Classic Review: The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Film trilogies are a difficult thing to get right. The hype and anticipation for any great trilogy or saga can be so high that their openings are an event for the ages, and the conclusion to The Matrix trilogy, The Matrix Revolutions, was no different. Despite its efforts to create new and interesting ideas, resulting in an ending that nobody could see coming. It was so wild and nonsensical that all its originality was wasted and undone. Instead of being regularly drawn back like many are to the original film, this final instalment the trilogy has fallen out of favour among viewers and is easily forgotten. While Reloaded was enjoyable albeit a little problematic, this third instalment derails The Matrix train, deflating expectation like a Revolution that nobody shows up for.

The Matrix Revolutions begins with Neo (Reeves) in a coma after stopping machines in the real world with his mind. While it may work as a crazy, surprise ending, that’s more or less the point of no return as the film begins to stray from cool fictional fantasy into loony town. From there, Morpheus (Fishburne) and Trinity (Moss) visit the Oracle to find out what’s happened to Neo. She explains that Neo is trapped in a realm in between the Matrix and the human world, a train station of sorts, controlled by the biggest a-hole in the franchise, the Merovingian (Lambert Wilson). Morpheus and Trinity then pay him a visit by busting into his S&M dance club and persuading him to let them rescue Neo. However back in Zion, their army prepares for the invasion of sentinels, braceing for the fight of their lives. And let’s not forget former Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) is copying himself, taking over people and wreaking general havoc. Once Neo thinks things through, he realizes he needs to take a ship and fly up to the machine city and talk with the head machine boss to try and get things straightened out.

After it’s all over and the machines have won the day, we sit back and ask ourselves, what the f*** was that all about. It’s one thing to have the bad guys get the upper hand in a series, The Empire Strikes Back or Avengers Infinity War are great examples, but nobody wants the characters we’ve grown to love and care about over a trilogy of almost five years get their asses handed to them repeatedly. The Wachowskis’ direction and screenplay are extremely inconsistent, like Reloaded, the dialogue is difficult at times and they deserve some credit for being inventive and creative, many of their choices just don’t make much sense. The screenplay is simply unable to deliver satisfying story arcs or resolutions for these characters and plot holes in the story abound. While being visually impressive, the most grounded part of the film lies in the attack on Zion where hoards of sentinels being shot down and chaos reigning supreme, those sequences do pack a punch and do make a slight impression. But this final instalment for the time was such a letdown and the departure from the successful things that were done in the previous two films. It was a shame to say goodbye to Neo and Trinity with such little fanfare.

As a whole, the Matrix trilogy is a solid one for the most part with the exception being its poorly executed finale. While there’s some good to be found in these two sequels, the final one is completely forgettable. The Matrix is a terrific beginning, Reloaded holds its own, but viewers shouldn’t really be starting The Matrix Revolutions if they can’t finish it.

still courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

(original review)

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Russell Miller

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