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MINI MOVIE REVIEW:
"The Matrix Revolutions" is a much better movie than what you might have heard or read about it. It really does
not deserve its very low 35% critical rating, which means that only one movie critic out of three have recommended it.
This movie delivers one of the all time great sci fi battle scenes, some terrific conceptual visualizations of a cold
and rather horrific machine world, a nasty antagonist in Hugo Weaving's frightening portrayal of an Agent Smith that approaches
Darth Vader for sheer villainy, and a reasonable, though not always rational, completion of a franchise story line from the
Wachowski brothers.
Let's give credit where credit is due: the Wachowskis deserve our gratitude for three very entertaining and highly imaginative
movies. And not a single annoying Jar Jar Binks character in the lot! This is a fun action sci fi movie without a single boring
moment in its 129 minute run. In short, it's worth every penny of your entertainment dollar!
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MOVIE CRITIQUE:
"The Matrix Revolutions" is not as bad as what you might have heard from the many critics and Matrix aficionados
who have been carping about this not-so-long awaited film after the second installment debuted just last May.
Of course, I saw this film in an IMAX Theater, and an IMAX experience is bound to enhance any film. Suffice it to say
that the sound and the battle scenes just blew me away. The giant screws boring their way through the ceilings of Zion to
crash to the floor with thousands of Sentinels spewing out of the holes after them is one of the all time great scenes in
cinematic history in its awesome power and terror wrapped together in a frighteningly inhuman package filled with these ferocious
and deadly invaders.
This film has some wonderful high points and some equally muddled low points where the Wachowski's either lost their imaginative
compass or they ventured too far into the realm of esoteric philosophy and came up with some pseudo-religious hogwash that
just doesn't stand up to the light of day.
This movie is a usual final installment to a beloved and highly original sci fi franchise, which is to say that it is
something of a letdown due to its somewhat muddled philosophical underpinnings and, perhaps more importantly, just the plain
fact that this is an "all there is; there ain't no more" disappointment that we all experience when there is now
nothing new left to discover, no more installments left to experience.
But the point to be made is that the third and final installment of any trilogy is almost always bound to be a letdown.
Witness "Godfather III" and "The Return of the Jedi", two eagerly anticipated films that did not live
up to the hopes of their fans. Furthermore, the best film of both those trilogies was the second film, so the fans of those
movie sagas came off a cinematic high to crash into the reality of a rather dismal and disappointing close to the saga.
In the case of the Matrix trilogy, the best movie by far of the set was the first one which so far exceeded everyone's
expectations as to become an instant legend. It is hard for me to imagine the Wachowskis or anyone else coming out with an
improvement on that film.
However, the simple fact is that that movie is a legend precisely because we had never seen anything at all like that
before. But is that a fair criteria by which to judge a film? The point has to be made that we film fans did not have any
expectations, high or low, for that first film, so seeing this film by its very nature was bound to blow us away.
It is only natural to hope that the rush and the thrill of that special experience will be duplicated in the subsequent
films in the series, but this by definition is virtually impossible. We know the set up, we know the rules, and we know the
landscape and the personalities involved. The filmmakers, in this case the talented Wachowski brothers, can only expand so
much on the foundation of the first two films. If we want to see something entirely new, then we are in the wrong movie theater.
In essence, the first film of any trilogy is bound to be the most cerebral of the three as the construct of the saga and
the personalities involved in the tale have to be introduced. The second film serves as a transit to the third film, which
is the denouement of the saga where the evil is vanquished and the good, some of whom have been lost in the battle, return
to their prior state of serenity.
This is the time tested road map of story telling as most plays and most operas occur in three acts just as these movies
occur in three acts. It is also a truism that the second and third installments of a trilogy are of necessity based more on
action than on philosophy as the tenets by which the righteous wish to live can only be put into action by displacing in battle
the evil overlords who are holding them in thrall.
I will grant that the criticism of the Wachowski's rather tortured and muddled pseudo-religious philosophy in this film
is richly deserved. But I will also state for the record that those who have called Neo a "Christlike figure," as
so many have stated, have seen a lot more in these movies than I have. To be a deliverer and to be a religious leader are
two very different things.
Neo is a good person in that he finds the courage to confront evil, not to formulate a new philosophy of life. In all
other respects he is a normal person just as we are. There is nothing mentioned about God or any other deity in these films
by Neo or anyone else. Yes, he is referred to as "The One" and "The Deliverer" by Morpheus and others,
but it is my strongly held opinion that these comments are the same that could be said about the heroes in "Braveheart,"
"The Gladiator," "Spartacus," "Star Wars," or any other movie of this type.
The point to be made is that these appellations are made as a connotation of respect and admiration, not deity worship.
We look for inspiration in our heroes who must have abilities far beyond our own to get the job done, and that is why the
leaders in these movies are always so fascinating.
A final point that has to be made is that we really aren't given a coherent explanation of what has happened to Neo at
the end of the movie as his final battle with the nefarious Agent Smith answered a few questions but raised even more.
And the first question has to be, "What happened to Neo?" as he does not appear at the end of the film. Agent
Smith and all his replications have been dispatched, but the movie appears to make the statement that Neo has also sacrificed
himself to save all of the others. This might be the most compelling reason for that "Christlike" appellation alluded
to before, but this is more of a war time sacrifice than anything else.
