Review: Matrix Revolutions, The (2003)

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When we last spent some time with our machine-fighting Scooby Gang, Neo
(Keanu Reeves) was trapped in a crazy world somewhere between reality and
the Matrix after thwarting a Sentinel attack and yanking girlfriend Trinity
(Carrie-Anne Moss) out of Death's clutches.  Also, that diabolical Agent
Smith (Hugo Weaving) had wormed his way into the carcass of Bane (Ian
Bliss), which all but guarantees to gum up Neo's plans in The Matrix:
Revolutions, the final chapter in the Wachowski brothers' trilogy about
stylish sunglasses, leather trenchcoats, freshly baked cookies and Wire Fu.

Here's what blows about Revolutions:  There's nothing as cool as the freeway
scene from Reloaded, or even that film's bookends of Trinity jumping out the
window and blasting away at one of the agents while hurtling toward the
ground.  There's precious little hand-to-hand gunplay, and the martial arts
are virtually restricted to the final 10 minutes.  After being forced to
wait so long for it, I figured the big finale would have blown me away while
making me forget all about who Bill is or why anyone would want to kill him.
But it didn't - it was disappointing.  And there was even less of Monica
Bellucci this time.  Christ, they manage to cram Elisha Cuthbert into a
storyline of 24 every week.  Why couldn't La Bellucci get chased by a
mountain lion or something?

Revolutions takes a while to get going, and when it does, the film zooms
from first gear to, like, twelfth, becoming a big, noisy videogame as the
Sentinels finally burrow their way into a fully armed Zion.  There's
religious-tinged music making things seem so much more important than they
really are.  There are those half-Robocop, half-Ripley's Queen killing suits
briefly shown in Reloaded.  And, yes, there are plenty of the bullshit
philosophical quandaries about fate and destiny, and whether Neo, the Oracle
(Mary Alice) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) should be trusted to decide
the fate of Zion.

On the plus side, a lot of the elements that seemed distracting and out of
place in Reloaded now make sense.  The Kid (Clayton Watson) and Zee (Nona
Gaye) each have important roles, helping to defend Zion against the millions
of flailing Doc Oc arms while Neo is busy flying right into the heart of
Machine City (Isn't that what they call Miami?  Wait, that's Tool City).  I
appreciated the Wachowskis' decision to show these two events independently
of each other, instead of flopping back and forth between the two threads.
But the decision to give Neo an additional handicap (besides Keanu's flat
acting, I mean) was kind of dumb.  Reeves as Zatoichi?  That's a tough sell.

A side note:  Gloria Foster played the Oracle in the first two films but
died before they could shoot her Revolutions scenes (as did Aaliyah, but
that's another story).  Her replacement, Mary Alice, also played the mother
of Harold Perrineau, Jr. (Link) on HBO's Oz.

2:09 - R for sci-fi violence and brief sexual content

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X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1214225
X-RT-TitleID: 1127201
X-RT-SourceID: 595
X-RT-AuthorID: 1146
X-RT-RatingText: 6/10