THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS

Or, The Matrix Revelations as my wife calls it. Revelations, as in the book of the Bible as the series’ religious underpinnings become more pronounced - and not as in anything being revealed as such. I suppose that years of watching X-Files episodes should have inured one to the idea that anything would be properly explained or resolved by the end of this third – and final – film in the series, but it is still one cop-out of an ending . . .

If you have been disappointed by the second film, Matrix Reloaded, then your mood won’t improve with this one. At least the second film had an exciting and well-done car chase scene. This film, when the action finally picks up, has scenes borrowed from Aliens and The Terminator. The film’s climax (or make that anti-climax) is stolen right from Superman II.

Picking up right where the second film left off, The Matrix Revolutions is straightforward connect-the-dots plotting. There is Neo (Keanu Reeves) fighting the rogue agent Mr. Smith, and the epic battle between the machines and the human rebels of the underground city of Zion. There are few surprises along the way and even less is explained.

Along the way you’ll be asking yourself questions like “Just what the hell is exactly happening?”; “Why does Neo have all these superpowers outside the matrix?”; “Or are they still in the matrix?”; “Why does the Oracle sound like a fortune cookie - except less lucid?”; and “Why does that one guy look like KFC’s Colonel Sanders? Does this count as product placement? Did KFC pay for this?” And so forth.

Don’t get me wrong: The Matrix Revolutions is a brilliant accomplishment. The visual effects and production designs are fantastic. We especially loved the machine city towards the end – a mixture between Metropolis and some of the more drug-induced Jack Kirby/Marvel Comics moments.

But this movie clearly illustrates that the machines have already won: the computer-generated effects are great while we care nothing for the humans populating the film. One extended death scene of a major character simply had me fidgeting in my seat for instance.

The truth is that this film and its predecessor count as being some of the most superfluous sequels in movie history. Except for reasons of pure avarice they are almost as unnecessary as the two Star Wars “prequels” (Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones) although not quite as bad. Reloaded and Revolutions add nothing to what was already expounded in the original 1999 Matrix flick. They bring no new revelations (there I go again), characterization or insights to the world of the original film. All we are left with are action sequences – although they are technically excellent – that seem more at home in computer games than in a movie.

Matrix Revelations indeed. Like the Book in the Bible, this movie is just as obscure and indecipherable – and while this might be “cool” in any other context, here it is just plain infuriating and disappointing . . .
 

• Read the script.