The Matrix Revolutions
Written and Directed by: The Wachowski Bros.
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie Anne-Moss, Hugo Weaving

So I listened to people piss and moan for a few days about how bad Matrix Revolutions is, and while I was in no immediate hurry to see the third and (please let it be) final installment in the Wachowskis’ saga, all the complaining started to get me interested. I will be the first to admit that Reloaded had its share of problems, but I do not think it deserves the bad rap it got. A backlash to the Matrix hype machine was inevitable, particularly with the artsy film snob types, but I was surprised to see it filtering its way down to even the casual movie-goers. With people dismissing Revolutions even more quickly than Reloaded, I could only hope it would be exactly what I wanted. The perfect complement to Reloaded. Nothing more, and nothing less.

Indeed, I really can’t say I was disappointed with Revolutions. In many ways it was a fitting end for the trilogy. The epic battles were appropriate and impressive, and many pressing questions were given answers that at least seemed plausible within the Matrix universe. Just as important though, I think, is the fact that many questions weren’t answered. Not everything had an explanation, and people will have to make up their own mind about whether or not there is deeper significance to what they’ve seen. I think the film’s only failure in this regard is that after Revolutions I’m not sure I care to dig further and look for hidden meanings because I am afraid I might come up empty-handed. I prefer to have the illusion of a meaningful movie rather than spoil that illusion by peeking below the surface. So I guess in a way, I would prefer the blue pill to the red pill. How ironic.

But let’s just look at the surface of this movie for a moment, because it is definitely a beautiful thing in and of itself. Many people said that nothing in this movie tops the “freeway scene” from Reloaded. I beg to differ. Right near the beginning of the movie we witness a super cool gunfight with enemies walking upside down on ceilings, for example. However, one of the strengths of Revolutions is the fact that the majority of the action takes place in the real world. This means we get to see a lot of high tech machines fighting machines, and not a lot of the ho-hum kung fu battles that were feeling pretty formulaic and repetitive by the end of Reloaded. We see humans manning gigantic mechanical suits and firing rocket launchers at neverending swarms of sentinels. Amidst the warfare we also see some of the new characters step forward and come to life, and the Matrix universe feels a little more fleshed out as a result.

Then there is of course the the showdown between Neo and Smith in The Matrix itself. Ridiculous in its scale, and at times cartoony in its execution, I thought it would be disastrous… and yet to my surprise I thoroughly enjoyed it. Perhaps it is due to my love for the Dragonball Z anime series and the fact that I will never grow tired of Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith characterizations. After 3 movies of seeing him recite the same lines in the same stuttered monotone delivery, I still laugh at every sinister melodramatic word.

So honestly, what else is there to complain about? Sure the movie has its hokey aspects. The bad ass techno soundtrack has been mostly replaced by and/or melded with equally cheesy orchestrated choir music. And yes, the love theme in the movie did seem very forced, especially when Trinity and Neo still don’t have a good reason for getting together and haven’t had their relationship develop in any way whatsoever. (The Wachowski Bros are certainly no better than George Lucas when it comes to romance.) But I can’t understand people complaining about Morpheus being too preachy. The philosophical speeches seemed toned down more than in the previous two movies, and I still think they add to the movie rather than take away from it. Overall I thought the dialogue was more solid than Reloaded even. As for the “no plot” argument… well, this was primarily an action movie. There were some twists but it was mostly a fast-paced, straightforward story, and since when is that a crime? It seems that people don’t want complexity or depth to the story because it gets too pretentious, but yet they also want a movie chock full of surprises and intrigue or else they get bored.

I think this goes to show precisely what the biggest problem is with the Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions… the so-called fans don’t have a freaking clue what they want to get out of these movies. They don’t want more of the same, but they don’t want anything different either. They just want the best movie they have ever seen in their lives. Well, Matrix Revolutions does not live up to that bill unfortunately. It’s not even close to being one of the best movies I’ve seen this year. But as a Matrix fan, I am satisfied with it.

To put things in perspective, I see the first Matrix movie as a timeless classic, an awesome self-contained movie that stands in a league of its own. By comparison, Reloaded and Revolutions are respectable add-ons, but they do not (and probably could not possibly) feel like a seamless continuation of the first movie. Whereas The Matrix definitely had a bit more substance to it and broke a lot of new ground, the two sequels are simply good pulp science-fiction flicks. So if that’s not your bag, then you may not be impressed. But hey that’s a risk you take every time you plunk down $10 or $15 for a movie. With everything that Matrix Revolutions has to offer, I still don’t think it deserves all the flack it’s getting. — Sean