Fun fact: the sequels were supposed to be experienced by first watching The Animatrix, then playing the video game Enter the Matrix, then watching the 2nd and 3rd films. Try it sometime (if you can still find the game): it results in a much better experience.

There's a lot of weirdly introduced characters in the 2nd film especially that leave you thinking "wtf was that there for?" but were actually the continuation / conclusion / intersection of storylines started in one of the animatrix shorts (e.g. the kid) or the game (the other crew).

Also The Animatrix soundtrack was fire to my middle school ears. That specific robit revolution one definitely opened me up to anime-style stuff for the first time. There was also a book called "zen and the matrix" or something similar that had a bunch of essays which blew my 12 year old mind. I dropped out of my catholic confirmation course due to it! Forgot how much that influenced me.

You should read some Alistair Reynolds (sci-fi) and Daniel Dennett (philosophy). You'd get a lot out of it I think.

Wow, this would explain why the second and third movies made so little sense to me.

Yup. The first film was the beginning. The Animatrix and Enter the Matrix were the middle. And the final 2 films the two-part conclusion. Just watching the films is like watching Act 1 of MacBeth, then skipping Acts 2-4 and going straight to Act 5. Not going to be the best viewing experience.

That said, they did make sure the films had enough injected explanation that movie-going audiences weren't totally lost, but unless you watched it the way the Wachowskis intended, it would come off as disoriented and exposition-heavy, nowhere near the quality of the first film.

Not that they are masterpieces on the level of Shakespeare. But having gone back and watched the first film, then Animatrix and played Enter the Matrix, before re-watching the final films as a two-parter, it does make sense as a consistent, coherent story with a beginning, middle, and end, and even quality throughout.

Thanks for the explanation. I haven't re-watched parts 2 and 3 in a very long time, now you made me curious to watch (or somehow read) those two missing parts and then try again :)