Rating: 
Summary: In Defense of Revolutions
Review: Revolutions is the final chapter of a marvelous myth. Properly understood, we can appreciate that the Matrix Trilogy is the Wachowski brother's version of the story of enlightenment - the story of Self realization; the story of Consciousness transcending the dualistic smaller egoic versions of self that keep "us" preoccupied and transfixed short of the ONE. The brothers are synthesizers - they are telling their story blending references to all the traditions, but focusing on the common denominators that allow the traditions to be appreciated as a whole - as one truth. That's why the story has such ecumenical appeal. But this mixing of metaphors is also the source of much confusion, resulting in what I have often referred to as Matrix madness.
The confusion of Matrix madness, however, can be resolved by coming to some kind of coherent understanding as to what it is that the movie symbols symbolize. There are so many inter-related symbols that need interpreting; I doubt that anyone could map all of them to the original intent of the Brothers. And as with all metaphoric interpretations, the validity of the mapping is always driven by the personal context that the interpreter brings to the task. But there is one interpretive mapping that in my view is key to all the others, and that is this: the characters in the movie represent aspects of you, the viewer of the show. Humans represent human spirit, and map to the subjective / spiritual / intangible domain within you. Matrix programs represent brain based neural programs, and map to the objective / machinery / mecha domain within you. The movie is about you, the viewer - the witnessing Self. If one follows this line of representation, then it follows that the matrix is your mind; it re-presents the world as you experience it. The (three) cities are ontological worldviews; and the buildings and structures within the cities are aspects of your self and your psyche. Spirit meets mecha in the matrix of your mind. What's more, we see that the spirit and machine domains are correlated with each other - that one supports the other, that they are reflections of each other. The matrix world is your world; the world encoded in your mind. Meta-mental value laden soul ships hover in an abstract domain beyond the matrix and feed the matrix form 'above', whereas evolutionarily derived mecha generated programs from the physical domain feed the matrix from 'below'. Everything in our world and in the Matrix world is dualistic; opposites define each other. There is no left without right, no right without wrong, no good without evil, no ascent without descent. What's more, there is no spirit without mecha; no transcendent without an immanent; no Neo without A Smith.
Each of us has a notion as to the referent of the pronoun "I", but for most of us it's actually very difficult to define that notion using the tools of language. Nevertheless, body, mind and spirit do evolve in each of us as we grow in life. The movie viewer's worldview (sense of self) expands as the story unfolds to progressively encompass more characters, more cities and more complex relationships and tensions within and between them. The story is about how the warring dualities of these elements within you (the viewer) can ultimately be resolved, not by conflict, but by synthesis, allowing the many to become the ONE.
"Seeing" this version of the Matrix may require some thinking, reflecting, and reading. It's not that easy to "see" or "be" the one. For those having difficulty (with Reloaded/ Revolutions) converting what seems like meaningless techno babble and trite dialogue or a rambling tale of kung fu fighting into a coherent story line about enlightenment, an open minded reading of just about any spiritual work with a mystical bent will definitely help. This is true because all such readings are also maps of the very same territory encoded in the Matrix. But to see all that the Matrix has to say, one needs to understand how the trilogy also embraces the scientific worldview in general and certain aspects of quantum mechanics in particular. The story is pointing towards a resolution of the (apparent) conflict between science and religion, between mecha and spirit, between "its" and "I". To see these issues through the Brother's eye/"I"s, one needs not only some familiarity with the interior of many religious traditions, but also at least a cursory understanding of postmodern philosophy, and a layman's working knowledge of quantum mechanics as it applies to duality, complementarity, causality, and choice. And yes, that may seem like a pretty big problem. But if you understand that the Matrix really does have you and all of us, and if you therefore want to understand what happened to a great story that perhaps seems at times to have lost its way - you may, in fact, wish to consider looking more closely into the whole rabbit hole of consciousness.
Two of the very best Matrix ciphers that I have found (and I believe there are many) include: A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber (or really almost anything that KW has written), and The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra. In that Wilber is a grand spiritual and philosophical synthesizer (integrator), and in that the brothers have (IMHO) quite the same intent, I believe that once you discover how to overlay Wilber's model/map of human consciousness onto that of the Trilogy, you will find that you can, indeed, decode the Matrix. Capra, in The Tao of Physics, presents an 'enlightened' physicist's view of the same integrating principles, speaking to a realm of understanding and awareness that transcends duality in both the physical and spiritual domains.
