Rating: 
Summary: Better than others would have you believe
Review: As with all sequels to blockbuster movies, people allow themselves to get caught up in the hype, and go into the film with unrealistically high expectations. To all those who have given this movie a one star rating, I feel sorry for you.
I saw Revolutions on Sunday afternoon, after months of eager anticipation. I tried to go into it with as little expectations as possible, and knowing as little as possible. It paid off. I was thrilled by the conclusions that the movie delivered. It wrapped it up cleanly, while doing the typical Hollywood thing, and leaving open the possibility of another movie.
Quite possibly the only movie that will top this experience will be The Return of the King.
Anyhoo, as most will know, Revolutions picks up at the precise point where Reloaded finished. Neo is trapped in a sort of limbo between the real world and the Matrix, unable to escape. From there, we are taken on a roller coaster ride (admittedly less mind-blowing than Revolutions' two predecessors) through to the finale of the human's battle against the invading sentinels, and Neo's final confrontation with the numerous Agent Smiths.
Through it all, the film does a great job of proving that despite the revelation that Neo is really just another part of the program that is the Matrix, he is still human and capable of experiencing all the strengths and frailties that makes us human.
And, in the end, it is that which will save Zion from extermination, rather than simply being able to piece together the riddles that the Oracle gives.
Revolutions is the perfect finish to the Matrix trilogy. It is not absolutely conclusive. If anyone went into the movie expecting that, then they were idiots. It does leave the door ajar for future projects. But in the grand scheme of things, I believe the Wachowski brothers could not have done a better job of wrapping things up.
Rating:
Summary: What do newspaper reviewers know?
Review: Let me start off by saying that I'm a huge Matrix head (I saw the second movie on Wednesday at 10 PM and the third on Wednesday at 7 PM). That said, my reviewed might be a bit skewed, but several other obsessive Matrix types gave this movie poor reviews.
I have few gripes about this film. First, the big action sequence is completely CGI. It's darn good CGI, but one of the joys of the first film was the knowledge that everything happening was real. Second, Neo and Trinity get lost in the rest of the plotline. After about 30 minutes of the big action sequence, I started to wonder what had happened to Neo and Trinity.
Now, it's time for my rant about the good aspects of the film. When I walked into the film, I had read the reviews already and was preparing my spiel for when I walked out of the theater. "The Wachowski Brothers have really lost their reputations as good filmmakers," I was writing down in my head. However, about halfway through the film I decided, "This is actually really good!" The Wachowski Brothers added just the right amout of humor to show that the movie isn't taking itself too seriously, especially involving the Kid. The Kid is that guy who's obsessed with Neo because Neo saved him. If you're all confused, there's a short in the Animatrix about him. The Animatrix is probably worth renting just to see the killer CGI in Final Flight of the Osiris, but don't buy it. Wow, I've really gotten off-track. The plot actually provides good closure to the trilogy--don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The plot also doesn't get lost in the philosophical dilologue like in the second film (for the record, though, I prefer the second film over the first). The acting isn't too bad, either. I know that Keanu Reeves is criticized for his wooden acting, but that type of acting actually fits the character quite well. Hugo Weaving and the guy who play Bane also make up for the actors in the key roles. We all know Hugo Weaving, but we don't know Bane well, yet. Bane, if you weren't paying attention during the second movie (or if you haven't watched it four times, like I have), was taken over by Agent Smith. Anyway, the guy who plays Bane absolutely NAILS the Agent Smith inflections.
I think that I'm going to close with what my friend said after reading the reviews for this movie. "They say that the plot's bad, but it's the same plot. And they complain about the acting, but it's the same actors."
Rating: 
Summary: This trilogy was a downward spiral.
Review: Definitely the worst matrix movie. It was a disappointing and stupid ending. It's as if the director(s) had just said "oh, bugger this," and neglected the salvagable story. I bet I could have written something better than this. There was definitely lots of balls-to-the-wall action in Zion(hence the 2-star rating), but the Neo/Smith battle was kind of cheesy. Get the Return of the King instead.
