Matrix Revolutions

The Matrix (1999) was an amazing movie, the sheer `what the hell?' factor of the first ten minutes of the movie alone will stick in my mind as one of my most enjoyable experiences at the movies. With the lackluster Reloaded (2003) following four years later, it was inevitable that this series of movies which has impacted on Western culture so greatly was going to come to an end. enter The Matrix Revolutions (2003).

After reading all the negative reviews and comments about Revolutions before having seen it, I walked out at the end of the movie thinking that these people should really stop hitting the crack-pipe before going to the cinema. To say Revolutions is a masterpiece that would rival Citizen Kane is obviously taking the piss, but I am amazed at how many people have mercilessly bashed this movie as if it were Gigli. I never pay much credence to professional movie reviewers, but rather the fans and average cinemagoers. I've heard of cases where professionals have reviewed this film without having even seen the original or sequel (they wouldn't have a clue what is going on)!

STORY: Revolutions picks up at the end of Reloaded and focuses on the sentinel attack on Zion, with very little of the action taking place inside The Matrix, approximately 25 minutes at the most. Some of the anger towards this movie seems to stem from this lack of focus on The Matrix, but rather the defense of Zion. Personally I don't care much for Zion, but I believe it was necessary in Revolutions to put much of the focus on Zion and the human faces of the conflict. I tend to agree with the analysis that Revolutions is much more of an `emotional' movie, as we explore and experience the myriad of emotions the Zion forces experience during the attack on Zion. Even the usually deadpan demeanors of Neo and Agent Smith are replaced with very human feelings and reactions - like rage, anger, love and loss. Since this is the final in the trilogy, you can expect a big finish with regards to Neo and Agent Smith, although Neo's fate my leave many with a bitter feeling.

ACTING/DIALOG: Once again, Hugo Weaving (Smith) shines like a diamond in the rough compared to some of the other actors and characters around him. Even Reeves (Neo) manages to appear to be remotely `human' in some of his more dramatic scenes. Overall the acting was rather average, although some of the more important characters are on screen for so little in this film that often it is hard remember what they were like. The little Indian girl Sati I found rather annoying, given the fact she so often mispronounced names - calling Neo, Nero?. and other little things like that. I'm not sure if this was intention on her character's behalf, or what. Having said that, I must give a shout-out to Monica Bellucci's (Persephone) breasts, while only on screen for less than a minute, they certainly gave a great performance!

As far as dialog goes, well the less said the better. While the cheesy one-liners and clichés didn't bother me as it did for some, much of the interesting/profound `psychobabble' which last littered through the first two movies wasn't anywhere to be found in Revolutions - I'll get back to this later on. Having said that, there was little time to see how deep the rabbit's hole went with the sentinel attack on their doorstep.

WHAT WORKED: The action scenes were amazing; something The Matrix series has always succeeded in achieving. The hundreds of thousands of sentinels pouring into the docks was amazing to watch, but ultimately it got very repetitive - it did peeve me that they could fire a million rounds from one APU before needing ammo. The fight in club Hell, while short was also a great scene in a movie where there was little Matrix action. Who can forget the `Super Brawl'? It was certainly over-hyped by the Joel Silver as far as I was concerned, with some flying scenes looking more like a battle from some rubbish like Dragon Ball Z. I did however find the scene where Smith and Neo run at each other in the rain with the music pumping to be a great scene as far as atmosphere and visual style goes. The Wachowski Brothers, or Wacker Bro's for short, have always had an amazing scene of visual style. it's a shame the story wasn't as polished - as you will find out in `what didn't work'. Also thumbs-up to Don Davis and co for a great score.

A big complaint with fans was the ending, I won't give it away, but I personally think it was the only true way to end the series. That said, the ending did seem to come rather quickly, and there could have been a bit more time spent on the Neo's fate. I'll applaud them for not taking the easy way out and going with your typical Hollywood ending - although could a series like The Matrix ever truly have a sappy Hollywood ending?

WHAT DIDN'T WORK: Much of the anger towards the movie more than likely comes from the fact that nothing was really explained. If you went into this movie expecting to have most of those niggling answers about `what is The Matrix' explained, then you will be bitterly disappointed. Practically nothing whatsoever about what the Matrix is, will be answered in this movie, if anything you will leave with more questions than answers. If you wanted to know more about Neo's powers in the outside world that had many internet chatrooms and Matrix forums alight after Reloaded, all you will get is a one-sentence cop-out muttered by the Oracle - disappointing. I didn't expect all of the questions about The Matrix to be answered - a good movie should answer some of the questions, but ultimately leave you thinking about some of the unanswered questions long after you see it. Revolutions answered nothing.

While I'm discussing characters, so many of the great characters that Reloaded introduced us to, namely The Architect, Seraph, Persephone and The Merovingian barely see the light of day in Revolutions (pardon the pun). While Seraph gets into some entertaining gunplay towards the start of the movie, The Merovingian is barely in the film for five minutes -such a potentially layered and interesting character has been tossed aside. The Wachowski Brothers have baited so many hooks in the first two movies, that by the time the final movie ends, they don't have time to reel most of them in.

FINAL COMMENT: The Matrix was such a great movie; unfortunately the two sequels could never truly live up to the original. So many questions went unanswered, so many ideas and storylines went uncompleted - so sad. Revolutions is still an enjoyable movie, I certainly haven't taken to the streets and burnt effigies of The Wacker Bro's like some fans make out they have.

Matrix Revolutions - 8/10