Review: Matrix Revolutions

Jenn and I went to see the new Matrix : Revolutions. I'll share my thoughts on the movie.

WARNING: I might spoil some of the plot points. So if you haven't seen the films and don't want to know, stop reading now.

Okay, ready for the review? STINK! I didn't hate the film, and it was entertaining. I was just expecting so much more. The first Matrix film provoked all sorts of thought and wondering. "What is the Matrix?" as the trailer put it. Was the Matrix real, or a figment of the imagination? Was Neo going to wipe out the machines?

The second film was action-packed, and had lots of "wow, cool!" moments, but it didn't really answer any questions. We met several characters in the film. We meat the council in Zion. We meet Niobe, a previous flame of Morpheous. Morpheous is shown to be the religious zealot among the military elite. He is at odds with the military commander who is a very tactical fighter. We also learn that Agent Smith is back, and with a vengeance. Not only has he returned, but he can now copy himself at will. In a scene known as the Burly Brawl, Neo takes on several dozen agent smiths. And we start to see a pattern emerging. Evidently, the Wachowski Brothers are very into Eastern Religions, as they are giving us several Yin/Yang characters. Morpheous and the Military Commander. Neo and Agent Smith. We also meet several other characters, including an AI which protects the Oracle. We meet the Maelvingian, who represents the organized crime element within the Matrix and of the machine world. We also meet his wife, of sorts, Penelope. Unfortunately, non of these characters provided much in order to further the plot line. Instead, we get brief glimpses of hollow characters. In the end of the film, Neo is given a choice. He can either save Trinity, and doom Zion to destruction, or destroy the Matrix and with it Trinity, but save Zion.

Given that there is a third film, you can assume that Neo chose to save Trinity. However, after watching the third flick, I wonder why the second one was even necessary. The only plot point to flow through to the third film is the aspect of Agent Smith and his ability to replicate. All other plot points were well established in the first film. Neo has extraordinary power within the matrix. Zion is the last city of the human race. The machines want to destroy Zion. All of these things we learned in the first film. At the end of the second film, we learned that Neo could now control the machines from outside the matrix. This opened up a lot of potential for where the story could go. Were they really out of the Matrix yet? Is Neo human at all?

Given this flicker of opportunity for the story to get interesting again, I was pretty anxious to see this last film to see how it all wrapped up. Big disappointment. While the action and special effects were impressive, I had seen it all before. Neo and Agent Smith using Kung Fu on each other kind of lost its appeal half way through the second film. Now it was just redundant. And the script was terrible. There were times I wanted to bust out laughing at the cheesy one liners and cliche remarks the characters were making. I've never seen a collection of last breath speeches like the ones in this film. Every character, following a mortal wound, receives ten to twenty minutes to make their lost, long, calm, soliloquoy prior to passing. Yeah, that happens. And not only do they not die (and the audience is really wishing that they would by now) but they keep talking, babbling on with their banaled "do it for the gipper" crap.

In the end, I think Jenn and I were both disappointed. The first film was just sooo good. There were so many questions, so many "wow" moments. The third one just feels like coasting. No real answers. The movie is wrapped up, and everything is hunky-dory in matrix land, but back in the real world, we're all a little miffed.