Neo's attempts to bend the spoon may have been a bit easier if he would just have slipped in a Magic Teaspoon on the prophet. A portion of the spoon's handle made of nickel titanium naval ordinance laboratory, which is the big name for shape-memory metal.

The spoon is capable of bending up to 90 degrees when the handle is heated from hot water (or tea, coffee, whatever). That sounds like a great party trick, but what is the advantage to having a spoon bent 90 degrees? Neo seemed to think he needed a bent spoon, and if it is said in the movies, it must be a legitimate and rational statement. It's available for $50.

Magic Teaspoon, via Red Ferret