*** Official THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS Review Thread (1 Viewer)

[Scott Weinberg]

The Matrix Revolutions :star::star::star::star: out of 5

When The Matrix Reloaded was unleashed this past May (and made close to $300 million in North America) it was on the receiving end of a decidedly mysterious backlash. In an effort to sell magazines and newspapers with THE MATRIX plastered all over their front covers, misinformed journalists almost immediately labeled the film a "disappointment" both critically and with fans. But only a cursory glance at the film's reviews (and receipts) disprove that statement, while the Reloaded DVD did some fairly boffo sales when it hit stores last month. Now comes the third and final chapter of the Matrix trilogy; let the backlash smear campaigns begin anew!

I'd love to know in what universe the two Matrix sequels are considered "disappointments". Sure, they're both laden with deep and ocassionally uncomfortable ruminations on free will and religion and other sorts of navel-gazing philos-O-phizing...but what's the alternative? Sci-fi freaks have been fed a galaxy full of garbage over the past several years and forgive me for admiring all three Matrix films while noticing that the video store shelves are absolutely laden with dungpiles like Supernova, Impostor, Battlefield Earth and "Friday the 13th in Outer Space". That's not to say that The Matrix Revolutions deserves blind praise by default; it's just amusing to note how spoiled we (the hardcore movie freaks) have become in recent years.

Say what you will about The Matrix Revolutions, but you certainly cannot call it short on ideas or ambition. Picking up immediately after the finale of Part 2, Revolutions continues the odyssey of Neo, his spiritual advisor Morpheus, his leather-clad, ass kickin' girlfriend Trinity, and the soon-to-be-demolished stronghold of humanity known as Zion. There are, of course, numerous colorful side characters, most of whom figure quite prominently in the final battle between man and machines - none cooler than the rogue Agent Smith, now an all-powerful computer virus hell-bent on devouring everyone it comes across. Which is apparently a whole lot of people.

When attempting to 'synopsize' a Matrix film, one can take two different routes: keep it short and sweet as an acknowledgement to the film's labyrinthine plot developments - or pen a massive and sprawling dissertation on the film and its myriad (and lofty) conceits. I choose the former route, as the element of discovery is one of the series' sweetest plums, plus I quite simply don't have the brains or energy to catalog everything the Brothers Wachowski have on their minds.

Suffice to say that The Matrix Revolutions (much like its predecessors, only to a slighter lesser degree) is overstuffed with slick action set pieces, thought-provoking sci-fi mind-benders and cool characters dressed in slick leather and torn sweaters. If Parts 2 and 3 don't seem to measure up to the lofty groundwork laid in the original film, I suspect much everyone's relative "disappointment" in the sequels perhaps stems from unfair expectations and not the dazzling pieces of entertainment offered up onscreen. (If The Matrix Reloaded didn't have those "boring" moments of self-reflection, it would end up being derided as "mindless action" - proof positive that filmmakers are often damned if they do and damned if they don't.)

If The Matrix Revolutions has a stumbling block (and it does, I'm sorry to say) it's that several of Part 2's more interesting promises receive very little in the payoff department. (Anyone expecting The Architect to stop back and offer some Cliff's Notes from his earlier diatribe will be quite disgruntled indeed.) The film offers a finale both distractingly obtuse and oddly satisfying. Expect to leave the theater wondering "But what about...?"

Reloaded, quite simply, offers a few ideas that Revolutions does not seem to follow through on. Or maybe I just missed 'em.

Visually, The Matrix Revolutions is a revelation. A few randomly placed brawls keep things moving briskly during the flick's rather chatty first act, and the extensive "Battle for Zion" sequence is simply mind-boggling to behold. If Revolutions' one-on-one mega-brawl finale between Neo and Smith seems a bit anticlimactic, one could take that as a necessary evil, considering...

Whoops. Almost spoiled the ending.

If the film does slow down here and there and fall on a few of its own sloppy fumbles, the rough spots can perhaps be forgiven because, let's face it, there's a whole LOT of material to cover. But despite all the groovy action sequences and mega-swank camera moves...there were several questions brought up earlier that quite simply end up overlooked or outright ignored. There's an omnipresent air of self-aware coolness that comes dangerously close to alienating an audience. Several of the most interesting characters are given virtually nothing to do. The drama is broken up into blocks that leave you wondering "Hey, where's Neo?" And these are indeed a few examples of some relatively sloppy storytelling. The detractors do have some legitimate complaints. Fortunately, I am not one of those detractors.

