[The Saucepan Man]

Well, I have not seen Matrix Revolutions (although now I know what happens ), and I only recently saw Reloaded on DVD. And it left me pretty cold, I have to say. It had been a long time since I saw the first Matrix film (which I found to be reasonably enjoyable), and I found the first 20 minutes of Reloaded utterly confusing, that is until I was able to piece together my memory of the plot from the first film. Then I had to watch those first 20 minutes again. It was hardly welcoming to the unitiated. And basically, while I can appreciate the action sequences and the special effects, I just don't "get" the Matrix films.<P>As for the LotR films, well they have a head start for me, since I have been a fan of the books for many years. And, after some intial readjustment, I find myself perfectly able to separate the story told in the films from that told in the books, and enjoy both for what they are. To me, these films are head and shoulders above the Matrix films (well, the two that I have seen).<P>That is my personal opinion, and many of the recent posts on this topic are personal opinion too. But the original question invited opinions on whether the latest Matrix film will surpass RotK at the Box Office.<P>And my opinion on this (based on the films that I have seen) is that RotK will blow Matrix Revolutions away. It seems to me that the LotR films have far more mass appeal than the Matrix films, which have more of a "cult" feel to them. Yes, they look good, but I believe (and this is backed up by reviews that I have read) that the story is just too impenetrable (if indeed there really is any deeper meaning to it than straight action) to appeal to a wide section of the film-going audience. Whereas the LotR films look good as well as having a storyline which is basically pretty simple, most of the complexities of the books having been "ironed out". And while this may upset the book purists, I believe that it does make the films far more accessible to a wider range of people. That is not to label film audiences as thick, but simply to say that I think that most filmgoers (and I include myself here) expect to be far less challenged (in terms of the complexity of the storyline) by their films than by their books.<P>And so, although I suppose that I am biased to a degree, I do see RotK as being a far more successful Box Office (and critical) hit than Matrix Revolutions, just as TTT was more successful than Reloaded.