All that having been said, might I suggest an alternative and simpler path to the appreciation of a beautiful story: review your own religious and philosophic traditions from a mystical perspective, learn a little something about numerology - then find and interpret EVERY number in the movie. Play with the implied punctuation in the movie dialogue. Pay attention to colors and color balance. And perhaps most importantly, think about the "I"s (eyes) of each and every character. Then watch the DVDs very carefully, more than twice, and just try hard to see the Matrix for your Self.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific final chapter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This film,in my opinion,returns the Matrix to its roots:terrific visual effects,jaw-dropping action scenes,and a easy to follow story line.Hugo Weaving and,surprisingly,Keanu Reeves,turn in exceptional performances(Keanu actually cries during the death of one of the people he cares about dies)as Agent Smith and Neo,aka,Mr.Anderson.All in all,a terrific final chapter that more than makes up for Reloaded.I recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: To CGI for me
Review: I'm not a huge fan of the matrix, it's too cunfusing, and to much computerized. 2/3's of the movie was computer.The last fightes are, like the battle of zion, the last neo and smith fight, mostly CGI.The only one that was the best was the 1st Matrix, that had alot of more guns and more possable wall running scenes. In this one people run on ceilings. thats pretty stupid to me, and theres alot of goths that are really freaky lookin at frist, then you watch this movie a 2nd time and there not so freaky lookin. The plot is very confusing but also very creative, worth 2 stars. see this if you want to find out what happens, not if you just like kung fu movies.
Rating: 
Summary: Great third movie
Review: I loved the entire movie right until the end. I was not happy with the end. In case you have not seen it I won't give it away but remember my review once you have seen the end of the movie. I would have given the movie 5 starts except of course for the end.
Rating: 
Summary: NO PLACE LIKE EARTH?
Review: ARE these outtakes from the frist two? # 1 was Great, innovative, # 2 much better and lots of fun?# 3 - somewhere between Trainstations and Coalminers .... complete with Sigourney Weaver's robo-forklift from ALIENS? ORACLE? Wasn't she in Stephen King's THE STAND? OR is this the unknown Jean Paul Satre's "No Exit"- revisited? It's all very so-so, and probably most appealing for the 15 to 30 year-olds - and made for their minds ..... but really ... so much droning, so much confusion .... AND what's with the green glows? Close to OZ I woulc say.
Rating:
Summary: Just WHERE did I put the RAINBOW?
Review: NO, this one just does not work! The 1st - Great!, the 2nd ~ Eye-opening and super? This final installment? Just how much ZEN can an audience take? Now, this is just fine for the young boy between - shall we say 15 and 35 ...... with nothing else to do but contemplate the 'Meaning of Life', but this versionis somewhere between a Train Station and a lonely group of bored coalminers ..... even the human machines [the Robo-soldiers seem to have been lifted from Sigourney Weaver's ALIENS]. As for all this TALK TALK and MORE TALK with ORACLE- CAN ANYONE SAY "THE STAND"? Almost a mod version of Jean Paul Satre's "NO EXIT"- which basically it is- without the brilliance --- just a great deal of monotone droning here .... and just what is with the shades of Green ..... homage to OZ? As a matter of fact.... doesn't the ending remind one .......
"There's No Place Like Earth".
Rating:
Summary: A Steady Decline From A Brilliant Beginning
Review: Like many, I found the first Matrix to be an exceptional movie, ground-breaking in every respect. Unfortunately, it seems The Brothers were too successful too fast. They needed a good, strong producer, not Silver the circus-barker, to tell them they had lost the brilliant balance they showed in The Matrix. Instead, we are treated to the immature, self-indulgence of a pair of boys who know little of the world, but think they know a lot. Reloaded and Revolutions were big disappointments, technically and artistically. Of the two, Revolutions is the worst. I was actually bored, even with all the eye candy and pixels being splattered. All the lead actors, even much-maligned Keanu, do yeoman work with the weak script and are to be commended for it, Weaving & Fishburne especially. This movie shows that tons of money can make great special effects, but not necessarily deliver a great film. Even with all the special effects, it was so obviously a video game in both look and story line, that it was painfully predictable. The special effects were so over top that it was obvious that they were pixels dying for our entertainment. Militarily, the last battle is set-up so stupidly that by the end I was rooting for the machines, since the humans were taking such stupid and indefensable positions. That battle would have benefited from a little knowledge of military strategy and tactics. The storyline becomes so sophomoric as to be humorous. The brothers seem determined to show how educated and culturally aware they are. Instead they demostrate their shallowness with the cafeteria-style philosophy. Cornell West shows why he is where he is, and fits in perfectly with The Brothers and these films... Lot's of buzz words thrown around by a very good grifter. Rarely have sequals been so bad that they ruined the original movie so much that I wished they'd never been made, but that's Reloaded/Revolutions. A mature, strong writer might have been able to take the script of these two movies and make one strong one. Instead, The Brothers put themselves into competition with Peter Jackson and embarassed themselves. After LOTR, Master & Commander, Gladiator, and We Were Soldiers, we know it's reasonable to expect a great story, great acting AND great effects in an action movie. Reloaded/Revolutions might have cut it 10 years ago, but not now. If you've only seen the original Matrix, don't buy this DVD, don't rent it. Same for Reloaded. If you've seen Reloaded you may as well see this one, but it's like an autopsy.
