The Matrix Revolutions (Widescreen Edition)

Rating:
Summary: A satisfying conclusion.
Review: When Warner Bros. released Andy and Larry Wachowski's baby, The Matrix, on the world in 1999, they unleashed a phenomenon on cinema of epic proportions. The script had the heart of a classic romance adventure, borrowing from religion, mythology, philosophy, science fiction, "cyber-punk", and possessed enough creativity to make it all seem fresh again. The actors all turned in solid performances. The film's mish-mash style of everything form noir to anime was something to behold. And the visual effects dropped jaws while the Hong Kong fight choreography broke them.

Now, in 2003, with The Matrix Revolutions, the Wachowski Brothers conclude what has become The Matrix Trilogy. Revolutions is decidedly different in many ways from the other two films in the trilogy. It's soundtrack, with the exception of two scenes, is far darker, more dynamic and more orchestral than before. With a full choir singing in Sanskrit during one of the films climatic scenes, you'll think the world is ending alongside the film; very powerful aurally.

The film itself takes place almost entirely in the "real" world, which proves to be both a blessing and a curse. It makes this last installment very different visually than the prior two, but at the very same time prevents the film from giving us much of what made the first two so damned cool (the style, the gravity-defying fighting and acrobatics). In many parts, Revolutions merely feels like a futuristic war movie where the enemy merely happens to be an army of giant robot squids. Unfortunately, the Wachowski Brothers are less capable at maintaining their pacing and interest in the real world, and it's not until Neo (Keanu Reeves) returns to the illusionary construct of the Matrix for his final face off against Smith (Hugo Weaving) that the film really picks up momentum. The script is uneven; some moments have real poignancy and power, while others are completely and utterly lame. The lack of consistency is annoying, but never fully ruins the movie.

Revolutions also tones down Reloaded's almost overflowing philosophical thought. The end result is decidedly debatable. On the one hand, those who complained about not understanding the second film will appreciate the decidedly less brainy conclusion. On the other hand, it makes this third film seem decidedly "dumber" than the second. While Revolutions still brings up some interesting dilemmas regarding faith and concludes well by returning to the trilogy's grand point of choice, it still feels a bit too simplified, particularly the ending. Reloaded ended with such an incredible cliffhanger, with so many new questions and amazing ideas to toy with. Unfortunately, the majority of these ideas are put back in the idea drawer, and a lot of the questions go unanswered, or are given vague, simplistic ones that are far less interesting that one would have imagined them to be. The end result is many fans will feel decidedly let down upon first viewing of this concluding chapter.

Cinematically, this film smartly goes back to its roots in several places. Neo and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) bring out some signature fighting moves from the first movie, which are a welcome sight. The hand-blurring technique from Neo's first sparring match with Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), used in the first film, is brought back for the final battle, again a welcome addition.

However, despite all this, Revolutions essentially runs out of steam. Most of the action scenes, despite their loving choreography and technologically fantastic staging, feel tired by this point; Reloaded raised the bar, but Revolutions never clears the new level. Nothing in this film really accelerates the pulse like before. The war scenes are impressive, but out of place, and could have been halved without any noticeable difference. If the Wachowski Brothers had trimmed some of the "fat" from both Reloaded and Revolutions, and made the two into one three hour piece, it might have worked a bit better. As it is, Revolutions is an entertaining picture, and if it were not for producer Joel Silver running up immense hype, probably would have been more successful.

Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Ending
Review: Picking up immediately after the cliff-hanger ending of Reloaded, Revolutions is a perfect ending to the trilogy. Albeit a little predictable, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Zion rallies to battle against the impending onslaught, Neo and Trinity make their way to the machine city to fight off Agent Smith, and Niobe and Morpheus make their way toward Zion with the last remaining EMP. The forces allign themselves in the cataclysmic showdown which will decide the fate of humans and machines alike. The third installment is better than both the previous two, and this is a must have. Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurene Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Rating:
Summary: Worst in The Matrix Series...................
Review: -
I think My expectations were very high from this last movie in The Matrix series.But I must say I was very dissapointed the way this movie was ended.

In the beginning it was very intresting but after middle it looses its power to make you see it till the end.God it was so Boring.

I am really sorry to say that.I loved previous two parts very much.

Rating:
Summary: THIS IS IT, THE END OF THE MATRIX SAGA
Review: THIS TIME, NEO AND HIS FRIENDS MUST STOP THE MACHINES FROM POSSIBLY INVADING AND DESTROYING ZION BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. LOADED WITH FIRST-CLASS ACTING AND SUPERB ACTION AND SPECIAL EFFECTS, THIS IS ONE HELL OF A FINALE TO THE VERY IMPRESSIVE MATRIX TRILOGY. EVERYONE IN THE CAST GIVES IT THEIR ALL IN THIS ONE. IF YOU LIKED EITHER OF THE FIRST TWO MOVIES, YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY GET DOWN TO YOUR LOCAL VIDEO STORE AND RENT THIS MOVIE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. A MUST FOR ACTION AND SCI-FI FANS.

