By the time
"The Matrix Revolutions" was over, I had already
put together a little fact sheet. I calculated that
since the very beginning of the first film, I had
invested close to or over 390 minutes of my life into the
story. When you think about it, that's a lot of time
spent watching one trilogy of films. Sure, it is not
the kind of commitment of "The Godfather"
trilogy, but a commitment nonetheless. I also
deduced that it was probably worth it, in some way.
"The Matrix Revolutions" is the worst film in
the trilogy, ends the film on an unsatisfying note, and
leaves us wondering what went wrong along the way.
Before I get into the wrongs and rights of the film, here
is the storyline. It picks up right where "The
Matrix Reloaded" left off. Neo (Keanu Reeves)
is trapped between the real world and the machine world,
Trinity (Carrie Ann-Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne)
are trying to find a way to bring him back, and Agent
Smith (Hugo Weaving) is still possessing the body of a
human to help carry out his dastardly deeds. The
film takes a number of turns along the way, including
the batttle between men and machines for Zion, the battle
between Fishburne and Pinkett Smith for overactor of the
year, and the battle between Neo and Agent Smith for
control of everything. We also get to see a new
Oracle (Mary Alice), since the original Oracle has since
passed away. At the end, Trinity is dead, Neo is
dead (supposedly), and the Oracle is sitting on a park
bench, watching the sun set. Wow. Now, for the
breakdown:
THE PLOT: I was not expecting to be dazzled, but I
was expecting more than a big battle scene at Zion and Neo
and Agent Smith duking it out -- AGAIN -- for control.
And then, all of a sudden, the Oracle saves the day.
Could she not have saved the day halfway through the
second film? Why did she have to wait so long?
And what was with the supporting characters that we did
not need? There was the dorky little guy trying to
be a hero at Zion, the Indian girl, and that damn ship
captain who has to be the stereotypical hardass.
They were unnecessary, unwanted, and totally annoying.
THE ACTING: Certainly not dazzling. Keanu
Reeves has about twelve lines, all of which are delivered
with the emotion and intensity of a boomerang split in
two. And, Carrie Ann-Moss looks as if she is
struggling to remember her lines most of the time.
How did she go from absolutely drop dead gourgeous in the
first film to a housewife from hell in the latest one?
And why can't Laurence Fishburne say anything that doesn't
sound like fifty speech writers pooled together to write?
This was the worst film in the series, acting wise, with
the exception of the flawless Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith
-- he just gets nastier and nastier and we love to hate
him. He is magnificent. Everything else is
so-so.
THE DIRECTING: OK, we know the Wachowski Brothers
have skill. "Bound" was phenomenal, as was
the first in this series. Unfortunately, they have
caught the George Lucas bug and cannot do anything without
special effects. I mean -- don't get me wrong -- I
love good special effects as much as the next guy, but
make them believable. The scenes with the ships
flying around in the tunnels looks more like Kalieko
Vision than anything else, and they went way too
"Star Wars" several times.
So, all in all, "The Matrix Revolutions" is a
mediocre cap on a pretty good trilogy. This will,
undoubtedly, go down as one of the most memorable and most
profitable trilogies of all time, but I would rather the
first film go down, by itself, as one of the great science
fiction masterpieces of all time. The second one was
also a masterpiece, but the third one even made it look
not as enjoyable. I hate it when directors just tack
on an ending for the sake of making money, especially when
they leave the possiblity open for another sequel -- WE
HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF "THE MATRIX". Let it
die. Let it linger in our minds. Too much
Matrix is a very, very bad thing.