Rating:
Summary: most polished piece of crap ever
Review: I swear, the Wachowski bros. have a one dollar bet (like the movie trading places) with George Lucas (the new Star Wars Trilogy) and Square (Final Fantasy Movie) on who can spend the most money on a film that has a god awful plot (and ruin their credibility).
The Matrix was fresh, smart, exicting, paid attention to little details that made things interesting and/or fun, and had a great story.
The sequels had numerous scenes that could've been reduced or cut entirely to the point that they could have made just one sequel and be done with it.
Revolutions had an ok story in general, but the presentation was very flawed. Here is a laundry list of the offenses:
- You hardly see Neo, Trinity, or Morpheous and when you do see them they really don't do much.
- the film focuses on way too many minor characters that you really don't care for.
- in the first movie you didn't see shades on everyone as much and you saw more emotion, in the sequels everyone acts like robots because you can't ever see their eyes when they are in the Matrix.
- You see the machines flying around for way too long (especially during the zion fight). The first Matrix showed enough of the real world and the machines to scare the hell out of you and then moved on. Now they do needless CG because they can.
- The whole opening part where Neo is stuck between worlds should have been heavily cut. There could have been a better way to explain that Neo can interact with Machines in the real world and that programs also want freedom.
- the final fight was way too cartoony, the first film's fight between Neo and Smith was cool, in this one it is a joke.
- The ending was mostly useless, Neo and Trinity die for a temporary cease fire so the Wachowski bros. can pump out another game "The Matrix Online"
- speaking of games: am i really supposed to play a buggy and awful game (Enter the Matrix) just to see cut footage from the sequels?
If the directors would've focused more on a good story and using CG to assist the storytelling process (like the first film) the series would've been awesome. Now I doubt I will ever want to see anything that the Wachowski bros. are ever involved with in the future.
So get "The Matix" and "The Animatrix" and stop there. If you must buy more sci-fi movies then get Solaris, Blade Runner, or 2001 - A Space Odyssey.
Rating:
Summary: Relies on philosophy and special effects.
Review: The acting/emotion/originality of the matrix is dead. This whole movie relies on special effects and questions rather than entertainment. Honestly, ask anyone at your school and they will tell you that this movie was retarded. The problem is that the Matrix Revolutions decided on the movie path of, "Confusing = Brilliance". This system which I will abbreviate as C=B is a common system that fails. Evangelion had to have a whole movie called "End of Evangelion" to please viewers who were conned into the C=B system. Matrix relies on confusing the viewer with a barrage of questions and such. Also, Reloaded had the architect. Did anyone take anything out of that? Was that the most unrelenting mumbo-jumbo crap you have ever heard? Be prepared for more as Revolutions serves up some of the most confusing crap that fails to be brilliant. Let me go over this again. The effects are good. The action is somewhat okay at times because of this. The acting is crap though and the dialogue is cheesy. On top of that we have use of the C=B system. Avoid this movie as it will just insult you.
Rating: 
Summary: Worst. Sci-Fi. Ever.
Review: What the hell happened to the plot? At the end of the 2nd movie, we're left with interesting clues to how the Matrix came about, and it's clear that there is more to be revealed. And what happens? They ignore all of that in favor of an action movie that has no action and no suspense? Why add on lame characters in an attempt to tug on our heartstrings? After all of the interest and mystery of the Merovingian, Persephone, Agent Smith, Seraph, the Oracle, and the Keymaker in the 2nd movie, why abandon all of that for the last movie? This could have been an interesting movie where they tie together the clues in the 1st and 2nd movie and paint a cohesive picture of the world of the matrix and how it came about. Instead they left all of that behind. This was a waste of money. Totally unforgivable moviemaking.