Rating:
Summary: Forever An Unfulfilled Trilogy - Upsetting Disappointment
Review: Ever since coming out of the movie theatre after seeing The Matrix: Reloaded, my mind had been thinking over and over about the possible great endings to such a phenomenon. I was thinking perhaps that the Wachowski brothers had purposely left us very on edge for a mind-blowing conclusion to this sci-fi epic. Well, very sadly, I was wrong. Friends of mine and I had increasing anticipation for Revolutions, expecting so much from it, which only made the end result even more depressing.

After both The Matrix and Reloaded, you thought that the brothers could not go wrong, they were able to create the story in 1999, sustain its mystique and action in May 2003, but have no idea how to end such a complex saga. Everything was perfect, even down to the soundtracks - you knew that they couldn't go wrong at this point. And it's such a shame that it all ended the way it did, I sat in my seat of the theatre just thinking "that cannot be the end?!?! It can't be!", expecting there to be another scene of dialogue to explain absolutely everything, to give all the answers... but it never came. Instead, you got a very cliched ending, which would annoy every one of the hardcore Matrix fans out there - the philosophy had vanished, the amazing kung-fu sequences, and coolness of the all black look and sunglasses - all for a cold Zion and a dull feeling while watching the film. I regret for what I will write, I hate criticising this film because of the greatness of the first two but certain things have to be said. I had no idea that such an ending was coming.

Continuing exactly where Reloaded left off, you find both Neo and Agent Smith (in human form as Bane) in a coma, and the humans preparing for battle against the machines who are drilling their way through to Zion. Then you find Neo in a world between worlds - between the real world and the matrix, with you having no idea how he got there. The story then speaks for itself. With some poor pieces of dialogue, used ideas and too many special effects - Revolutions was nothing special compared to its predecessors.

The Matrix - all about those beautifully choreographed fight scenes, interesting philosophical conversation and the cool all black costumes: this was not to be in the third instalment. There are two, very brief hand-to-hand combat scenes (including the final showdown with Neo Vs Smith) and an overlong CGI sentinel battle, which was not what Matrix action sequences were about. Yes, have some gunfire and explosions, but you know it was really all about how much arse could be kicked by Neo, Morpheus and Trinity. Impressive yes, but Revolutions did not really look, or even feel, like a Matrix movie. It didn't have any would-be favourite lines, memorable, yet inspirational lines by Morpheus, like the previous two films had. To put it simply, it just wasn't as enjoyable nor as gripping as the first or as action packed as the second. And the ending fight scene, the one we all had really been looking forward to, was a huge let down, especially coming from the Wachowski brothers - you get tired of too much flying and not enough actual fighting between the two men, it gets very confusing indeed. And Neo being "The One" certainly doesn't act it because he is made to look weak against Smith in the end. You were maybe thinking, "Ok, this is what we have all been waiting for at last" but, to put it simply, no.

Character development was another big factor in this film - there was none! The Merovigian, the comical French program, had only enough screen time to eat just three olives. You would have thought that this guy had a lot to do with the Matrix, as Reloaded had made him out to be an important, dangerous person, but his character is cut short in a very blunt way, you don't even find out who he is or what he does. And for his wife? In short - she has one line. Plus, too many new characters were introduced here, and took up way too much screen time and were insignificant to the story. Keanu Reeves was off screen for the majority of the film... and he's "The One", the main character. And Morpheus? The producers had not only put a knife in Laurence Fisburne's back, but a bullet as well, as he had no real part in this film. His scenes were too short and he did not have enough lines to say.

I suppose visual effects really saved this film, as the plot spiralled out of control, becoming way too complex, even for the Wachowski's to comprehend - they either lost interest, ran out of special effects, or most likely ran out of ideas. They spent three months just designing the rain drops in the battle between Neo and Smith! That three months could have been spent on the ending at least, let alone the whole film itself. Which makes you wonder - why release both films in such a rush? It seems in the four years the spent making the two, all efforts were concentrated on trying to make Reloaded the great follow up success that it is, then only leaving just enough time to fit in two fight scenes and a sentinel attack for the third instalment. To be honest, I would have rather waited an extra year, perhaps even more, for a really good ending rather then a quickly put together climax, because I had favoured the strategy of leaving so many unanswered questions, a mystery - then for them to explain it all, end it completely in Revolutions. It never happened.

