As little importance as this is, I'll just clear up my opinions on story vs action in the Matrices.
Of course I love good story. I think the Matrix comes from a cool place in idea as well as setting up a good stylistic setting for the action. The thing is that some of its story execution is awkward. Much of the dialogue sounds like it was written by a high school kid who thinks he is smarter than he is. "There is no spoon," that sort of thing. It takes the surface elements of Christian mythology and Hindu mysticism but does nothing with them except reference them. I'm not even looking for "original" ideas, but if this seems like a collage of different superficial philosophies that have nothing to do with each other.
The twists and turns of the story were delivered awkwardly and seemingly without rhyme or reason. Neo is the saviour. No, he's not. Wait, maybe he is, but not the real one, or the first one, or whatever. There were 6. The world is a giant cube. The same person created the Matrix and is the Matrix. Or some such. I'm sure the third movie will have even more stunning realisations for our characters, like Neo is a machine, or The Machine, or he is the Matrix himself. Yes, that's it, he's the Matrix, and all of Creation is just his dream. 'Cause, like, dude, what if we're really all just a some guy's dream, ya know, and one day he'll wake up and we'll no longer exist! Man, this is some good shit- yo I told you, bro, my cousin is hooked up!
And, yes, the dialogue in the second matrix, especially by the architect guy- wow. I couldn't stop laughing. But it was good, because as they tried to ratchet up the "meaning" of the story, it made me pretty much stop trying to look at the movie that way and just treat it as eye candy and stylistic excess, like a Quentin Tarantino or Bruce Lee flick, and then I could enjoy it.
In fact, Matrices and Kill Bill occupy the same space in my movie-brain: stylistically wild, shamelessly over-the-top, silly, fun, and cool for the sake of cool. And there's nothing wrong with that- I can't wait for Revolutions and Kill Bill vol 2. But I could never take it as a serious dramatic film.
I, too, like the first Oracle (that is the middle-aged black woman, right?). Why isn't she back?
As for the action, I think demanding something "new" is unfair. The fact that the franchise pretty much redifined the cinematic action aesthetic for this generation is enough of an accomplishment. To change it would take away from the Matrix's unique style. Yes, the second one was different in scope and approach, but it still feels right.
