Review: Matrix Revolutions, The (2003)

THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS
**  (out of ****)
a film review by
Richard A. Zwelling

When the Matrix trilogy started, we were given an unprecedented blend
of cutting-edge special-effects wizardry and highly substantive
science fiction.  The film made us think and at the same time got our
adrenaline going.  With The Matrix Reloaded, the substance began to
move into the passenger seat, and the film's unique visual flair
(coupled with well-choreographed action sequences) firmly gripped the
wheel.

Now comes The Matrix Revolutions,  the final installment of the
trilogy, and unfortunately the substance is not even in the backseat,
but is, as Eddie Izzard once said in a similar analogy, standing at
the traffic intersection cleaning windshields.  The overly wordy and
meandering philosophy, which rose to new levels in the second film,
seems even more pretentious and unnecessary here and is used as a mask
to conceal the fact that the trilogy has lost its most vital elements
and stooped to becoming a second-rate crowd-pleaser.

Granted, the action is spectacularly executed and succeeds in
generating emotion from the audience, but it does so in a pedestrian
manner that caters to a mindless audience that will cheer loudly
anytime something good happens to a character that looks "good"(and
even more loudly when something bad happens to a character that looks
"bad").  The result is a complete betrayal of the spirit of the first
film.  I am now refusing to call it a trilogy anymore.  There is and
always will be only one film.

Without going too heavily into specifics, the conclusion of the film
continues the highly religious metaphors that were so subtly and
seamlessly woven into the first film.  Here, however, the use is
laughably overt and maudlin.  The pointless, unengaging drama of the
previous half-hour only made my spiraling opinions worse.

Returning to the first film for a moment, I want to address the notion
of ideas in action movies.  That sounds like blasphemy, right?  Ideas
are thing that the Bad Boys, Tomb Raiders, and S.W.A.T.s of today just
won't allow, right?

Let';s take a brief moment to look at one of the greatest sci-fi films
ever made:  Ridley Scott's Alien (which was recently re-released into
theaters as a Director's Cut).  What made this film so great?  You
guessed it...ideas.  You cannot just mindlessly create an effective
hybridization of sci-fi and horror without careful thought and
planning.  The claustrophobic scene in the ventilation shaft
represents one of the most well-thought, well-executed blends of
direction and editing ever put on film.  We are on Ripley's side, not
because she is made to look like an easily identifiable good guy, but
because Sigourney Weaver's thoughtful blend of toughness, sincerity,
determination, and maternity earns our admiration and respect.

Moving back to the first Matrix film, we see a similar pattern.  While
the action was indeed breathtaking and revolutionary, it was always in
close conjunction with the film's core ideas and never sidestepped
them.  A genuinely human character was placed at the center.  He had a
genuinely human problem that each of us encounters at one point or
another.  Is there more to life?  What if none of this is real, and
what if I am mindlessly plodding through day-to-day existence unaware
of a deeper reality?

Granted, I am not about to deem Keanu Reeves a master thespian, but
that did not matter.  His portrayal of Neo was enough to communicate
those doubtful thoughts and cause us to identify with him.  The idea
of a hidden reality was then masterfully exploited to create a sci-fi
marvel that invited both philosophical rumination and elevated
heart-rates.

Now, compare this to the third film, where this "hidden world"has
become increasingly commonplace, the characters have lost their
engaging qualities, and all that seems to matter is endless
pyrotechnics.  Sure, the battle scenes are huge and visually
arresting, but to what end?  The probing philosophical material has
become gibberish and gives off an air of trying to be more hip than
intelligent.

Make no mistake.  An initially original and fascinating concept has
been reduced to a prosaic orgy for the eyes.  Due to standard use of
cinematic battle heroics, there will no doubt be endless cheers in the
theaters each time The Matrix Revolutions is screened.  This I find
saddest of all.  It pains me to think that people don't realize just
how much is missing in relation to the first film, and just how
second-rate the material they are seeing on screen is.

==========
X-RAMR-ID: 36369
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1221849
X-RT-TitleID: 1127201
X-RT-AuthorID: 7583
X-RT-RatingText: 2/4