Rating:
Summary: Conclusion to a misunderstood science fiction saga.
Review: The Matrix Revolutions. perhaps one of the most unfairly maligned film of the past few years? perhaps the most misunderstood film of the past few years? Certainly, and much more. What we have here is a case I will never understand. First of all, obviously, the special effects are phenomenal, perhaps the greatest ive ever seen this side of LOTR. Its jaw dropping to be frank. The siege of Zion is monstruous and the final showdown is one huge kick that frankly just flat out rocks. Ok now thats out of the way. Let me discuss the main reason I love these 2 sequels so much and why I hold them in the same regard as the original Matrix. The story is in my opinion flat out fantastic. period. you cant have a decent and engrossing science fiction film without a compelling story. and Reloaded and Revolutions delivered that in spades. From the discovery that Neo is but a pawn in the overall scheme of the machines, to the fact that Zion is nothing more than a physical matrix to its inhabitants, these 2 films gave a plot twist so huge in my opinion it ranks up there with the original planet of the apes. Youll have to look at the first film in a whole new light. Many complained that Revolutions did not answer any questions and gave a cop out ending. This is pure and simply FALSE. The answers are there but not explicetly spelled out, The death of smith DOES make sense, Neos powers ARE explained (and possibly reference earlier in Reloaded) and the ending is in no way a copout and has been forshadowed since the animatrix. In Revolutions they make theire point that despite the differences, both man and machine deserve theire life and forshadow the conclusion. Peace is the only solution. I will say I was a little dissapointed that the character of the merovingian was not fleshed out more but thats about it in terms of problems with the overall plot. Overall the film is very well done, the Score by Don Davis is fantastic and SHOULD have at least been nominated for an Oscar. The script is probably the weakest of the three films, I have to admit if only for the inclusion of several "cheesy" lines and a drawn out death scene, which despite that still works well. The acting is what youd expect from the films, on the same level as the first two movies, though keanu Reeves does a decent job outside his usual unsure personality routine which is pretty much what Neo is. Hugo Weaving as always is excellent. He delivers some particularly good stuff here including a great exchange with the oracle and a tremendous final monologue. Special mention to Ian Bliss who played Bane who did a great job of playing the real world Smith. Totally surprised me. Anyways, like I said, this movie does not deserve the harsh reviews it got last year, and many reviewers are now pointing that out. But hey lets remember many sci fi classics were maligned themselves, for example, Blade Runner.... In the end all I can say is watch all 3 films. Get rid of any preconceived notions, forget the ridiculous hype just watch all 3 films and appreciate what the Wachowski brothers have done. The first truly exceptional science fiction trilogy of our time. Lucas dreamed it, but these guys actually did it and much much more. Take it from a huge science fiction fan and as a film fan. These movies deserve theire place as one of the great sagas. 4 1/2 stars
Rating:
Summary: Matrix Inverted
Review: Formula for an excellent sci-fi movie: first the story, second the story, and third the effects. Effects are the spice, not the main course. Avoid the movie. Instead, eat a box of curry powder and you'll have experienced Matrix Rev.
Rating: 
Summary: Alice in Wonderland with Machines...
Review: It's a trend, a fashion statement, it's business.
But not a movie. I am soooo tired of people being enthusiastic about plain crap! No doubt the trilogy comes to an end.
No doubt a lot of work went into it.
The best of it is its music (I mean the original score).
