My admiration for "The Matrix Revolutions" is limited only by the awkward fact that I don't much give a damn what happens to any of the characters. If I cared more about Neo, Morpheus, Niobe and the others, there'd be more fire in my heart. But my regard is more for the technical triumph of the movie, less for the emotions it evokes. Neo is no more intended to have deep psychological realism than Indiana Jones, but the thing is, I liked Indy and hoped he got out in one piece -- while my concern about Neo has been jerked around by so many layers of whether he's real or not, and whether he's really doing what he seems to be doing, that finally I measure my concern for him not in affection but more like the score in a video game.
the movie Matrix Revolutions
Consider too the apocalyptic battle scene of the movie, as the vast, mechanical, all too symbolic screw of the Machines penetrates the dome of Zion and unleashes the Sentinels, nasty whiplashing octopi. The humans fight back by climbing into fearsome robotic fighting machines, so their muscles control more powerful muscles made of steel and cybernetics. Each of their surrogate arms ends in a mighty machinegun that sprays limitless streams of ammo at the enemy.
I am sure my information is flawed. No doubt I will get countless e-mails explaining or demonstrating my ignorance in tiresome detail. But the thing is: A movie should not depend on the answers to questions like this for its effect. The first "Matrix" was the best because it really did toy with the conflict between illusion and reality -- between the world we think we inhabit, and its underlying nature. The problem of "Matrix Reloaded" and "Matrix Revolutions" is that they are action pictures that are forced to exist in a world that undercuts the reality of the action.
There is, to be sure, the movie's underlying philosophy, but this grows more underwhelming as the series continues. When Neo finally sits down with the Oracle (Mary Alice) and demands the 411, what he gets is about what you'd pay 50 bucks for from a storefront Tarot reader. When the dust has settled and we all look back on the trilogy from a hype-free zone, we'll realize that the first movie inspired its fans to imagine that astonishing philosophical revelations would be made, and the series hasn't been able to live up to those anticipations. Maybe that would have been impossible. No matter how luridly the barker describes the wonders inside his tent, it's always just another sideshow.
Still, in a basic and undeniable sense, this is a good movie, and fans who have earned their credit hours with the first two will want to see this one and graduate. To the degree that I was able to put aside my questions, forget logic, disregard continuity problems and immerse myself in the moment, "The Matrix Revolutions" is a terrific action achievement. Andy and Larry Wachowski have concluded their trilogy with all barrels blazing. Their final apocalypse in the bowels of the Earth plays like "Metropolis" on steroids. There are sights here to stir the sense of wonder, and a marriage between live action and special effects that is about as good as these things get in the movies.
It's a rich irony that the story is about humans occupying a world generated by computers, and the movie consists of actors occupying a world also created by computers. Neo may or may not exist in a universe created by computers, but Keanu Reeves certainly does.
The dialogue thuds, a mishmash of barked orders and cardboard heroics. But some of the performers manage to inject some life and dignity. Jada Pinkett Smith is The Matrix's Han Solo, a charming rogue who can pilot a ship better than anyone else. Nona Gaye (Zee) makes her brief time onscreen memorable as a woman who overcomes her fear to give everything she has to the revolution. Though Mary Alice does her best, she cannot replace Foster, whose Oracle was the anchor of the other two movies. Hugo Weaving remains superb as Agent Smith. But it takes too long to get to the big final confrontation between Neo and Smith and the fight is not worth the wait. The scariest moment in the movie is when it intimates that there might yet be another episode.
NC (vo): While Matrix Reloaded had a strong opening at the box office, the audience reaction was less than thrilled. Both die-hard fans and common moviegoers didn't seem too excited to see where the story was going anymore. Hence, very few people saw the final installment and it bombed at the box office*. I know, right? Hard to believe a film series would deteriorate into explanatory dialogue and lifeless performances after the mountain of emotion the first film gave us. But nevertheless, let's see how a franchise that hooked in so many people so quickly could lose them almost as fast.
NC (vo): And if you're wondering what important words she has to share with them, apparently, it's only two. I know this because it's the exact same two fucking words that everybody in this movie is brainwashed to repeat. No, for all their rambling and long-winded speeches, count how many times they just keep coming back to the exact same two words. (We get to clips of people in the movie repeating the words "choice" and "purpose") They even force them into sentences no normal person would ever use them in.
