The Matrix Revolutions: Review By kerouac1

Before I begin, I have to say that I'm a huge Matrix fan. I was blown away by the first one, which was a milestone in modern cinema. I really enjoyed how Reloaded delved deeper, twisting things around and challenging my understanding of the world the Brothers W had created. Because of that, my review is going to be bias. There's no 2 ways about it. When you're a fan, you WANT something to be good, so you'll probably cut it some slack.

I went into Revolutions after having read a TON of mixed reviews. Some loved it. Some hated it. So I sat in the theater, as the now iconic green code started streaming down the screen, thinking over and over again, "Please don't suck. Please don't suck." And contrary to the horrendous review over at Rolling Stone, I'm happy to say that it didn't suck. In fact, I'll go a few steps further and say that it was absolutely amazing.

I'm going to try to stay as spoiler free as I can, but it might be tough. Consider this your warning...

The film opens right where Reloaded ended. I LOVE this. No 20 minute recap of what came before. Revolutions isn't trying to stand on its own as a film. It's trying to fit into the grand scheme of the trilogy. That makes me happy. When films in a trilogy try to stand on their own, they cheapen what came before them, and they generally aren't very good. Luckily, Revolutions, like Reloaded, avoids this trap and throws us right into the story.

As many reviews before mine have stated, Revolutions doesn't try to answers all of the questions posed by the previous 2 films. Instead, it just is what it is, leaving the viewer to draw concultions. This is another aspect I loved. Had the Brothers W tried to tie everything up, the world they created would have fallen in on itself. When a filmmaker tries to get cute with these situations, the results are usually disasterous. Case in point: Star Wars. I mean, Anakin built C3PO?!? Please... All that does is shrink the created world into a cute little package that lessens the impact. Again, the Brothers W avoid this by saying, "Ok, here's what's happened. Figure it out." It forces the viewer to draw conclusions which are usually based on their own beliefs. This adds a level of depth that makes the experience much more personal.

Revolutions is crafted much better than Reloaded. All of the setup in Reloaded pays off, with interest. I found myself actually caring about Zion, and all of its inhabitents. Commander Lock went from being an ass in Reloaded to a leader who will put the people of Zion above all else in Revolutions. "The Kid" becomes the face of undying faith. His blind belief in Neo, which could have tragic implications, is worn on his sleeve as he goes from being a 16 year old kid to a man in the face of overwhelming odds. It's a brilliant and sublte transition that sits at the heart of the film. And it's HEART that makes this film. All of the characters are more fully realized, with life and death choices all around them. They have feelings. They bleed. They cry. They hurt. And I felt everything with them for the first time in this trilogy.

Which brings me to my next point: my feelings on the meaning of it all. I'm not about to sit here and tell you what the meaning is. I think it's different for everyone, and my idea is certainly not the ONLY idea. Here's my take. It's all about the choices we make. Neo must make a choice. Trinity must make a choice. The Oracle must make a choice. Even Zee, Niobe, and the Merovingian all have choices to make. And it's those choices that shape our world. It's not faith in "The One", but faith in yourself that you're going to make the right choices, that makes all the difference.

And now my comments on the crafting of the film:

ACTING - The acting is probably the best in any of the films. Keanu is still solid as Neo. It's just a role he was born to play, and he does it well. Mary Alice slips perfectly into the role of The Oracle for the late Gloria Foster. Jada Pinkette-Smith is given much more to do as Niobe, and she's very good. Carrie-Anne Moss adds a little more humanity to her normally stoic Trinity, and Laurence Fishburne plays Morpheus as a man struggle with his faith, which also gives his character more depth. But, as usual, the stand-out of the bunch is Hugo Weaving as Smith. He just seems to be having so much FUN with the role this time around. He steals every scene he's in, and it's a joy to watch him.

EFFECTS - The effects here are the best we've seen so far, and it's for one reason: the assault on Zion. This is one of the best action sequences I've ever seen on film. Literally millions of squidies are pouring into Zion, flying around like schools of crazed fish. The entire sequence is a sight to behold, and it puts the freeway chase scene from Reloaded to shame.

PACING - For everything that's going on, the pacing is MUCH better in Revolutions than it is in Reloaded. Where Relaoded went from exposition to Neo fight to exposition to Neo fighting, Revolutions finds a nice groove and sticks with it. Everything builds and builds at a wonderful pace, and all of the building has perfectly executed payoff.

WRITING - Yes, as I'm sure you've heard, some of the dialogue (as with the previous 2) is fairly hokey. So what? It works well. I mean, when you've got films that are grand in scale, you're going to get hokey dialogue. I never heard people complain about it with films like Gladiator, but let's be honest, it was there in spades. It's just something we need to expect from grand scale films. Nuanced dialogue works for small, character driven films. Hokey dialogue works for BIG films. It adds to the scale of the film. It ups the ante. It makes everything that much more life and death. It's FUN.

Ok, it's time to wrap it up. I LOVED LOVED LOVED this film. It couldn't have ending the Matrix experience any better. It was big, loud, fun, smart, and perfectly executed. It's like the Brothers W lay it all out in front of you, step up, throw down the gauntlet, and say, "Here. Here's what I've given you. I know what it means to me, but tell me what it means to you." They're not going to cheapen it. They're not going to explain it. They're going to make you work for it. And if you do, you're going to have that much more fun with it.

I'm setting up a thread in the forums about Matrix spoilers because I know what the film means to me, but I, like the Brothers W, want to know what it means to you. That's the beauty of a film like this. Everyone is going to bring something different to the table, and I want to sample it all!