The original was excellent, I'm not a fan of the Matrix, but I enjoyed the first one, it was a move away from the typical science fiction movies where they focused on the story more then the action and SFX. It was like the original Ghost In The Shell, more focus on the underlying commentary about the relationship between Man and machine and not just in your face action.
Fucking Joel Silver, the producer wanted the sequels made because he wanted money... not because when the brothers wrote it, they wrote it as a trilogy. He just said that so it don't make him a greedy fuck... but we all know that anyways. The Matrix sequels HAVE VERY little to do with the original, they just added stories to the back.
But you all know that anyways... Should have left the Matrix as just one movie, it felt complete with an open ending... ironic yeah.