Bottom Line: The Matrix Revolutions is science fiction for grownups. That's not to say that it won't possibly disappoint the same folks who sneered at the second chapter...but "science fiction for grownups" is such a rare thing to come out of Hollywood these days that The Matrix trilogy is absolutely deserving of effusive praise. The sequels are not perfect films, nor is it fair to expect them to be. Say what you will about the Wachwoskis and their now-complete trilogy...but you certainly couldn't call them lazy or in any way beholden to the Studio Machine and its Test Screening mentality. For that fact alone, these movies are worth embracing.

Plus they're just so damn cool to look at.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now the Official Review Thread for "The Matrix Revolutions". Please post all HTF member reviews in this thread.

Any other comments, links to other reviews, or discussion items will be deleted from this thread without warning!

If you need to discuss those type of issues then I have designated an Official Discussion Thread.



Crawdaddy

 

[WilliamP]

Basically, the film was bad, not awful, but bad. It had great fx and some of the action was good, but thats about it. The acting was average at best. Reeves acting stunk for the most part, especially during Trinity's death scene. The action was good at times, but after the 10th scenes of sentinels flying around, it became boring. I also agree with the reviews that say the characters take a backseat to the fx. I was surprised at how little Trinity, Morpheus, and to a point Neo were even IN the film. The most appealing character was Niobi. The whole trainman scenes were pointless and boring. Barely any Monica! Overall, a pretty major disappointment.

:star: :star: /:star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Robert Crawford]

Please, don't reveal plotlines without using spoiler tags. Thank you.

Edit: The next post that reveals a plotline and doesn't have any spoiler tags will be deleted from this thread. Please, respect those that haven't seen this film, but would read this thread to determine whether this film warrants a viewing or not.



Crawdaddy

 

[JonathonSan]

Originally posted in dicussion thread.

Just got back from seeing it. I LOVED it. I must say that I am a diehard Matrix fan through and through. Reloaded threw me at first...I liked it but it wasn't until I put to rest my expectations did I realise how much I would grow to love it. Revolutions was a bit different to me, just as Reloaded was different from the original. It doesn't have the depth of Reloaded, or psuedo-depth as many say, not really any long and windy speaches about the nature of things...but what it had was enough. The questions that were posed that were important were answered, those that were not, were not essential to the overall story. That does not mean they were worthless in Reloaded. Despite the lack of Merovingian in Revolutions, I still liked his speil in Reloaded. The action is incredible in this...the drama...well it is Sci-Fi, but let me just say that to compare it to Episode 2 is a great disservice to the the Matrix. My favorite part was the incredible Zion siege...all of it. My least favorite...the Neo/Smith fight was too short. I cannot wait to see it again.

Jonathon

 

[Dustin Wind]

What a stinker.
Someone please hang Keanu as he's the worst actor in the world.

I actually enjoyed the 2nd one, but this one was a waste of time and 2/5 hours i can never get back.

Great action and effect, but what action movie these days doesn't have great effects?

2/5


Man if it was just ANYONE but Keanu playing the lead role.

 

[Tino]

Matrix Revolutions is a fine action film. Grittier, darker, more violent than Reloaded, but not as "deep". I loved Reloaded and all that philosophical mumbo jumbo. That "mumbo jumbo" is absent for the most part here, replaced with much more elaborate action sequences, if that is possible.

It's pretty much a balls to the wall action flick with little time for further character development for the main characters.

Was I disappointed. Not really, since my expectations were lower due to all the bad reviews it has been getting. IMO, it's nowhere near as bad as the bad reviews are making it out to be.

I believe if you liked Reloaded, then you'll pretty much enjoy Revolutions too. I certainly did.

:star::star::star:1/4

 

[Diallo B]

I really liked the movie as well. It definitely does not deserve the critical panning it is receiving. IMO, there are too many folks that are not sci-fi fans attempting to review a movie that is definitely straight up science fiction.

I found the acting to be on par with the first two of the trilogy and the action scences are far more epic than have been attempted in anything to come to the silver screen in the past couple of years. ESPECIALLY for a sci-fi movie.

I had a great time with this installment. Granted the film is not perfect. However, I feel that many of the bad reviews this film (and Reloaded for that matter) is receiving is because the climax of these films are not gift wrapped in a cute box that is easy to digest.


These films require imagination. If you do not have any and want someone to tell you everything concerning everything Reloaded and Revolutions are not for you.

Great movie. ***/****

 

[Krystian C]

I tried to walk into Revolutions with low expectations in hopes that I would be pleasantly surprised. But sadly, I was not.

