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Incognito · 11th November 2003, 10:13 AM

Matrix Revolutions (Warning: spoilers!)

******WARNING! Possible spoilers! ******

Saw Matrix Revolutions last night - frankly was not impressed.

A big part of the appeal of the first film was the entire notion of the Matrix itself being a form of holographic reality, that could not be discerned from “reality” itself without subtle clues.

Matrix Reloaded dealt with how that reality was in a state of change (not least through Smith) and the emphasis on there being a deeper meaning to the Matrix itself.

Matrix Revolutions is really just the attack on Zion. In short, nothing more than a fireworks display. Fin.

The coming attack on Zion played a small but irritable role in Matrix Reloaded, that could be easily forgiven for the rest of the content. I mean, really, the idea at the end that all of the ships had been wiped out by the Smith character was rushed and made little sense to the given story. Only in Revolutions did we learn that at least some of the ships carried an electro-magnetic weapon that would destroy not only the machines, but also their own fleet of ships. Huh? And the Smith human survived…how?

Matrix Reloaded promised an exploration of Free Will, as we learned that Neo would be able to make important specific choices that no one else was able to make. But at the end, he didn’t do much other than “choose” to keep getting up in a fist fight with Smith. Big intellectual statement, huh?

There was also the notion raised in the Matrix Reloaded that machines and humans existed in a state of co-dependence: remember when the councillor showed Neo the machines that kept Zion running? Yet Revolutions failed to expand on this metaphor to a resolution in the plot - it was simply raised, then abandoned.

Overall, Matrix Revolutions left a lot of loose ends, and failed to exploer a number of issues that had been promised in earlier films. For example, what happened to all the other people entombed by the machines to run the Matrix, as shown in the original film?

Maybe I’m mistaken here (and please correct me if I am) but didn’t Niobe die in Reloaded? Remember when her ship’s crew “jacked in” so as to shut down the Power Station, so that Neo could safely walk through the door to meet the architect? Wasn’t the ship’s crew killed by a sentinel attack - remember Niobe and the others collapsing dead in the Power Station? Hence why Trinity had to go and shut it down herself, which ultimately led to her being “killed” - and then brought back by Neo? (The eventual Trinity death scene was completely annoying and corny).

Generally, Revolutions was a big rush job, where all the effort went into making empty special effects sequences that dragged on and on and on.

This whole film was one big let down - the fireworks themselves were merely a series of testosterone statements, and they went on for far too long (a full 45 minutes?) that it became simply boring.

The story itself seemed to forget all sense of purpose, character development and meaning were thrown away, and rather than being a film that made you think, it simply bored.

Even the soundtrack music itself became over-the-top in many places - when a film soundtrack grates you know there’s something wrong with the film.

Overall, maybe I approached Matrix Revolutions with too many expectations - ie, that it would simply be a decent and enjoyable film. Instead, Matrix Revolutions simply disappointed, and failed to crown an otherwise promising series of films with an ending that it deserved.

11th November 2003, 10:13 AM	#1 (permalink)
Incognito going spare! Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 163	*Matrix Revolutions (Warning - spoilers!!)* Matrix Revolutions (Warning: spoilers!) ****WARNING! Possible spoilers! **** Saw Matrix Revolutions last night - frankly was not impressed. A big part of the appeal of the first film was the entire notion of the Matrix itself being a form of holographic reality, that could not be discerned from “reality” itself without subtle clues. Matrix Reloaded dealt with how that reality was in a state of change (not least through Smith) and the emphasis on there being a deeper meaning to the Matrix itself. Matrix Revolutions is really just the attack on Zion. In short, nothing more than a fireworks display. Fin. The coming attack on Zion played a small but irritable role in Matrix Reloaded, that could be easily forgiven for the rest of the content. I mean, really, the idea at the end that all of the ships had been wiped out by the Smith character was rushed and made little sense to the given story. Only in Revolutions did we learn that at least some of the ships carried an electro-magnetic weapon that would destroy not only the machines, but also their own fleet of ships. Huh? And the Smith human survived…how? Matrix Reloaded promised an exploration of Free Will, as we learned that Neo would be able to make important specific choices that no one else was able to make. But at the end, he didn’t do much other than “choose” to keep getting up in a fist fight with Smith. Big intellectual statement, huh? There was also the notion raised in the Matrix Reloaded that machines and humans existed in a state of co-dependence: remember when the councillor showed Neo the machines that kept Zion running? Yet Revolutions failed to expand on this metaphor to a resolution in the plot - it was simply raised, then abandoned. Overall, Matrix Revolutions left a lot of loose ends, and failed to exploer a number of issues that had been promised in earlier films. For example, what happened to all the other people entombed by the machines to run the Matrix, as shown in the original film? Maybe I’m mistaken here (and please correct me if I am) but didn’t Niobe die in Reloaded? Remember when her ship’s crew “jacked in” so as to shut down the Power Station, so that Neo could safely walk through the door to meet the architect? Wasn’t the ship’s crew killed by a sentinel attack - remember Niobe and the others collapsing dead in the Power Station? Hence why Trinity had to go and shut it down herself, which ultimately led to her being “killed” - and then brought back by Neo? (The eventual Trinity death scene was completely annoying and corny). Generally, Revolutions was a big rush job, where all the effort went into making empty special effects sequences that dragged on and on and on. This whole film was one big let down - the fireworks themselves were merely a series of testosterone statements, and they went on for far too long (a full 45 minutes?) that it became simply boring. The story itself seemed to forget all sense of purpose, character development and meaning were thrown away, and rather than being a film that made you think, it simply bored. Even the soundtrack music itself became over-the-top in many places - when a film soundtrack grates you know there’s something wrong with the film. Overall, maybe I approached Matrix Revolutions with too many expectations - ie, that it would simply be a decent and enjoyable film. Instead, Matrix Revolutions simply disappointed, and failed to crown an otherwise promising series of films with an ending that it deserved.