The original Matrix was and is my favorite movie of all time. However, the sequence describing that the “why” of the matrix was to get energy from humans was utterly and completely ridiculous.
I agree. A better premise would have been that the humans had done something to make it very difficult for the machines to create other sentient machines and so they needed to tap the brain power of the humans to do the calculations necessary to find a way to get off the planet.
That would still be a stretch, but not quite as silly as humans as batteries.