Enter the Mythic

Rating: 9/10 (6 November 2003)

I don't think most people are appreciating this series of films for what they really are: True epics. The Wachowski Bros are using the modern "action" genre as a vehicle to explore the timeless questions that religions and philosophies seek to answer. Is there a God (or gods)? Is there such a thing as free will (or is it all predetermined)? What is karma? Can love conquer all?
Of course, there's a danger of taking all this seriously heady stuff too seriously. That's why the Wachowski's wisely gave us millions of deadly squid-bots getting blasted by an army of mech-warriors while the fate of the universe gets determined by a smashing atomic kung fu fight. Otherwise, you get something more like The Seventh Seal.
Filmicly (love that word!), Revolutions references so many movies and genres it's hard to keep track of. The obvious ones are: Aliens, Star Wars Trilology (the originals, folks), Work War II sagas of the '50s, Blade Runner, City of Lost Children, Terminator, kung fu movies, Hong Kong gangster flicks, Roman sagas of the '50s, etc, etc...
Not only that, but we get treated to a pantheon of Classic characters. Charon, the boat man of the river Styx (the passing to the realm of the dead), makes a great appearance as The Train Man (played convincingly by the whirly-bird pilot from the Road Warrior). The Architect is the Father (Reason) and the Oracle is any version of the Dark Mother (Chaos). Did you know that one of the older meanings of matrix is "mother"?
So these Matrix films are, in my opinion, Great Art. They can be read and interpreted and appreciated on many levels. Interestingly, many of the comments here and by professional critics (there's a special level of Hell for film critics) seem to entirely miss the cool stuff. They focus on the unconvincing and preposterous love stories and absurd football rah-rah war hero bullsh*t. And yes, I believe these elements are weak, but they really are beside the point. They are just tired old stories.
Notice instead that Neo has transcended the world of conflict (duality) and has entered the realm of pure light (non-duality). From this higher realm, it does not matter if you are a machine or a human. All that matters is that you are conscious and aware. Everything else is just a silly game. That's why Agent Smith "wins" and "loses" at the same time. In the assimilation of Neo and all he represents, he accidentally gets himself enlightened!
All games have an end. You may choose either mutual annihilation, or you can simply say, "Stop this nonsense, let's play something more fun!" So what's it gonna be?