Walking out of the theater I could not help but think, what was it all for. Like so many other movie franchises that come along, The Matrix went a little to far, and did not deliver. All the build up, all the religeous references, all the philosophy, to end up with nothing significant in the end but a feeling like I have been cheated some how.

I have read a lot of differnt takes on what could have been happening in the Matrix, where the movie would end up and so forth, and for the most part, they all would have been more interesting than what we got as a final product.

Now, don't get me wrong, Revolutions was not horrible, not by a long shot. But it did miss the mark in my oppinion, of what fans wanted. No real closure, no real explanations, just lots of pretty FX and hollow dialog. And I truely hope that the W Bros do indeed stick with there original plan, and keep the Matrix a Trilogy. As nice as further explanations would be, I would hate to see the series ground deeper into the dirt than it has been.

Visually, things were incredible. Special effects at the very best they come. But seemingly empty compared to Reloaded. There was a sense of danger that was present in Reloaded (ie: the car chase), where you care about what happened to the characters, where as I felt nothing similar in Revolutions. There was no emotional attachment to the people of Zion, as we barely know them. All Zion's inhabitants that have had little to no screen time, fighting for their city.

I will definitely be giving it a second chance later this week, in hopes that I missed something, but I have little faith at this point sadly.



A fun popcorn flick to dazzle you visually at best, but a little stale in terms of a series finally.

:star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Brian Harnish]

While I am in the minority, I greatly enjoyed this fitting, grandiose finale to the trilogy. I found it to be incredibly epic and just as good as the first film, if not better. I am a Matrix fan, but not a diehard Matrix fan. I feel that Revolutions is a more than welcome addition to the trilogy we all know and love (sometimes, at least).


I think it fits rather well that this installment takes place most of the time in the real world. That's really the whole point of their mission, isn't it? To end the war in the real world.

The first film was stationed in The Matrix as an introduction to the Matrix and its possibilities, as limitless as they were. Reloaded was focused on obtaining the Keymaker (a crucial element to their success, as he was revealed) and having Neo come to the realization of his full potential as The One. Revolutions finally takes place in the real world as a finisher -- the grand finale, so to speak -- the final ending of the war against the Machines.

I think many people were expecting the ending to become the final destruction of the Matrix and a new beginning for humanity. However, what if Humans and those Machines could live in peace? Why would it be so bad to have peace between Machines and Human beings? Does everything truly have to be so black and white, so good and evil, so haughtily patriotic without gray areas? My opinion is no. I think the Wachowski's may have inadvertently ruffled a lot of feathers by taking a VERY different route than many of the War-Against-The-Machines-type films. In the films backstory, what if *we* were the terrorists and inspired destruction upon the machines due to our own racial fear and not because of anything the machines did?

Unfortunately, I have to get to work but I'll write a full review of the film when I get home tonight.

 

[Kachi Khatri]

The problem for Revelations is it had to follow the diabolical Reloaded. Despite the visuals the holes in the Matrix concepts couldn't suspend your disbelief for long enough.

The crux of the matter is that this one succumbed as a hatchet job and ended up in recidivsim of Reloaded.

:star:

 

[Angelo.M]

Just caught the film.

I've never seen a flick and posted a review here on the same day. Brings to mind that great Simpsons moment wherein Comic Book Guy complains about "the worst episode ever" of Itchy & Scratchy: "Rest assured, I was on the Internet in minutes registering my disgust throughout the world."



I don't usually rate films, but I'd give The Matrix a 7 or 8/10 and Reloaded the same or better. Revolutions gets a 4 on that scale... Maybe.

The first movement of the film really grabbed me in the same way Reloaded did. It was stylish, thought-provoking, well-written and well-paced. Great stuff. Unfortunately, it was all too brief.

Once the action moved out of the matrix, and into the film's too-long second movement, I lost interest. The defense-of-Zion sequence was too long and too repetitive, and really took the film out of the hands of the characters and put it in the hands of effects and images. How many shots of robots being destroyed are really necessary?

There are economies of scale, and this film became uninteresting to me (something I thought couldn't happen after Reloaded) when it forgot that less can be more.

Also:

I didn't need or want all the answers to Reloaded's riddles, but I didn't want a bit of illumination of some of the more compelling exchanges from that film. To be fair, some new concepts are explored which are interesting (the train, the shuttling of programs between worlds, programs-as-offspring, karma/love, etc.), but I felt as though too much of the second film was glossed over. I wanted more Merovingian, more Architect, more Oracle, and a bit more insight into their roles in the arc of the story.

