Wasn't personally all that jazzed by the fight scenes in The Matrix. I think the movie did a good job of establishing rules and then sticking to them -- there was a definite style with which people fought, and they didn't deviate from that, and that was good. I just never felt any real sense of gripping excitement from the fight scenes themselves. They looked a bit too much like actors who had learned how to perform moves by rote. In Phantom Menace, they were, in fact, actors who had learned how to perform moves by rote, but they were allowed to emote, and they looekd interested in hitting each other, even if some of the moves were more cinematic than efficient.
(Which really isn't a slam. I don't go watch an action movie looking for efficient fighting. I'm looking for entertainment. And that's cinematic.)
Beyond that, agree with a lot of folks. I'd add that I enjoyed the fights in Pirates of the Carribean quite a bit -- flashy, fun, well edited.
