2. The Architect - The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions
It's so hard to pin point just why this doesn't work. By every logic and rational thought, it should. When you think back to the original Matrix, the overall villain was never seen. Mysterious, secluded, possibly even frail and unable to fight directly. It was also a machine. Cold, calculating, intelligent, and with a complete disregard for human life. It didn't hate them, it just didn't care. The image of a well-dressed, yet weak-looking old man in a chair with an extravagant vocabulary, a monotone voice, and a forceful, but non-aggressive message should've been perfect. This is exactly the kind of persona you would expect a machine overlord to manifest itself as. The problem seems to lie in the fact that it was a little
too perfect. The long-winded speeches, the "vis-a-vis"s and the "ergo"s are all the kind of steely language you'd anticipate from a machine (or, if we're being realistic, from the computer science engineer that made it), but it was lost on most audiences. It tried too hard. "See how intelligent and uncaring this character is? Just like a machine!" Meanwhile, the threat he makes seems to
under sell. The fate of humanity hangs in the balance as he calmly, but sternly explains that Neo can choose the love of his life, or every human soul left on the planet. It felt more like your grandpa telling you that you if he lets you have a cookie now, you have to eat extra vegetables at dinner. Could a better performance have saved the role? Possibly. Would it have worked if there were less obtuse writing involved? Maybe. Can we please turn off that bizarre wall of screens behind him that
really distracted from what was supposed to be a very serious scene? No, of course not. You're silly.