I have other minor quibbles, only one of which I want to throw out there:

I didn't like the way the Oracle was handled here. Mary Alice is a fine actress who had a tough act to follow, and she did so with aplomb and with a subtly effective performance. But, for my money, if you're going to alter a major character out of necessity, then why not go all the way? Why re-cast the Oracle as another eloquently mild-mannered, slightly sassy, somewhat grandmotherish female? Why not make a more radical change? That would have really grabbed me. Again, a minor quibble, but I didn't like it.

Hugely disappointing. In no way did this cash in on the possibilities hinted at in Reloaded.

A 4 on a 10-scale. :frowning:

 

[Steve_Tk]

Well I enjoyed it. People going in expecting cool clothes, gun scenes, sunglasses and one on one kung fu matches like the first movie will obviously be disappointed overall. This isn't' that movie, it's the end of a story and it does it well.

I'm not going to go any further because then it will seem like I'm trying to convince someone that it's good. You will either enjoy it or not, I did.

For me it never felt slow except the first 5 minutes. I didn't care that Neo and Trinity didn't dominate the screen because I was enjoying and involved in everything else.

Fun stuff for me.

 

[JamieD]

I thought it was great. Wasn't exactly thrilled with the final resolution, but thought it was an enjoyable film.

 

[Ruben Zamora]

I was disappointed ALLLL THE WAY THROUGH .

It sucked!! So did the second One. The only Matrix movie worth spending money on was the first.

 

[JosefM]

All I can say is that Revolutions didn't feel like an end to the story.

I didn't like the fact that Trinity died. Also, no conclusion to the storyline between Neo and the Machine City main (?) character. Sure peace was won, but it seems like there should be a little more explaination or something. I think after I watch all three episodes I'll feel better about the storyline.

 

[Kristian]

I'm in the minority on Revolutions, as I actually enjoyed it more than Reloaded. In fact, I think it exposes most of Reloaded as a vehicle for the Wachowskis to wax philosophical about things that had no real payoff. Right now, The Animatrix feels like a more essential part to this saga than Reloaded to me.

Now, on to some of the things I liked and didn't like about Revolutions.

More humor. Not great comedy, mind you, but enough to
provide relief.

Neo vs. Smith in the rain. A bit anti-climactic in some ways, but a beautiful spectacle nonetheless.

The expanded roles of Link's wife Zee and the Kid from the "Kid's Story" short. They carried some of the movie's most emotional moments, I thought.

The truce between the machines and Neo. A great payoff to "The Second Rennaisance" shorts.

Not enough Morpheus. He was a great major character in part 1, but by part 3, he's become an underused secondary character.

The Merovingian and Persephone were set up in Reloaded to be important to the plot, but in Revolutions, they are most definitely not. A shame, as the scenes in Reloaded with them were some of that film's better parts.

The Battle of Zion was exciting, but there were way too many redundant shots of Sentinels getting blown up.


I could go on, but I'm too tired. Overall, I give the film
:star: :star: :star: 1/2 out of :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Kristoffer]

Okay just saw it, liked it! First impression was a little disapoinment, but It has grown since I saw it today.
I liked that Neo became the savior of all, man and machine. The ending was the only thing they could do. In the end everything you have is faith, if they hadn't taken the next step after philosophy to faith, they would have a BIG PROBLEM on their hand. A problem which almost all philosophers have dealt with. The infinite regress, meaning that what is happening is explained by a something and that is explainted by something and so on to infinity. If you use faith on the other hand the questions stop here! You either believe or you don't! Thats it...I think that all the people at the end was gods inc the little girl.

And oh yeah when the Deus ex Machina spoke it was some of the deepest bass I ever heard in a movie!

 

[Jeff_Standley]

Short and sweet.

I liked it alot.

The fight sceen with Smith and Neo in the rain was kick a - - to say the least.


I was not dissapointed at all.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I found the film pretty engrossing once you get past the first 10 minutes of the film. There's quite a lot to digest, I was dazzled by the action sequences, and the impact and import of them. To me, it's one thing to have mindless action for action's sake, but action in this film is used to drive the plot along to some rather interesting results and reprieves.

The gist of the Matrix trilogy to me is making that singular connection that overwhelms your total sense of self and enables you to find the courage to make things better for others, which becomes its just rewards for your own self worth and peace of mind.

I think the middle act and the last act are some of the best action scenes I've seen put into one movie in quite a long time. Is it exhausting? Yes, but in a good way.

Will all your questions be answered? No, but life's funny like that.

I give it 3.5 stars, or a grade of A-.