with intimate love scenes. Action and philosophy are good, but the touching moments really fall flat, at the is true for all of the movies.
Part of the reason I don't think the follow on movies are as well received is the fact that the mind blowing nature of the dual worlds has been revealed. It's like watching The String, The Usual Suspects, or The Game a second time. All great movies, but after you have seen them once, your watching experience changes since there is a critical piece that you now know that you didn't when you watched it the first time. In this case you aren't watching the same movie again, but a different movie that follows on from the same twist.
Since the cat is already out of the bag, your expectation going in is changed. They don't deliver another mind bender, instead they explore more what the dual nature of these two worlds really means. I think because of that exploration, unless you are really interested in the concept, the movies don't offer as much. While I enjoyed Reloaded and Revolutions in the theater the first time I saw them, I didn't have the same positive reaction as I did when I saw the first Matrix.
Having read some books about philosophy and in particular concepts related to the Matrix, watching the trilogy again, I enjoy some of the subtler aspects they explore. It is because of this that I liked the entire trilogy more this time around.