Full of Sound and Fury...

Rating: 6/10 (13 November 2003)

Though "The Matrix Revolutions" does not deserve the reference consider:
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

Macbeth

No, Andy and Larry Wachowski are not Shakespeare. However, after 2 hours and 4 minutes of "sound and fury", we don't even get a profound relationship to nothing or empty and meaningless. Instead we get eclectic cyber-Taoism in a well intentioned, but unsatisfying conclusion of what was once a captivating messiah tale. The Wachowski Brothers could have really taken a cue from Bill-- less is more. Really.
Revolutions is a technical marvel, with some good performances-- Keanu Reeves included. Though this Act III along with Act II (Reloaded) will forever, taint the wonder and possibility of "The Matrix". This is the biggest travesty of all. "Revolutions" starts off so promisingly. Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) confront the Merovingian (Lambert Wilson). Trinity says "You give me Neo, or we all die, right here, right now." Trinity is willing to die for Neo (Keanu Reeves), perhaps hinting that "Revolutions" will have a significant love story back drop. Great. No, not really. Rather it could have been strong, and made the movie a lot more human. As the story opens Neo is caught in some realm between the Matrix and the Machine World. There is something like 20 hours before the last human refuge, Zion, will be under siege by the Sentinels (deadly octopus-like machines). Neo being The One is the only human who can save Zion. We get the insight that Agent Smith (a very effective Hugo Weaving)is in fact a cyber virus. Also Neo and Agent Smith are the same--rather one can not exist without the other. This is The Matrix version of Yin and Yang. The evolving Neo can also jump between the real world and The Matrix without being "jacked in". This leads to some amazing circular logic as the story unfolds tearing large holes in conscience and time.
Ultimately, Revolutions becomes a souless exercise-- which is unfortunate. This is largely due to the plot. Consequently, this wastes some good performances. Reeves is better this time around as Neo, the chosen One. He is the tragic hero. Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity is strong and understated. She has some awesome scenes, but they are few. I really love her character.
Jada Pinkett Smith's role of Captain Niobe is more deserving of her talents as compared to "Reloaded". She is strong, smart, and gorgeous. The stand out is Collin Chou as Seraph, Guardian of The Oracle (Mary Alice). Chou is cool, good-looking, and charismatic. He is a great martial artist. His fight scenes are stunning.
In the end, after all the noise, some questions have been answered, more generated, and logic warped beyond belief. Some may feel cheated, but I suspect most really don't care. Because the story does not respect our affinity for the characters in The Matrix, instead opting for the very clever and esoteric ending. In the beginning of the movie, Love is described as a human construct. It is. And I think the Wachowski Brother forget what they were arguing for. Getting nothing would have been better.