The Matrix Regurgitated

Rating: Null/10 (6 November 2003)

Whenever a review is read or written, the frame of mind of the reviewer should be considered: I am a fan of the Matrix (it's my favourite movie), I loved Reloaded and for a brief time even thought it was better than the original Matrix, and so I had giant anticipation for Revolutions.
So, of course, it was easy to be badly disappointed. Reloaded took about half an hour to get going, but then it delivered a very big, enjoyable action movie. The Matrix Revolutions takes two hours to get going, and then it delivered a very brief enjoyable end to the trilogy. See the problem? Two hours of movie, five minutes of end, and only the latter is quality - that's not good!
Let's begin with a brief synopsis: The machines are still digging for Zion. Neo is still not quite sure who or what he is. And there still is an oracle, the Gandalf of this series, waiting to meddle with everything. Oh yes, and Smith is Smithifying every human inhabitant of the Matrix. So, essentially, we're back in Reloaded. Revolutions then delivers a giant battle in the real world. This is disappointing, because the good thing about the Matrix movies is that they offer a justification for delivering insane action (it's virtual, rules can be broken, etc.) and now they set up battle-mech fights in the supposed real world? That is the point where audience acceptance (or suspension of disbelief) is lost. You just get the notion that the Wachowskis like playing computer games and wanted to see these funky robot-things do battle properly with big guns, so they did it. There is no other justification for the big battle, other than it might look cool (personally, I thought it sucked all the fun out of the movie).
So, the movie includes a giant battle that disappoint - fine, what else is there? And this is where you realize how Revolutions went wrong: It has far less substance than the previosu two instalments. You have a chase through service tunnels, you have a small action-set-piece inside the Matrix revisiting the MerylLynchian (or whatever is name is), and while that scene started out very good (the guy actually offers them a deal) it ends in a disappointing copout. Then there's Neo's confrontation with Smith, and that's about it. Battle, Chase, MerylLynchian, Fight, End. Battle is bad, chase is boring (just lots of woman-can-drive humour) MerylLynchian loses his cool and the fight is too brief end repetitive. The end is great, though.
To be honest, my fingers are literally itching with the desire to write the movie the way it should have been done - there was so much potential here, and so much that could have been truly revolutionary. Instead, we got a movie that is stupid for most of its duration, hopelessly corny in the Neo/Trinity scenes and annoying until the only redeeming feature, the end.
Don't hold your breath for this one, you will be disappointed. 5/10 (for effort, the Smith/Neo battle and the end)