Review: Matrix Revolutions, The (2003)

Matrix Revolutions

Catch it on HBO

If you loved the first Matrix, scratched your head at the second, and 
actually care about getting those unanswered questions taken care of 
in the 3rd one, maybe this isn't the movie for you.  It will only 
make you mad.  The only question I had left over from #2 (thanks to 
some incredibly geeky exchanges with my fan BPL) was "How are they 
going to handle Gloria Foster's, the Oracle's, death?"  I was 
satisfied and even pleased with that answer.  The rest, well, my 
goodness.

Let me put it this way.  I saw a 4pm showing with a perfectly ample 
supply of caffeine in my veins and I was nodding off (the whole 
whiplash head jerk thing and all) during the big game of Galaxian, 
er, I mean the attack on the dock.  When there were actually people 
on screen, I was kept amused, if not engaged.  Plenty of stuff 
happened and you couldn't care why, mostly because the movie itself 
didn't seem to care.  We go to Merovingian's Hell Club and he sits 
there being all French and Rupert Evertty with Persephone, but why was 
he in this movie?  At least the first Matrix tried to explain déjà vu 
- this movie doesn't even both er to justify itself.

Maybe I did forget all the crucial subliminal mythological clues, but 
I was totally unengaged by the story and the characters and the 
complete and utter lack of faithfulness to the Matrix's original 
world of expectation.  I really didn't know (or care) what anyone was 
talking about. We know the Matrix is a computer construct designed by 
machines to keep us happy in our pods as we fuel their machine world. 
We know some humans escaped and live in a Coors Light commercial 
somewhere that the machines want to, and apparently routinely 
destroy.  We know Agent Smith is basically a virus and he's not part 
of the Grand Scheme of things.  But then, so, why did that ending 
happen?

Far too often I was reminded of the latter day Star Wars 
embarrassments - all flash and bother and no meat or potatoes.  Yeah, 
sure, the sets and design elements and all the tricks were there, 
looking good.  I really enjoyed the use of reflective surfaces in 
this film.  Seriously, that stuff was still cool.  Flat, affectless 
characters with no chemistry interacting with a dire urgency that 
does not translate like it did before.  Gobs of gratuitous flipping 
and twirling (though I did like the "any surface is the floor" 
shoot-em-up scene that reminded me of the one part of Lara Croft Tomb 
Raider Cradle of Life that was interestingly shot.  But Phantom 
Menace and Cradle of Life are hardly resounding reminders of quality 
fillmmaking.  Except for using the agonizing William Gibson slang of 
"jacking in," this movie didn't even remind me of the Matrix!  And 
still, Trinity and Neo together  turn my stomach.  What was a 
brilliant post-cyberpunk cool thing has turned into a Lucasesque 
profit machine with no soul.  Damn that makes me mad!

I didn't even get all the Agent Smith I wanted.  Yeah, he's all over, 
but how can even he make an anticlimax?  And then what about the 
actual bad guys?  Or wait, are they good guys?  Do they even DO 
anything?  Like all the Oracles throughout history advise, "Temet 
nosce" - well I know I don't want any more of this.  Bummer.

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These reviews (c) 2003 Karina Montgomery.  Please feel free to 
forward but credit the reviewer in the text.  Thanks.    You can 
check out previous reviews at:
http://www.cinerina.com   and   http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com - the 
Online Film Critics Society
http://www.hsbr.net/reviews/karina/listing.hsbr - Hollywood Stock 
Exchange Brokerage Resource

==========
X-RAMR-ID: 36279
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1217668
X-RT-TitleID: 1127201
X-RT-SourceID: 755
X-RT-AuthorID: 3661
X-RT-RatingText: 2/5