NC (vo): Thus, Tom realizes that just as much energy as he puts into it, he ends up going nowhere. (Neo goes into one tunnel, only to end up right back where he started) You can insert your own obvious metaphor for the movie here, but me, I just wanna get the fuck out of this scene! This leads us to one of Frenchie's clubs, which is, imagine, a fetish club. You do know people wear other clothes in the real world, right?
NC (vo): Hehe. Am I the only one who wants to hear this come out of that thing's mouth? (Andross' face from Starfox is spliced over Deus Ex Machina) Seeing how Smith has apparently infected all of the Matrix, including the Machines and Programs, Tom says he can get rid of him in exchange for leaving Zion alone. Why they can't just make another Matrix like they've done so many times in the past, I don't know, but let's just pretend this movie isn't very good at answering questions, and then pretend that you're not pretending. (Several cables slither up to form a chair for Neo to sit down on as he jacks into the Matrix) Through the magic of tentacle hentai, he's thrown back into the Matrix where Smith has indeed taken over everything.
NC (vo): So, remember how crazy, fun and over-the-top that fight was in the middle of the movies with the million Smiths all attacking at once? You might be asking yourself, "How the hell are they gonna top that?"
NC (vo): ...Tom apparently seems invulnerable...again, not quite explained, you can still bleed and die in the other two movies...as Smith starts to question what the fuck he's even doing there.
Despite the release date order of the films roughly reflecting the chronological order of the films, the inclusion of the short films in The Animatrix means these are scattered before, between and after the live-action releases.
The Machines provide a connection for Neo to enter the Matrix. Inside, Neo finds that Smith has assimilated all its inhabitants. The Smith with the Oracle's powers steps forth, saying that he has foreseen his victory against Neo. After a protracted battle, Neo is weakened and Smith recognizes this as his moment of success. Smith repeats the Oracle's message to Neo, "Everything that has a beginning has an end, Neo", Smith immediately becomes confused and senses something wrong (throughout all three movies up to this point Smith has only addressed Neo as "Mr Anderson"). Neo hearing the words realizes he cannot defeat Smith by fighting and allows himself to be assimilated. An energy surge causes the Neo-Smith clone and all other Smith clones in the Matrix to be destroyed and revert to their previous forms; the Smith clone that fought Neo transforms back into the Oracle. The Sentinels withdraw from Zion, Morpheus and Niobe embrace, and Neo is carried away by the machines. The Matrix reboots, and the Architect encounters the Oracle in a park. They agree that the peace will last "as long as it can", and that all humans will be offered the opportunity to leave the Matrix. The Oracle tells Sati that she thinks they will see Neo again. Seraph asks the Oracle if she knew this would happen; she replies that she did not know, but that she believed.
The third and final Matrix movie, titled The Matrix Revolutions, is the culmination of this larger-than-life story about a reclusive hacker named Neo (Keanu Reeves) who wants to know the truth. When he is "set free", he chaotically realizes that the world is no longer, but rather run by sentinel machines who use humans for their electric power and The Matrix is a visual dream and not real at all, which is what all humans perceive as the real world. Revolutions picks up right where Reloaded left off, where Neo figured out he can destroy machines with his mind in the real world, but put him in a coma. At the same time, Agent Smith transferred to the real world in a human host body. From here, there are two big story arcs that culminate in this third and final film. One of them is the attack on Zion while the other follows Neo in his quest to save the real world. Revisiting this movie after fifteen years, it doesn't hold the sour notes it once did. Instead, it shows its depth in each scene giving new life to these characters and story. When Neo realizes he no longer has to resist or fight, perhaps from becoming blind, he can see more clearly that his future has already been laid out and he just has to play his part as told by the architect.
The franchise that kicked off the new millennium over 20 years ago has returned with its first sequel since The Matrix Revolutions released in 2003. The latest installment, The Matrix Resurrections (Matrix 4), was actually one of the movies WarnerMedia plans to premiere on HBO Max and in theaters at the same time back in late 2021. It again starred Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss. Lana Wachowski also returned to direct. 2ff7e9595c
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