The Matrix Revolutions | | Cast : | Lambert Wilson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne | | Director : | Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | November 05, 2003 | | DVD Released Date : | September 14, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 12, 2005 | | Summary | 5 Stars! 1 Star! Welcome to the Desert of the Real! | Content
 | We know from our indoctrination into the philosophy of the Matrix movies that there are two worlds: one is the waking dream that is the "Matrix", a world generated by the Machines to keep us shackled in illusion while we're used as living batteries. Tne second world is that of the Desert of the Real: you have no job. You have no cubicle. You have no rent-controlled apartment with a nosy landlord.
Everything you see before you, all the "evidence" of your senses, is an ambitious fraud: you are kept in a cocoon, envatted in a snare of pink fluid and dreams, convinced you live and walk and talk and breathe the air of a free man in a free society.
In other words: the Real, and the Illusory. The Wachowski Brothers have made a great flick technically (ie: the realm of the illusory): they have stormed the ramparts of what great cinema should look like, and---who knows?---stormed the ramparts of how movies should be made.
They have also churned out a flick that betrays the rich ideas of the first film. In the same spirit, and because it is unfair to "Matrix Revolutions" to judge it according to either its technical flair or its philosophical limitations, I shall provide a rare dual review, also in keeping with the dual realities of the Matrix.
MATRIX REVIEW(The World of Illusion): 5 stars out of 5. My God this movie looks great! This flick cost 150 million smackers to make, and every penny---every red cent---of that budget is up on the screen! Look at the dual, perhaps triplicate, realities the Wachowskis have conjured up: the slick, techno, ephemeral, ghost-green world of the Matrix, green-hued, lorded over by the fast-talking Merovingian, the consummate Rabbit hole-within-Rabbit-hole. So gorgeous it makes you wish you'd taken the Blue Pill. Maybe there's still time?
Anyway, the flick looks amazing. Even if you're disgusted with it, pop it back into the hopper, and look at the thing! Look at the ropy steel-and-red-burning-laser-eye contraptions of the Sentinels, or the gigantic drill that burrows through the rooftop to Zion and then plummets to the floor of the cavern below! This is simply one of the greatest, most hyper-kinetic action flicks ever filmed; the fear in the Great Hall when the battle mechas confront the swarming sentinel reeks of war and sweat and death and fear. I love it!
Classic. The fight between Neo and Agent Smith (the great Hugo Weaving in his generation-defining, massively quoted role) is one for the ages: the rain, the generic cityscape, the rows and rows and rows of Agent Smiths watching from the streets, from the windows of the otherwise vacant office buildings. Brrrr.
ZION REVIEW(The Desert of the Real): 1 out of 5 Stars. Blah! Desert of the Real is right: great characters from "The Matrix" go through the motions: Neo (Keanu Reeves)sleepwalks through his role, Morpheus (Larry Fishburne) looks like he's about ready to call out for a pizza---someone should have budgeted for Fishburne a personal trainer, or at the least put the big guy on the Atkins diet.
Trinity (the nimble Carrie Anne Moss) provides earnest eye candy. Neo (Keanu Reeves) does his Neo-thang. Nothing is resolved. Heretical yet intriguing theories provoked by "Matrix Reloaded" (the "Matrix-within-a-Matrix" theory suggested by Neo's ability to stop the sentinels in the "real" world) are nodded to and then ignored. Yes, the trailer promised us great things---"It all ends tonight"---but we get zero delivery. The huge questions---does any of this matter? Is Zion Real?---are ignored.
Alright. Real World: 1 Star. Matrix World: (all the CGI goodies and cinematic wizardry): 5 Stars. Listen to Hugo Weaving's dialogue; Weaving, as Agent Smith/Bane, completely owns this movie and gives it its black wicked heart. Bully to him! Sample the raw sheer audacious techno style of the Merovingian (the incomparable Lambert Wilson), who found French to be the superlative language of the Insult.
Ogle Monica Belluci (the luscious Persephone), who just looks ripe. Wonder how Harvard law prof and Ivy League resident crackpot ever bribed the Wachowskis to be in this movie. Just don't expect any answers, deep meaning, or conclusions. What, you thought you'd find the meaning of Life in a blockbuster flick? Sheesh.
It's stylish, it's wicked black, it bumps and grinds, it's pretty cool. Ultimately it answers none of the questions. Do you care? Take the Blue Pill! Take the Red Pill! You'll find that with "Matrix Revolutions" it makes no difference.
JSG |
| Rating | | | Date | July 28, 2005 | | Summary | Could anyone please explain me what happened? | Content
| This movie feels forced, almost like if they had simply shot it to complete the trilogy, the death of the main characters and the ending simply left me aghast because of their absurdity. And all that quasi-philoshophical babble ends being laughable: "Cogito ergo sum vis a vis, capicci?". Why the trouble of watching three movies if at the end everything is cycled and planned beforehand by the machines? I can only marvel at how far this movie is from that "Matrix" that amazed audiences and movie critics alike and went to win 4 Oscar movie awards. Almost always the third installment is the worst in a series: Superman 3, Jaws 3, Alien 3. Don't waste your money and better go and read a good Sci-Fi novel. Carlos M. Santillan H. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 18, 2005 | | Summary | Disappointing | Content
| The original Matrix should have been left as a classic, stand-alone movie. Is there any effective follow-up to a messiah tale? (I know Frank Herbert fans would argue vehemently against me.) But Hollywood always wants to capitalize on commercial success and squeeze every dollar possible out of a concept. So many story arcs and sub plots started in the second movie are abruptly dropped or never pursued in this final installment of the trilogy. It is as if the movie makers suddenly said "Oh @$%, we gotta finish this movie - QUICK!" The plot shift is so drastic and unbelievable as to be almost comical.