Rating: 
Summary: Neither bad nor great--but it's done
Review: Was it overblown? Sure. Great effects? Got 'em. Mushy in some places, tough in others? That's why everyone is fighting over their opinion on the film. But for what I saw, I was satisfied--and if I could tweak the rating, I'd give it a 3.5.
No, it's ambiguous in places as far as outcomes, and that's part of the tease of the storyline (how real is the Matrix and our own world?). There's no distinct sense of resolution. Yes, the ending is filled with a silly frothiness of symbolism (what happens to Neo, the machine world, and the potential freedom of Zion--is humanity safe at last?).
I would rather credit the work of Hugo Weaving, who really gave his best here during the huge fight scene to display great emotional power and vulnerability with Smith's role. Thumbs up also for the actor playing Bane: listen to him just match Smith's speech pattern. And of course, the special effects are mind-boggling.
On the downside, yes, Morpheus is basically a wimp, Neo is stiff at times, and the guy playing the lead commander of Zion's hovercraft has a serious case of heartburn. But match against with the nut case who plays the Trainman, and the fight commander at the loading dock, bellowing with rage, and it's a good balance. So it's done--and hopefully this is the end of the storyline.
Rating:
Summary: From WHAT IS THE MATRIX to WTF???
Review: I just dont understand. The brothers had this franchise that they could have been a huge contender for best sci fi movie series of all. But for some reason, they got greedy and went way out of there minds with special FX. Granted, they are great FX, but that is NOT why I and millions of others loved the first matrix, the FX was a bonus. The first matrix REALLY made you think. It made you question life, and was totally origanl from anything that was on film at the time. For some reason, it went from this vaste world of wonder to : the movie is ganna end in 48 hours, and turns into a war movie. Its a shame that the first matrix is ruined by these high special FX, low story telling sequals. The only good part of this film is the Special FX and fights, other than that, if you wanna a mind blowing trip into wonderland, watch the origanl.
Rating:
Summary: exciting but unenlightening
Review: I thought The Matrix was one of the best films I'd ever seen and was extremely disappointed with the second film; I came to this last instalment with low expectations but a desire for closure, and was pleasantly surprised. The film is not as talky as the second nor as deep as the first, but it does have some exquisite graphics. However, the action scenes often go on way too long, the Anderson-Smith fight is nothing new, and ultimately I learned nothing new about the philosophy of the Matrix in either of the second two movies. I was very disappointed that all the talk-talk-talk with the Frenchman and the Architect came to nothing in this film, and especially that we NEVER visit or even see the Matrix again. I expected we would see, or even hear about, all the people being freed from their artificial pods, but instead we spend all of our time in Zion or the machine city. Also, there are some fine moments and good acting, though we don't see Neo and Trinity enough. Managing to walk that fine line between exciting and downright unilluminating, the Brothers Wachowski's final instalment doesn't suck energy out of the universe, but doesn't add any either.
Rating:
Summary: Sad, sad, sad. [warning: spoilers ahead]
Review: Wachowski brothers, how could you make such a piece of garbage? If you can't make something that at least compares to the original, why make it? Did they offer you enough for your collective souls? Or did you expend all your creative talent in the first movie? The second movie in the series was tolerable - tolerable only in the fact that maybe, just maybe, the third movie would redeem it somehow. Unfortunately, this is not true. Originally, the Matrix was about Neo saving mankind. Instead, the movie turns into something completely different - the movie became Neo saving the Matrix from itself - the virus Agent Smith. There was no release of the humans from the machine, no real climatic moment where Neo finally does what he set out to do in the first movie. Why did they need to even have so much time dedicated to Zion? It wasn't ever about Zion. It was about getting the humans out of the Matrix and into Zion - not about saving a group of people that are, in a sense, already saved. So, without ranting on for too long, do not buy this movie. Don't buy or watch either of the sequels if you were a fan of the first Matrix movie... and don't trust the advice of anyone who thought the sequels were good.
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