But now, as I and many others have witnessed, there will be an eternal disappointment and resentfulness to Revolutions and how great it could have been, I hope the Wachowski's realise this as much as we do.

Rating:
Summary: Will please fans, but not likely anybody else
Review: The final entry in the Matrix trilogy will disappoint some - probably many of those who weren't hardcore Matrix fans. Picking up where the last movie left off (and I'm not going to regale you with what the Matrix is about, because if you haven't seen either of the other movies, you really have no business watching "Revolutions"), the humans' hidden city of Zion faces certain annihilation by the "Machine Army".

(Okay - in a distant future, a civilization of intelligent machines enslaves almost all humanity, using human bio-energy to power themselves; the unfortunate humans who are born and ultimately die while tapped by the machines remain oblivious to their fate because their consciousness remains trapped in a vast virtual reality known as "The Matrix"; the first flick taught us how existence their was split between the consciousness of those imprisoned there and AI programs who kept order; "Reloaded" added an interesting spin - rather than just an Us (humans) against them (Machines outside the Matrix and AI programs on the inside) AI programs were depicted as sophisticated, able to mathematically deduce what were seemingly human feelings of love, lust, frustration, dissension and regret. We met the Merovingian - an almost god-like program who reconstructed himself as a Francophiliac philosopher of free choice; the "Keymaker" an obsolete program who doesn't let his impending destruction keep him from making keys for doors meant to remain locked, and pointing the way for those lost; we also found out that the enigmatic "Oracle" was herself a high-level program; and we finally met the architect himself. Rather then merely single-mindedly enslave and exploit us, these bits of heavyweight AI waxed with surprising intelligence on free choice.

At the end of the last movie, Neo (Reeves) learned from the Architect that he was not destined by fate to save mankind from the machines - but actually chosen by the machines to fulfill his role in their order in which Zion is repeatedly created and then destroyed (the machines, being essentially equation-crunching computers, thrive on predictable patterns; it's our free choice, not just our freedom, that sets us apart from the machines). Though the machines are assured of their victory over the humans, they've got problems of their own - namely the AI program Agent Smith (Weaving). Once only a cog in the Matrix whom we thought destroyed by Neo in "The Matrix", we learnt in "Reloaded" that only his connection to the AI was destroyed, but Smith himself not only remained in existence, but found the power to turn others in the Matrix into clones of himself. By the end of "Reloaded", Smith was able to make the biggest jump of all - cloning himself onto one of Zion's agents and leaping into the next world in the body of a human. In "Revolutions", the humans face an awesome attack by the machines. Neo and Trinity fight to reach the main AI at the center of the machines' city while Morpheus and Niobe race time and a fleet of the Machines' sentinels to reach their own. Meanwhile, within the Matrix itself, Smith consolidates his power by cloning everything into himself.

"Revolutions" is very much a mixed bag - the metaphysics and plotlines developed in the first two movies are not entirely served by the comparatively abrupt ending. Also, the plot separates characters who should remain together - Trinity joins Neo on his futile journey to the machines because that plays up the romance angle of the flick, but shouldn't it be Morpheus who goes along? (Before Trinity fell in love with Neo, it was Morpheus who believed in him, and it was Morpheus's faith that was shattered at the end of "Reloaded" - what better way, in a story about predestination and free-choice, to develop a character than by showing it acting first on perceived fate, then by free-choice? So Trinity and Neo have their romantic moment while Morpheus & Niobe are nearly drowned by clouds of CGI-rendered Sentinels). That aside, "Revolutions" is still an adrenaline-soaked feast for the eyes, one that pushes the boundaries of what you can show, even in wide-screen format. The climactic attack on Zion - in which humans battle clouds of sentinels, and mammoth drill robots, easily outstrips the lame all-CGI battles of the last "Star Wars" movies (it's sort of a mix between "Starship Troopers" and Tolkein). For a CGI fest, "Revolutions" leans heavily on some very human FX - Morpheus is still loveable for his pseudo-zen koans, while Hugo Weaving's deadpan delivery will keep him as cinema's most chillingly convincing manifestation of artificial intelligence. Also, special kudos to Ian Bliss, a human who becomes Smith's vessel in the "real" world, and gives us all a valuable how-to-sound-like-Hugo Weaving lesson. If you want a nice and tidy story, go watch "Star Trek". For a more complicated ride, plug into the Matrix.

