10 Movie Franchises Ruined By One Dumb Decision

9. Too Many Agent Smiths - The Matrix

The Matrix sequels arguably made many missteps, but none more so than the decision to randomly give the villainous Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) the ability to replicate himself in the second film, The Matrix Reloaded.

This is a textbook example of a threat being expanded to such comically over-the-top proportions that it actually ends up diminishing overall viewer engagement.

Case in point, neither the hilariously janky "Burly Brawl" in Reloaded nor the Dragonball Z-aping final battle in Revolutions had audiences remotely as invested as the comparatively simple showdown at the end of the first Matrix.

It's a case of less is more, or rather, the more being so more that any tangible connection to the human element is completely lost in the process.

It's a classic pitfall for sequels to successful movies, to take that expanded budget and spend it on ambitious, effects-driven mayhem while discarding the very essence of what made it popular in the first place.

If the original Matrix was a genuinely tantalising meditation on human existence with riveting action to boot, the sequels quickly devolved into disposable, overly silly fantasy nonsense, exemplified no better than by the vast legion of Smiths.

Fingers crossed that the upcoming fourth Matrix film might lower the stakes a little in order to keep a focus on what matters most.