Many religions celebrate the sacrifice of the one for the good of the many, an argument reduced to its very unfortunate
and disturbingly lowest common denominator by the wave of recent suicide bombings by members of radical Islamic sects. Self
sacrifice or self immolation cannot always be argued as a religious act, especially when there are grotesque political overtones
associated with it. And even more so when these acts of a personal nature are conducted with the murder of innocent civilians
who have themselves been given no choice to be participants in an act of what turns out to be communal homicide.
Anyway, back to Agent Smith. We know from the second installment that Agent Smith removed his earpiece and thus became
a rogue program who/which operated outside the constraints of the machine overlords. But, what was his endgame? And if "he"
was the problem in the Matrix imaginary world, why were the machines attacking Zion and not sending out a virus protector
to eliminate him and all his co-produced look-alike minions?
I further would have liked to have explained to me how Agent Smith interacted with, for example, Merovingian and all his
players as logic would dictate the potential for conflict here, but we see none.
At the end of the movie the Oracle, now beautifully played by Mary Alice ("Sunshine State"), sits in a new world
strikingly similar to Central Park in a futuristic New York City, and we don't know whether this is real or just her imagination.
No other people, happy or otherwise, are milling around, and one has to wonder what is now going on down in Zion. Are they
content to remain underground, or will they move back to the surface of the Earth to experience sunshine and rain and the
changing seasons?
How many of the "pod people" generating the energy to run the machines will choose to leave their imaginary
world for a real one with its potential for disappointment and heartache? The Architect promises that he will keep his end
of the bargain, but what kind of information will these captives be given that will allow them to make an intelligent decision
based on their own free will for the first time, and the personal responsibilities inherent in making that momentous decision?
Will so many humans leave that the machines will "die" from the lack of energy necessary for their survival? Could
or will the machines possibly allow this to happen?
And why is all of this all so maddeningly unclear that I have the disturbing notion that the Wachowskis are playing with
us, toying with us by positioning themselves for the production of yet another sequel to answer all the unresolved issues
and questions raised by this supposedly "final" movie in the trilogy.
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MOVIE SYNOPSIS:
Morpheus, Trinity and others are desperately searching for Neo back at Zion, but he has disappeared off their screens.
He is neither in Zion nor in the Matrix. Their search is constantly interrupted by news concerning the medical examination
of the still unconscious officer Bane (Ian Bliss). No one can explain the slash marks on his wrists and Morpheus promises
an interrogation when he regains consciousness. What they don't yet know is that Agent Smith has taken over the body of Bane
and that they now have their most deadly enemy right in their midst.
Neo finds himself all alone in an underground train station. He doesn't know where he is or how to get back to Zion. An
Indian family comes into the station and the husband greets Neo warmly, although his wife hangs back, apparently very reluctant
to interact with this stranger. Their trusting child, Sati (Tanveer Atwal), a young girl about 12 years old, warms up to Neo
instantly. They are programs, and, yes, strangely enough, programs can fall in love. They love their daughter and have agreed
to return to the Matrix so that their daughter, an unnecessary program, will not be "deleted."
They have their boarding passes for the train that will shortly be arriving in the station, but a fearsome individual
known as the Trainman (Bruce Spence) has total control over who will or will not board the train. When the nearly empty train
pulls into the station, the three programs board with ease, but the Trainman takes one look at Neo attempting to get on a
car and shouts, "Hey, I know you," and he throws him out of the train and back into the station wall.
With all his power, Neo is defenseless against this individual. He remains trapped in the station while his friends search
for him. This is another area where Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) has total control as a humanoid machine, a fact that soon
becomes apparent to the Zionites.
Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie Ann-Moss), with the help of the Oracle's Seraph, Colin Chou (Sing Ngai),
the Oracle's former sergeant at arms, search out the Oracle for help in finding Neo, and she informs them that he is trapped
in another world not of the Matrix and that he can only be rescued by going to see Merovingian.
The palace leading to Merovingian's headquarters resembles a rave nightclub more than anything else. Merovingian and his
wife, Persephone (Monica Bellucci), remain on an upper level eyeing all the partying going on beneath them, partying that
turns into hubbub and panic as Morpheus, Trinity, and Colin enter with all their powers on high alert and guns held high ready
for action.
They offer a peaceful exit if Merovingian will accept them and allow them a moment of consultation, an offer he accepts.
They make it known to him that their desire is to extricate Neo from the nether world beyond the Matrix, and Merovingian's
reply is an offer of a trade of the Oracle's eyes for Neo's freedom.
This is clearly a price too high to pay for Neo's freedom, so Trinity starts a pitched fight with Merovingian and all
his goons. It quickly ends up with a mass of players all ready to kill each other, including Trinity, who has her knife held
at Merovingian's throat. Merovingian asks them if their all dying together is really what they want, but Persephone interrupts
with the answer that this is a sacrifice that they really are willing to make as she knows all too well (from the last movie)
just how much Trinity loves Neo.
Neo is reunited with his comrades from Zion including Trinity, and the two lovers embrace each other with great warmth
and affection. But there is little time for reflection as the giant machine screws are just hours away from piercing the walls
of the Zion underground fortress and Bane has disappeared after having murdered the hospital doctor.
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