Matrix Revolutions

Dr. Tom · November 6, 2003

Here's a sneak preview of my review, which will be appearing on 411 sometime soon. It's spoiler-free, and please forgive the HTML tags if IB doesn't convert them.

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THE MATRIX: REVOLUTIONS

Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Hugo Weaving

Written and Directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski

Rated R; 129 minutes

The concluding chapter of a genre-defining trilogy, The Matrix: Revolutions is a symbolism-heavy film that ties up the loose ends of its predecessor while still falling short of the film that started the series.

Neo (Keanu Reeves), the messiah for the trench-coat-and-shades crowd, opens the film as something of a messiah in trouble. The comatose state he is in back in the real world has left him in some vaguely-explained place between that world and the Matrix. It’s a semi-world where an Indian family talks about words and the feelings connected to them, and not much else. The only way to get back is to take a train, driven by the rather pointless Trainman (Bruce Spence), who, of course, is under the control of the Merovingian (Lambert Wilson). After some more banter about causality and consequence, which has run its source since the last film, Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) are able to get Neo back.

Meanwhile, the machines are continuing their relentless dig toward Zion. Defenses are in place, but many people, including Commander Locke (Harry Lennix), believe the situation to be hopeless. While all of this is happening, Captains Roland (David Roberts) and Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) devise a plan to elude the machines and get back into Zion. Their plan is complicated when Neo says he must take a ship and go to the machines’ home city.

The machines breach the walls and assault Zion, met by a hopelessly outmanned defense force. Neo and Trinity crash-land in the machines’ home city, where Neo confronts a godhead and must re-enter the Matrix to deal with the renegade program Smith (Hugo Weaving), whom Neo has learned a lot more about. Both battles have the fate of a world riding on their outcomes, and both hinge on a choice it takes Neo quite a while to understand. The ending, while good and appropriate on one level, also raises a whole new batch of questions and introduces a bunch more loose ends, essentially wasting the work of the movie in tying up the loose ends the first two films left us.

I liked The Matrix: Revolutions, but it might be my least favorite film of the three. It takes a while to get going, with an opening 20-minute sequence of scenes that serves no real point in the larger scheme of the movie. The Oracle’s different appearance (veteran character actor Mary Alice replaced the late Gloria Foster) is dismissed with a cryptic half-explanation; either answer the question or ignore it. The Merovingian, full of panache in Reloaded, comes off as little more than an inconvenience who happens to spew trite philosophy. The rest of the secondary characters spend much of the movie being more important than the main three, with Morpheus getting devalued even more than he was in Reloaded.

That’s not to say that The Matrix: Revolutions isn’t a good movie, because it is. It’s visually stunning from beginning to end, and many of the shots in the machines’ assault on Zion have to be seen to be believed. The Wachowskis realized their vision in spectacular CGI that, unlike the recent efforts of George Lucas, does not dominate the movie, but simply accentuates its story.

The symbolism is heavy throughout, too. The flying fight sequences between Smith and Neo are very reminiscent of Superman II. There are entire scenes that felt like they were right out of the first Star Wars, with the imperiled flight into the machines’ home city serving as an updated Death Star run. The heaviest symbolism is the inescapable New Testament feel I got watching the movie. I’m far from a religious person and this is not a religious film (thankfully, it’s quite secular), but a lot of the themes you’ll see on the screen make The Matrix: Revoltutions an apocalyptic, teched-out retelling of the New Testament, complete with a crucifix pose for its messiah at the end – until that point, Neo's Jesus Christ Pose had been a kung fu stance. It doesn’t detract from the film, though; if anything, the Biblical nature of the themes gives the movie more weight as the denouement to an epic saga.

The 411: The Matrix: Revolutions is a good movie, but it has definite flaws and it’s clearly in love with its own excesses. While it ties up the loose ends we’ve seen to date, the ending creates quite a few more, not exactly what I expected from something that’s supposed to conclude the trilogy. The Wachowskis also violate the “show, don’t tell” maxim of storytelling on several occasions. Basically, the original Matrix was the brothers saying, “We have a cool movie; let’s see if we can make a lot of money.” Both sequels have been the opposite: “We have a lot of money; now let’s see if we can make a cool movie!” The Matrix: Revolutions is cool, to be sure, but it falls several steps shy of the movie that started the franchise. 6.5/10

