I don't think it's clear at all that he was accomplishing nothing; there were just too many Smiths to keep track of. Knock one down, two take his place.You weren't watching very carefully, then. The ones he hit just got right back up again with no sign of any problem or damage done.
Yes. Isn't that what happened in his first fight, against the three Agents that interrupted the rebel meeting? At this point, Neo has no reason to believe Smith is any different.
Um, except that there's five of him. And he's already destroyed Smith once before. So yeah, maybe he ought to be paying closer attention.
Does the fight accomplish anything? Yes. Neo gets a better measure of his arch-nemesis. As Seraph had just told him, "You cannot know someone until you fight him." Both Neo and Smith had clearly changed considerably since their last encounter.
"Gets a better measure of" -- well, sorry, but I disagree. That's a pretty weak excuse for a fight -- I thought it was pointless when Seraph said, it's 100 times as dumb when 100 Agent Smiths attempt to demonstrate it.
Ultimately though, the problem isn't "What is Neo seeing?" It's "What am I seeing?"
And what I am seeing is guys in black suits falling down and then getting back up with no evidence that they're suffering or struggling. Why am I watching somebody do something that is apparently effortless? Why should I care wether or not they succeed when it's obviously requiring no effort on their part and in fact doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to the outcome of the situation?
It's fine for Neo to waste his time. I just resent him wasting mine.