The rest is at best forgettable. It stems from a contorted mind of a spoiled child, who had too many ecstasy pills, acid, or some other fluffy stuff snorted up its nose. The best of the three remains the original "The Matrix".
It had an original story which made perfect sense and which was refreshing in its plot twists.
But "Reloaded" and "Revolutions" are both plain stupid and unnecessary sequels, only produced to create a trend or a fashion and therefore make money out of gullible people. Perhaps it is just me who finally sympathizes with Agent Smith, rather than with the wimpy Neo.
I never understood the fascination with a Messiah or for a "chosen one", which I find utterly dull and diminishing for the human race as thinking, breathing and creative individuals. This is perhaps why Germans followed a Bohemian corporal, to be their leader in the '30s. Nevertheless, the sequels are an offence to any well-read individual, who knows something about classic literature, mythology, theology, philosophy and above all, Wagner's tetralogy, created from the "Nibelungenlied". There is a mass of cross-cultural, cross-religious and cross-mythological references and deja-vus in them, that my head started to spin in disbelief. From Lewis Carroll's own "Alice in Wonderland", to Nitsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" and from Greek and German (or Nordic if you like) mythology to far eastern Bhuddism and Zen beliefs, through a good dose of theatrics borrowed from "The Ring of the Nibelungen", anything goes here. Anything, but true imagination and original creativity. In comparison, the other trilogy, taken from Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" is far better, far more entertaining than this monstrously over-stretched MTV-clip. I simply cannot understand that mature people can even contemplate these as movies.
They are just another fine example of Barnum & Bailey's Circus of special effects, nothing more. But then again, in this computerized world, taste is a matter of the beholder: usually that of a machine, not that of a thinking human being in flesh and blood. No wonder then, that there are already some nuts out there, who are willing to allow electronic implants to be inserted in their bodies, if not directly in their brains... Why not become machines ourselves?
We are so afraid of ageing and about the notion of death, that we would sell our souls to live forever.
But be careful what you wish for, you may get it.
The only glitch is, will eternal life truly be what one expects it to be? What if, instead of eternal life in health and prosperity, everything gets turned around, and you are forced into a life of mysery, sickness and doom?
Would you still want to live forever? And now back to these movies, which would have been far more interesting, if they had followed this train of thought, rather than going into a limbo of action-packed mayhem, only slightly dusted with some messianic philosophy, and peppered with a lot of mythological revisitations. In my view, and believe me when I say so, they are just a waste of money and time.
Still I own them all. You may wonder why.
Well, I expected a truly fascinating continuation to the first and best one and instead, "Reloaded" was just that: reloaded.
Then I thought to myself, oh well, the middle section of a story is never so enticing as the first, so let's see how it ends, and alas to my stupor I was confirmed what I feared the most: the second was truly just the first part of the third. Still I am thinking: is it possible that we are so stupid as to allow machines to rule us, or worse, that we will regress so much in our intelligence, as to allow the domination of machines over us? Using a tool or a machine for our convenience is not a bad thing, but to allow it to monopolize who we are, what we think or what we do, that's truly evil. Perhaps, this is the true and final message of the Warchowski Brothers, but this is just my guess and I doubt that if such a thing would happen, a Messiah would rise to save us.
No intelligent being would ever save a race of idiots, who have relinquished their freedom for some opportunistic comfort.
Especially not a Divine being at that! I gave it, them, 2 stars, just because of the effort made, but if I were you, and still interested in buying a Matrix movie, I'd stick to the original one and would just forget that it is part of a trilogy.
It stands pretty well on its own. My apologies go to all those I may have offended by my harsh words, but I had to vent my thoughts on these products, which to me are still not worth to bear the name of movie. If you like entertainment of this sort, but by far more sophisticated and not so trashy, I'd recommend the two X-Men movies.
Now, there's a couple which can rightfully be called movies.
Even though based on Comic strips, they have something that Matrix lacks: humanity.
Beautiful imagery, excellent and convincing acting, beautiful music (far from the hammering and monotonous music of Don Davis), and special effects that match the eye. If ever, then try to rather get hold of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which I have mentioned before. It is far more entertaining and refined than this "Gothic-Art" comic nonsense. And if again, you must have something gothic, but with a sense of taste, get hold of all Tim Burton's movies, including Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow and so on and so forth. They are all filled with a strange poetry, while dealing with rejects of society. But stay away from "The Matrix", at least from number two and number three. This is a friendly advice.
It's up to you now.
|
