Matrix Reloaded

Looking to the upcoming weeks and days, it occurs to me I'm greatly looking forward to the release of The Matrix Reloaded. Anyone else out there with me? Amy won't watch the trailer, but I know she's looking forward to it. (As a side note, I give her a great deal of credit for having the self-restraint to resist watching it. I caved and watched it online.)

My general theory with movies like this is to set my expectations very low, and hope for nothing more than a mildly entertaining set of special effects. That was my approach with the X-Men sequel, and I was pleasantly surprised with the movie when I saw it. (Okay, that's an understatement!)

I'm finding it hard to lower my expectations for the new Matrix movie, but I have a gnawing worry that it is going to be a hollow sequel to a movie that stood very well by itself. Technically, the original Matrix left itself open to a sequel, but it didn't scream out for one, and could have lived on in film history without one. So, my question is this: Will the sequel take away from the original, or will it be good enough to make the original even better? And where is that threshold?