system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Matrix] Why does it seem Neo lost his godly reality warper powers after the first movie?

Watched the trilogy for the first time not too long ago and found this odd.

First movie: Neo learns the true nature of reality and becomes an omnipotent Buddha who can deflect bullets with a wave of his hands.

Following movies: Neo stills fights his enemies with martial arts instead of turning them into tortillas or something.

What happened here?
gpt
Neo isn't omnipotent, even in the first movie. His main feats are:

- Coming back from the dead
- Fighting an Agent to a standstill
- Stopping bullets with his mind
- Flight
- "Overwriting" Smith

And he displays all of these powers in the subsequent films, often to a superior degree. He can now fight multiple, upgraded Agents and hold off a mob of Smiths. He could stop a few dozen rounds in the first movie, and stopped a hail of gunfire from multiple machine guns in the second and third. He could fly in the first, and flies fast enough to drag vehicles along in his wake in the third. And his final sacrifice is what undoes the Smith virus.

The One isn't omnipotent, he's an escape valve for all of the mounting frustrations of the people who realize that the Matrix isn't quite right. Part of that is the ability to find and exploit loopholes and errors in the Matrix code; his mind can send inputs that the Matrix software interprets as superhuman actions.

As for why he uses martial arts; Neo is faster and more powerful than any handheld weapon. Getting punched by him is worse than getting shot with a gun, *and* its more likely to connect. In his hands, a katana is significantly more lethal than a handgun.