The Matrix Revolutions: Review By derekmay

I purposefully don't include spoilers in my reviews normally. However, with the final chapter of the Matrix saga now concluded, I thought I'd have to add something. But, I'm going to break it up for those of you who don't wish to have the movie spoiled: the first half of this review will be spoiler free while the second, well, I think you get it.

Let me start this review the same place the movie begins-- The Matrix Reloaded. If you've read any of my other reviews you'd know I was EXTREMELY disappointed by the deplorable CG use in the film. The scenes of Neo flying, fighting the Smiths, and rescuing Morpheus and the Keymaker were so poorly done with cheesy and obvious cartoons I still have to fast forward through them to this day. That said, I thought the greatest fault of Reloaded was how it abandoned the wonderfully off-kilter reality and philosophical observations of the first film in favor of becoming preoccupied with one-uping itself. Some may argue against this, and I admit Reloaded had some bright spots. But the biggest failure of Reloaded wouldn't become evident until Revolutions.

Let's get something straight right off the bat: Neo is supposed to be Jesus. I don't know how many people picked up on this (and I only mention it in the non-spoiler section because it's been alluded to since the first film), but this becomes blaringly obvious on the third chapter. In fact, the entire movie seems to flow like a bible story laced with Greek tragedy. But I'm going to talk more about that down below.

First, we pick up exactly where Reloaded left off. But like they foreshadowed in Reloaded, we spend the majority of our time in the "Real" world (aka Zion).

Now here again, I need to divide my review because The Matrix Trilogy has always been about two very distinct but connected things: action and philosophy. Now, as far as the action and Sci-Fi elements of Revolutions go, it's a hell of a ride. The story takes a while to build but when we finally do reach the action or fight scenes, they aren't bad. We're first treated to a "typical" Matrix gunbattle. Now, I say "typical" because while it is very interesting and very well done, it's not wholly original. It comes across as more another movie's rip-off than a unique escapade.

That aside, the action hits its stride when the machines finally reach Zion. You all should have seen that as inevitable, so it's nothing surprising. However, when the "squidies" finally amass into their full force, I finally got what producer Joel Silver meant when he said "there is no bar" in relation to the special effects. I didn't believe it in Reloaded. I don't even think all of Revolutions has it. But the attack on Zion will, without a doubt, be an event to remember. The sheer scale and scope of MILLIONS of machines flying about and being desperately picked off by heroic humans in "Aliens"-like combat chassis' tosses the audience out of their seats and smack dab in the middle of the action. We feel for every attack, every shot, every person. I admit, I was clutching my chair-arm with exhilaration and tension. Equally well done is a wonderful chase scene that offers as many thrills as the highway chase of Reloaded.

The individual hand-to-hand fighting is miniscule, I guess having been played out. It's not until the climactic battle between Neo and Smith that we see it again and even there I thought we'd seen it all before-- and better (personally the "dojo" fight between Neo and Morpheus stands out). It's not bad, but it's not the great epic battle I was hoping for. Both characters use all the tricks they've picked up throughout the previous films and the effects are actually fairly decent. For those of you as disappointed as I was by the "cartoons" of Reloaded, there is really only ONE shot that made me cringe here. Other than that, the effects are in the background or covered by darkness-- as they should be, out of the way.

Now let's talk about story. For those who liked the original but were disappointed by Reloaded, prepare for more disappointment. Those who liked both, congratulations, the movie you wanted is here. This may sound cryptic, but the wonderfully fresh and remarkable questions raised in the first film and alluded to in the second are not answered, at least not satisfactorily. It flows through and ends exactly as you would predict it to. There are no real surprises (at least none intentional) and very little to keep you interested. It's the peril of the ongoing action that drives this story, not its characters.

Morpheus has changed little since the end of Reloaded. He's questioning his faith, but only to a small degree and this is never fully developed. Trinity is Trinity. Neo is still trying to figure everything out (join the club) and when he does seem to finally understand he doesn't let us in on it. So he continues his quest, as always, and we are just along for the ride. Agent Smith, though expertly played by Hugo Weaving, is disappointingly single-minded. He wants to destroy everything, though it's not clear why. Yes, he tries to explain it, but like all the explanations in this movie it doesn't satisfy and does more to complicate than clear up. The rest of the cast is admirable and perform their parts well, even if there's little development, especially for the Maurovingian and Persephone (they're practically wasted here).

All in all the action and effects are quite good but there's little meat left on the bone for story. The main characters don't really change from what we've seen and the conclusions the film draws are confusing and sometimes laughable. It's a fitting end to the second film, but a far cry from what we hoped for after the first.

STOP HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE OR DON'T WANT SPOILERS

Ok, now I can really explore the problems with this film. Neo is the messiah and ultimately gives his life in order to save his people. My question though is, how does his death save his people?? Neo makes his way to the "Machine City" (which I don't recall having heard of before) and strikes a deal with the head-machine (literally): Neo will destroy Smith, who I guess has taken over the Matrix even though we never really see how or know why, if the machines will stop their attack on Zion. Fine, but would a machine make such a deal, or at least keep its word? The first movie established that several bunches of humans escaped the Matrix (which was created and controlled by the machines) and created Zion. Then, we learn this scenario has played out several times before. Ok. So then comes Neo who imparts some of himself on Agent Smith, making Smith more powerful. Good so far. But when does Smith decide that he wants to control the Matrix, then control the Real world, then control the Machine world? Neo, our messiah, destroys his anti-self in Smith but at the cost of his own life. Ok, that's what messiahs do. But then where the real victory here?? Zion is safe, but for how long? When will the machines decide that now that there's no more "One" there's nothing to keep them from their original plan?

Then there's the Matrix itself. It's still running. There's still billions and billions of people trapped inside. If the Zionites try to save them, the war begins anew. Again I ask, where was the victory?? What was the purpose of the entire trilogy?? To momentarily save Zion?? To tell a love story that ends in tragedy?? The Wachowski's obviously have brains, too bad they didn't use them.

There's also the question of how Neo was able to control both reality inside the Matrix, and then machines in the real world. The answer we're given is that he's trapped in between. Ok. But that doesn't jive with what we've been told before. You're in the Matrix or you're out. And if part of his consciousness is trapped in between, we can buy that, which is why we accept him interacting with semantic-spewing programs in a virtual weigh-station. But that doesn't explain how he's able to defeat "squidies" in the real world, beings that are in no way connected to the Matrix or to the in-between. Based on the half-assed explanation we get in the film, I don't think even the Wachowski's know the answer. But hey, it all looks cool, right?

The first film was an interesting philosophical study on reality. What makes something real?? It's a good question. But then the brothers decided that it was too complicated, and so abandoned the groundwork they had laid in order to tell a story about the rise, journey, and eventually sacrifice of a messiah. Only they fell short - way short -of offering us any more answers then we'd get at a Sunday school lecture. Reality is gone. I guess we're just supposed to accept this trilogy on faith.