Dr. Tom Fowler

November 6, 2003

I aree with you mostly, but these movies were about more than freeing the people. In the end it is about free will. The machines didn't test the Matrix on every human, just the first few. Think of it in terms of the war in Iraq. By going over there and establishing a Democracy we felt like we improved the lives of alot of people. However, many Iraqis resent our country for not giving them chance to choose, some like our way, and other's perfer the old way(and if you think it is only the ones who were in power you are kidding yourself). In the first movie when Neo and Morpheous met for the first time, one of the things that they discussed was if Neo believed in fate. Neo said no because he didn't like to belive he wasn't in control of his own life. That is really what these movies seem to be about. The reason Cyper turned was because he felt like Morpheous didn't tell him the truth. He felt like his will was taken away from him. In your Star Wars analogy the problem would have been if the Empire was voted on and the majority of the people would have decided to stay instead of leave, and whoever wanted to leave could. There are always people who like their way of life no matter how bad it is. A movie that handles this issue better is the Shawshank Redemption. The truth is the humans and the machines are wrong in the fact that they didn't give alternatives. The human's were just less wrong since they didn't create the situation. Andy always wanted out even after all the years he had been there. The old man who killed himself couldn't deal with being free because his home was the jail. Morgan Freeman was the person who resisted being free at first, but eventually accepts it. I don't think the Wachowskis are geniuses, but they did make a movie with alot of deeper meaning if you look for it.

November 6, 2003

Also, if you'll remember, the Machines' goal was trying to gain access to Zion from Morpheus, for the sole purpose of destroying it.

the pinjockey · November 6, 2003

I enjoyed the movie. Looking back at the first post I made I said I wanted a good action movie with a reasonable ending. The action was great, and the ending didn't require any convoluted "Neo is the anomoly of a sector of pi who hits home runs on the first week of every month."

I am disappointed that it wasn't a better movie. After the original I was hoping for more than just a pure action movie, but after the second one I just wanted some action.

And the movie should have ended about 30 seconds sooner. The last 30 seconds killed it for me.

gWIL · November 6, 2003

Namely, I was hoping for him to wake up as Ted and tell Bill about his most excellent dream.

That would have been awesome, way better then any other possible ending, besides dreams don't always make sense thus explaining some of the plot holes.

LaParkaYourCar · November 6, 2003

I didn't think the movie was as bad as everyone is saying it is. There were a couple of times where I felt bored, but the movie wasn't the pile of shit everyone made it out to be. If you fell asleep and then bitched about the ending, shame on you. If you don't know how they got to the ending, don't bitch about it. I also want to know how the people who hated the ending would suggest for things to end.

I didn't fall asleep, but what pissed me off about the ending:

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

It felt like they ran out of ideas and just explained the rest of the movie in a minute of talking between the Oracle and the Architect. Why can't we see the humans being freed? Why would the Architect agree to free them? Is Neo dead? You can't just cop out on the ending like that and expect people to be happy.

Add on the plot holes I pointed out earlier in this thread and I'm just disappointed.

Mystery Eskimo · November 6, 2003

Just got back from seeing it myself. Dull, pompous talking and great action, which was pretty much what anyone would have expected. The ending seemed fine to me, I don't have any complaints.

cabbageboy · November 7, 2003

The entire "free will" argument wasn't exactly what I was talking about. Yeah that is great and all but what I was criticizing more than anything is botched attempts at characterization and plot.

I actually had an idea for a truly cynical and downbeat ending here. It comes down to this: Neo and Co. destroy the Matrix and free everyone. Some people are confused as hell, but ultimately accept the truth when Morpheus explains it. Some just blow their brains out due to the sheer shock of it. And others are outright pissed that their safe world in the Matrix has been taken from them, so they start a riot and end up killing Neo, Morpheus, Trinity, and so on. Basically the ending is a state of chaos.

While I don't think this is a very happy ending, it would be a plausible one based on what we've seen so far.

Lil' Bitch · November 7, 2003

After patiently waiting since 1999, we get that abortion of a "conclusion". This is The Warchowski Bros. to every Matrix fan in the world:

Astro7x · November 7, 2003

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

I'm amazed that there seems to be an argument over whether Neo dies or not. When you can't figure out if the main character dies or not in the movie....that's a bit of a problem.

...

Oh, and another thing regarding the ending. Why have they been fighting for 3 movies if this is all it comes down to? I mean they could have negotiated a simple truce a long time ago, kinda like "Don't fuck with us in Zion, we won't fuck with you in the Matrix."

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

Just adding to this, Neo obviously died... when that thing is pulled out of their head while jacked into the Matrix, they die. This was established in the original film. Smith Entered Neo, so the machines unplugged Neo to kill smith.

And The Machines know that people will break free of the matrix, they allow them to live in Zion with the others. But when they get big enough that they start to pose a threat to The Matrix, to disrupt everyone living in their computerized world not know any better, then the machines take out Zion. They then take The One and start a new zion, until more non believers escape, the grow too big, and they destroy Zion again.