Rating:
Summary: More of how the future will be then what the present is
Review: The Matrix Revolutions in a sense breaks away from the philosophical mish mesh laid out in the first two parts. For any one studies or knows any philosophy the Matrix trilogy is by far groundbreaking and accurate when it comes to the philosophical attributes of what is reality, shaping human destiny, irrealism and even things that appears to be Kafka-esque. Yet the probelm with philosophy or even in the last two series of the Matrix the deal with worlds and sense of perfection lies in someone's else's head or world and that to project on anybody else is extremely dangerous and stupid.

In my opinion, the Third series kinds of mature away from the hubristic philosophical presumptions of reality and irreality(even though I must admit is pretty interesting and what makes the Matrix trilogy great movies) and focus on attention on how the future really is going to be.

It is the war scenes that really caught my attention between the humans of Zions and the machines battling it out. It is amazing afterall that in the future wars aren't going to be fought with huge fleets of ships or hundreds of thousands of soldiers rushing onto a target but rather more like with high tech knights and advance technology that can do a lot more damage. No wonder you are starting to see previews here and there for the sequel to Star Ship Troopers 2.

I hope they come out with another part. Because no one cannot take seriously a point of a movie that when the machines finally left that peace will last forever. There are for sure thousands of Mr. Smith or Agent Smith ready to come onto the scenes but the question remains under what guise.

One of the things I like about the Matrix Series,especially this last part, it doesn't neglect the energies that shapes history and fuel war. After all, Neo becomes the chosen one. Even when his eyes are gorged out or Trinity gets killed, he still succeeds not only as a 'strong warrior' but also as a diplomat. Of course what the next Matrix needs to do is to look at the element of time. As generation lapses, on the one hand, lots tend to be forgotten that we in present cherish or for that matter take for granted and ,on the other hand, even if later generations compare to before choose to connect themselves to the past, the creeds, mores, and the sources is just isn't there anymore.

Rating:
Summary: The best movie ever.
Review: The other two Matrix movies were good, but not that great as you would jump off a roof to see. But this one is definitely THE movie: It has everything a great movie needs. It would be impossible to ignore the sheer power that everyone in the cast puts into their roles. The story is great and gripping: it leaves a lasting impression on your mind. While the previous two movies were superb, but sometimes lacking, this one is just absolutely GREAT. A must-see.

Rating:
Summary: Yes it is that bad
Review: This movie is hardly what I expected going into the theatre. Sure the second wasn't that grand but it was interesting in a way. One of the things that made the first two movies so watchable was the last second survivals when all seemed lost. And awesome use of techno music. In the third, painfully abrupt deaths replace last second saves.The one notable worthy change is the Orchrestrated music which summons a grandiose level that is perfect for the conclusion to a trilogy.

This movie's pacing is very weak not even comparable to the earlier movies, at times not looking sure of it's intended direction or audience for that matter. Scenes just run on till a change of pace is decided. Unlike the first two movies there are no memorable moments anymore to think of. Scenes are cool for seconds not even minutes. Even the final fight scene is interesting at first then becomes just another one of many scenes that had enormous potental but squandered it to waisted opportunitys.

Questions posed are left up in the air and I don't mean in some mysterious mystical way, I mean not explained at all.
Can anyone explain how neo gets trapped in the train station to begin with. I red a thesis from someone who hailed the movie a masterpiece and theorized that the merovingian made it happen. No, that's not it. Because on closer inspection even the merovingian is baffled, he goes so far as to ask trinity how it happened.

Finally,the worst and final straw here is that this movies climax manages to undermine the other movies that came before it.
In the annals of modern cinema, this is huge.... This movie will go down as the biggest dissapointment, the biggest disaster in movie history. Mainly for what it is and partially for what it was supposed to accomplish.

nuff said

Rating:
Summary: Mixed bag
Review: This movie has its strengths and weaknesses. My opinion of it has declined since I saw it, and I do think it's the weakest of the trilogy, but it's definitley still worth seeing.

Pros - Some really excellent scenes, from the murky fight in the club to the more intense battle inside the craft between Neo and Smith, and of course the final battle, which may be a bit overwrought but is still visually impressive. Also I don't think Reeves' performance is as bad as some people say; it wouldn't make sense for him to express emotion strongly when the plot of the series has gradually been turning him into a superhuman, detached, Christ-like figure; I think a lot of his blankness may be intentional.

Cons - There is a lot of bad acting, admittedly, and a lot of moments which are embarassing in their sentimentality or simply their lack of sense. The movie's worst flaw, though, is its inabilty to give the series a satisfying conclusion; a message, or a definite feeling, just basically a reason for its existence. You really feel like the second two movies were pointless; competent, maybe, but pointless.

In the end, three stars seems fair. People almost certainly expected too much, and now they take delight in savaging this movie, but I think it's a fairly solid three stars.