> See, I'm not entirely sure I buy this
>argument. Yeah, Neo *could* have flown away.
>But I think he was interested in finding out
>what the hell Smith wanted with him.

Yeah, ok, I can buy this. But it still doesn't change my mind about the fight. My eyes glazed over about halfway through. It was too much visual stimulation. There are definitely some insanely awesome moments in it, but overall it was just too much for me.

> It's worth noting, though, that Neo's powers
>still seem to be somewhat limited compared to
>what some people claim.

In what way? Sure, he didn't actually reverse time or knock over a building with a touch or anything, but I didn't see too much evidence of his limitations other than it took him a really long time to take out some of the baddies (and I explain that more by "we need longer fights" than any sort of actual plot-based reason.) He barely even gets HIT the entire movie. Morpheus takes more shots in his one big fight scene than Neo takes the entire damn movie. The one guy that gave him big troubles in the first movie, he fights 500 of in the second one and doesn't suffer a scratch. Where's the limitations?

> I actually liked that scene, because as soon as
>it started I thought, "Kung Fu movie!" I mean,
>it's classic Hong Kong: guy walks into a martial
>arts studio and is immediately challenged to a
>fight as a greeting. Yeah, it was silly, but
>there you are. I was smiling.

Yeah, well, that's why I had to remind myself "Hong Kong movie". Otherwise, I would have reacted very negatively to that scene.

>> The second was the Keymaker intro scene, where
>>they bust through that door to find this little
>>old asian dude with an old key grinder sitting
>>alone in a tiny room.
>
> What was wrong with that scene? It's one of my
>favorites. It's funny for the sheer
>ridiculousness of it, sure, but that's the
>point. This whole thing is really surreal,
>because, uh, it's not supposed to be reality.

You seem to have understood my point without actually understanding my point.

Again, *because* it was ridiculous and surreal, is why I had to say "Ok, it's like Alice in Wonderland here..."

Remember that in the first movie, stuff like that didn't happen. The one time the reality of the Matrix got bent it was a direct action by the Agents to try to trap them. It wasn't just whacked out like that. But since they're dealing with rogue programs and stuff in this movie, it makes sense that the parts of the Matrix they live in won't actually conform to anything resembling reality, because they have no reason to make it so for just themselves. But that's what I meant about having to remind myself it's *supposed* to be surreal and insane, and not just think "Whoa, little asian dude in a tiny room with a key grinder. Uh..."

> YES ZANK YOU VERY GOOD. The Oracle is freaking
>useless. I'm not sure if she's *supposed* to be
>useless or actually insightful. I am curious
>how she knows the future, though. Same thing
>with Neo. Is this supernatural or does it have
>some kind of "rational" explanation within the
>Matrix?

She seemed to be saying that time isn't linear, or that perhaps she and Neo partially exist outside of time or something. Like when she points out to Neo that she's not seeing a decision he *will* make, only one he already *has* made. Other than that, though, I have no clue. I'm certain they didn't offer anything like an explanation as to how it works.

> Also, it doesn't make any sense. Is the movie
>arguing for or against free will? I couldn't
>ever figure it out.

Me neither. I get the feeling what we're going to end up with in the end is the standard "The machines all think everything is deterministic but plucky Neo shows them free will really exists." And all the fanboys will eat it up.

-- Dave