They've already done it 5 times... the reason a truce was called was because The Machines needed Neo to destroy Smith, a program that got way out of control and would destroy both worlds. Neos deal was "help me and I'll help you." But remember they are machines, they can't lie or go back on their word like a human.

In the end both the humans and machines realized they needed each other to survive... that was the point to the truce and why it hadn't happened before. And the reason they realized this NOW was because of the smith program getting out of control

Astro7x · November 7, 2003

And the movie should have ended about 30 seconds sooner. The last 30 seconds killed it for me.

I couldn't agree more with that... they just should have left it as is. Don't just tease us and leave tons of questions unasked, it's all or nothing.

Lord of The Curry · November 7, 2003

I really, really liked this movie. Very open-ended, which IMO was a smart move, being that everybody had already organized 500 theories about the ending of this movie.

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

The religious metaphor tied in well. Neo was the seventh "one", but in the end he was The One. There are seven signs of the cross in the bible and the world was created in seven days. The difference, is that now, the people of the Matrix are given choice, something that was restricted before.

- Neo told Smith that he "made the choice" to fight.

- Trinity choosing to go w/ Neo, knowing full well she'd probably die.

- Neo choosing to sacrifice himself in order to dispose of Smith.

I also dug

- The fight for Zion was one of the most intense 25 minutes in the theater since Helms Deep. Great, great action.

- Agent Smith. Kept limited, but made every fucking second of screen time count. His rant on compassoin and love was brilliance, as was the scene with the new Oracle.

- The emotional impact of the movie was far, far greater then Reloaded. I BELIEVED them when they said that Zion might make it, I BELIEVED Neo when he talked about his sacrifice.

Sure, the dialogue got a bit cheesy and the downplaying of Morpheus and the Marovingian sucked but on the whole I'm very happy with this movie.

Oh, and Monica Bellucci is a Godess. Dem's some titties.

Kardo · November 7, 2003

I saw Kill Bill V.1 and Matrix 3 back to back today. Kill Bill was incredible, incredible score, scenery, fights etc....

Matrix seemed like been there done that. Was there even really a point to having the second movie?

cabbageboy · November 7, 2003

Here is one thing I don't get about the whole Neo/Smith thing:

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

Why exactly does this kill Smith? I mean take a look at this. The guy survived Neo jumping inside of him to blow him up. He survived getting smashed by trains, shot, all this stuff. No selling galore. So now he jumps inside Neo and they pull the plug on Neo and it kills Smith too? If Neo didn't kill him in the first movie doing something similar I fail to see how this would kill Smith either.

Anyone got an explanation that makes sense?

Lord of The Curry · November 7, 2003

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

I'm not sure about this, but I think the whole "One cannnot exist without the other" thing has something to do w/ it.

Lando Griffin · November 7, 2003

I just got back from a matinee showing, and I liked it. It was better than Reloaded, that's for sure. It's been unfairly shat on, as far as I'm concerned.

Return of the King has its work cut out if it wants to challenge for the Best Visual Effects oscar. The Zion battle was all kinds of awesome.

cabbageboy · November 7, 2003

I don't think Peter Jackson is going to stay awake at night worrying about trying to top a *1/2 movie.

Mystery Eskimo · November 8, 2003

I just got back from a matinee showing, and I liked it. It was better than Reloaded, that's for sure. It's been unfairly shat on, as far as I'm concerned.

I agree...its falling victim to pressures of hype and expectation.

November 8, 2003

After seeing Matrix: Revolutions, I thought that the movie was better than what I expected, but ultimately disappointing. Someone in a review of the movie said that the Warchowski brothers stole a lot from movies (Alien, Star Wars) and religions (Jesus should sue for plagarism). Seeing it, I can say that not only did they steal a lot of stuff, but they also made it worse. The dialogue is so badly, badly written. It makes Star Wars look elloquent in comparison. The dock fight was cool, but did anyone else notice that unlike the first two films nothing new was done in Revolutions? Nothing on par with the slo-mo wire-hanging of one or giant highwway chase of two. Don't get me wrong, the dock scene was very interesting, but you'll see the same thing in The Two Towers or Attack of the Clones.

The ending was the biggest disappointment:

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

The truce was a MAJOR cop-out, because even the most casual fan is not going to buy the fact that the machines or the humans would accept it. The Sentinels have slaughtered billions of people (thousands in the dock scene). No one going to buy that there will be peace, for the simple fact that hardly anyone in the audience would want peace. If Luke was able to convince the emperor to give up his evil ways in Return of the Jedi, it may have resulted in a more peaceful ending, but the audience would have rioted. The emperor has killed billions, so how could the characters, much less the audience, buy that ending.