My Advice: See and love the first Matrix, then never, ever watch the following two movies. You'll be happier.
|
| Rating | | | Date | July 12, 2005 | | Summary | Worse than the second movie | Content
| This film is like watching the Super Bowl and havng it end in a tie. That's exactly what happens at the end--the entire war between the machines and the people ends in a draw.
Imagine if Jaws ended that way. Roy and the shark getting cozy on a couch and saying, "No hard feelings bud!"
Pathetic! |
| Rating | | | Date | July 11, 2005 | | Summary | Disappointing | Content
| The Matrix Revolutions represents a disappointing way for the science fiction trilogy to bow out. Overlong and underwhelming, The Matrix Revolutions reinforces the thinking that it's a rare movie series in which the final chapter is the strongest. In this installment, the intelligence and ideas that formed one of the cornerstones of the original The Matrix, and were still in evidence in The Matrix Reloaded, have been shunted aside in favor of computer-generated action that makes about 1/3 of this movie look like a video game on the big screen.
The problems with the film are easy enough to pinpoint. It's pretentious (this was true, at least to a degree, of its predecessors) - we're expected to approach this film with the same solemnity that the Wachowski Brothers do. The action is hackneyed - the slo-mo martial arts stuff was neat the first time, but it was already getting old by the time it was re-used in The Matrix Reloaded. Now, it's past the expiration date, and the Wachowskis fail to come up with anything genuinely new or innovative to enhance or improve upon it. The pacing is uneven - the first hour is bogged down with talking and unnecessary exposition; not until the half-way point does the energy level shoot up. And the payoff is weak. Had this been a stand-alone popcorn science fiction adventure, it might have been enjoyable, but this is a poor way to end a trilogy. Expectations built up by the first two films are not fulfilled. One could be forgiven for anticipating something more momentous than a long shoot-'em-up followed by a glorified fistfight. And the "twist," if it can be called that, is hardly earthshaking.
The Matrix Revolutions begins where The Matrix Reloaded ended - with Neo (Keanu Reeves) in a coma after defeating a few sentinels. Actually, his mind is stuck in a sort of limbo (that looks like a train station) between the Matrix and the Real World. Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss) go in after him, and are forced to make a deal with the annoyingly cultured Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) to retrieve him. Meanwhile, Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), has found a way to escape from the Matrix in his unending quest to eliminate Neo. The machines are about to finish off Zion, and Lock (Harry J. Lennix) is running out of options. Morpheus, Link (Harold Perrineau Jr.), and Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) decide to return to the human city, but Neo and Trinity believe their destiny lies elsewhere. So, with the fate of mankind riding on their shoulders, they head in an unexpected direction.
In recent years, the line between special effects-focused blockbusters and computer games has been shrinking, and The Matrix Revolutions further narrows the gap. All that's missing is a joystick on the theater seat arm rest. The battle for Zion should be tense and suspenseful, but the obviousness of the computer generated animation during these sequences damages the ability to suspend disbelief. I didn't ever believe that I was watching humanity's last stand. Instead, I felt like I was watching a non-playable demo for a Matrix Revolutions videogame - shoot down as many sentinels as possible before being overwhelmed. The human element is limited to a few familiar faces rather than legitimate characters we actually care about.
After playing Superman for the last movie, Neo is back to being merely mortal this time around. That makes for some degree of uncertainty about his fate, but, unfortunately, it also requires that Keanu Reeves attempt to do more than stand around looking bemused and cool in black. The Matrix Revolutions expects Reeves to act a little, but the moment he tries to show emotion, we have to fight back giggles. Sadly, Reeves isn't the only one to display acting deficiencies. His co-stars, Carrie-Ann Moss and Laurence Fishburne, are on auto-pilot. Moss tries (and fails) to make us believe that Trinty truly, madly, deeply loves Neo. Fishburne had little to do except look stern. The only ones with any real energy are Harold Perrineau Jr. and Jada Pinkett Smith, neither of whom has a lot of screen time. The gorgeous Monica Bellucci (as Persephone) is so underused that it's inappropriate to label her appearance as anything more than a cameo, with her cleavage getting most of the attention. There has been one casting change: the enigmatic Oracle is now played by Mary Alice, replacing Gloria Foster, who died during production of The Matrix Reloaded.
When The Matrix Revolutions works, it does so as eye candy. Although the first hour drags because of the pontificating about choice and fate (none of the speeches offer anything new), the second hour zips by. The battle sequences may not be as involving as those in, say, Star Wars, but they are done with enough technical savvy to retain the attention of most viewers. And those who are on hand just to see a big-budget special effects extravaganza will be satisfied. Anyone hoping to experience the blend of science fiction, philosophy, and edgy action that characterized the previous two movies will be disappointed. Nevertheless, for completists who need to find out how it ends, The Matrix Revolutions provides answers (although not necessarily to all questions) and doesn't cop out when it comes to the final resolution. |
|
