10 Movies Ruined By Impossible Expectations

By Shaun Munro /

8. The Matrix Reloaded

What We Expected: Another thrilling action movie from the Wachowski's that would continue the quest of The One, Neo (Keanu Reeves), as he attempts to shut The Matrix down once and for all. Given that we all knew The Matrix Revolutions was already in production, we didn't exactly expect finality, but merely a firm move towards the end-game. What We Got: An exhilarating action sequel that nevertheless couldn't quite live up to the same philosophical ambition as the first film. It focused more on action and less on plot because, frankly, it was pretty run of the mill stuff; Agent Smith is back, but now there's more of him. The only attempt at deep-dish storytelling occured at the tail-end, when Neo met with the "father" of the Matrix, the Architect, but the overly-verbose chit-chat was sneered at by most for its pretentious tone. Still, I'll stick up for the film on the whole; it's superbly executed, if not the original's equal.