And who hates the Oracle? She manipulates the human race and gets the closing, cheesy ending?

I don't think Peter Jackson is going to stay awake at night worrying about trying to top a *1/2 movie.

While I think it was better than *1/2, Jackson can sleep easy.

Kahran Ramsus · November 8, 2003

I liked the movie, but it is the weakest of the trilogy as most third movies are. It is merely the resolution. Most of the interesting stuff generally happens in the first two acts, and this is no different.

Two things really bugged me.

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

1. The ten hours it took Trinity to die. I hate dying speeches in general, but this just went on for ever. I much prefer it when people go like Reese in Terminator. It has far more impact if somebody is dead before it is able to set in.

2. Neo's stupidity in his conversation with Bane/Smith. I kept wanting to slap him when it was obvious that Bane was Smith.

Art Sandusky · November 8, 2003

Two things really bugged me.

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

1. The ten hours it took Trinity to die. I hate dying speeches in general, but this just went on for ever. I much prefer it when people go like Reese in Terminator. It has far more impact if somebody is dead before it is able to set in.

2. Neo's stupidity in his conversation with Bane/Smith. I kept wanting to slap him when it was obvious that Bane was Smith.

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

YES! I was wondering when she'd finally croak. The impact of it was totally lessened by her having what was probably something like two minutes to talk about it.

Oh, and I was about to scream at Neo on the screen, "DUDE! IT'S FUCKING SMITH! WHO THE HELL ELSE CALLS YOU MR. ANDERSON??"

I'd also like to add that I thought it would be Morpheus who died in this one, since the other two perished in the other two films.

Kahran Ramsus · November 8, 2003

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

I know it is probably more realistic given how she died, but it sure makes for boring cinema. At least it isn't as bad as Phantom Menace where Qui-Gon gets a lightsabre through the heart, lies there as Maul/Obi-Wan fight for another ten minutes, and then gets to have the big speech.

Kahran Ramsus · November 8, 2003

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

I also though Morpheus would die. Mentor types have a very poor track record as far as surviving in fantasy stories.

Art Sandusky · November 8, 2003

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

I know it is probably more realistic given how she died, but it sure makes for boring cinema. At least it isn't as bad as Phantom Menace where Qui-Gon gets a lightsabre through the heart, lies there as Maul/Obi-Wan fight for another ten minutes, and then gets to have the big speech.

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

I thought he got it through the gut, and that was just one wound. Trinity had three or four of those damn things spearing her.

And even though I expected it, Morpehus dying would have pissed me off. He rules the entire series, and I even gave my car the same name. Snappiest dressers of any group MUST SURVIVE~!

{''({o..o})''} · November 8, 2003

I enjoyed it, quite a bit in fact. It prbably won't be looked back upon as a Star Wars type success, but I'll buy it.

November 8, 2003

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

We knew that it was Agent Smith because we knew what happened. I'm sure that up until that point, the idea of Agent Smith hijacking someone's body and being in the real world never crossed Neo's mind.

I read a review where someone complained that they didn't spend enough time in the Matrix. That made me wonder if this person watched the first two movies. Why would they spend large amounts of time in the Matrix this go-round?

cabbageboy · November 8, 2003

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

This whole thing with Bane/Smith and Neo seems like a goofy way to make your hero look like a moron. Let's see the evidence:

1. The guy does a cheesy Hugo Weaving impression.

2. He calls Neo "Mr. Anderson" when no one else does.

Early when I joked that Peter Jackson wasn't worried about a *1/2 movie, I was just going by what the local paper gave it.

Revs is currently at 35% on rottentomatoes.com. The first movie gets 86% and Reloaded gets 73% I think.

So far the LOTR movies get 94% and TTT gets 98%.

Lando Griffin · November 8, 2003

I have one question:

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

How did Neo have those powers in the real world

I don't think Peter Jackson is going to stay awake at night worrying about trying to top a *1/2 movie.

For Best Picture? No. Best Visual Effects? Yes.

cabbageboy · November 8, 2003

Given the reviews that Matrix Revolutions is getting I can't see it getting nominated for much of anything. They might nominate some stuff from Reloaded, but that film wasn't bashed as much as this one.

Either way, if ROTK wins best picture I can't see Jackson being too upset if he loses out on special effects.

converge241 · November 8, 2003

i think they could have combined 2 & 3 into one solid movie instead of 2 overblown/letdowns

Matrix Revolutions

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