A Liberal Arts education is worthwhile after all...

Rating: Null/10 (10 November 2003)

We are blessed to be living in an era where we have two fantastic trilogies which are not only fun to watch, but work on multiple different levels. These two movie franchises being `Lord of the Rings' and `The Matrix.' Unlike the hopelessly irrelevant `Star Wars' prequel trilogy, which tries so hard to be more than it is but ultimately seems rather forced; the LOTR and Matrix trilogies were designed from the ground up with an eye on the classics, theology and philosophy. Both are far more messianic that the Star Wars prequel could ever hope to be, and both demonstrate how just one man (or one hobbit) can make all the difference in the world, quite literally. We are still living and contemplating the lives and the legacies of such great men of peace like Buddha, Socrates and Jesus, all of who were just men (or perhaps a bit more than just mere `men') who had a better idea of just how life should be lived, and two of them, Socrates and Jesus, ultimately paid the highest price for their `radical' ideas.
Now we have the final installment of the Matrix trilogy. It does a good job of tying up all the loose ends, and throws in a few more twists just to keep things interesting. Right up to the very end it is obvious that philosophy, theology and the classics are very much on the minds of the Wachowski brothers, as we watch them create a seamless garment out of three very different threads. In the opening, we see that Neo is trapped in the world of the `Trainman,' He's stuck at the Mobile Avenue subway station, waiting for his train to come in. This station is a `halfway' point between the human world and the Matrix, a kind of purgatory without the flames. We soon find out that the Trainman works for the Merovingian, and they both are very determined to keep Neo `waiting' at that station for a very, very long time.
Thanks to a word from the Oracle (who else?) who is now in a new `shell,' Trinity and Morpheus set out to confront the Merovingian and get Neo back into the Matrix, so he can get back into his body! From there, the story takes off, as we still have those pesky sentinels to deal with, who are getting ever closer to their goal of the complete destruction of Zion.
Much like the second movie, the third is filled with a cast of secondary characters that makes for a truly delicious movie going experience. We have some new characters: `the Trainman,' and a nice Indian family of programs Neo meets waiting for a train at the Mobile Avenue station. There is an expanded role for Seraph, the guardian of the Oracle. All of our favorites are back as well: the Oracle (in a new `shell'), Smith, Naobi, the Merovingian, Cornel West and so on. Never have I seen a film so filled with so many interesting and memorable secondary characters. Each so very unique and yet very likable --even Smith himself in his own quirky way.
It's in this movie, as is obvious from the trailers, that we have the ultimate showdown between Neo and Smith. But now we see each fully for what they are, and what their destiny is. Smith is the incarnation of post-modernism, the quintessential nihilist, who sees no meaning or purpose in anything. His only goal: to make everything over into his image-literally, and impose his idea of Utopia upon the entire Matrix, and the rest of the world as well. It's this type of philosophy that gives us Nazi Germany and Maoist China: sameness is good, diversity bad. Then we have Neo, the Zen Master Messiah, who refuses to jump into the tar pit of post-modern philosophical thought, but would much rather transcend it. He is the incarnation of faith, hope and love, `the virtue trinity,' embodied in one person. One of these belief systems, Neo or Smith, has a viable, dynamic future, and one leads down the path to entropy and Big Brother.
This film has a wonderful time mixing and matching pantheism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and various philosophical viewpoints and ideas. The main characters of this movie are embodiments of these different worldviews, and one appreciates this trilogy so much more with the preunderstaning of these things in mind. Do you need a thorough background in philosophy, theology and the classics to fully appreciate this film? Yes, absolutely. If you don't, it will seem like so much intellectual nonsense with some good fight scenes and lots of automatic weaponry.
It is obvious to me that the Wachowski Brother's appreciate and pay homage to Frank Herbert's excellent books `Dune' and `Dune Messiah' in Revolutions. IMHO, these two books are the best that science fiction has ever produced, and it seems as if the Wachowski brothers agree, as some of the major themes and plot ideas seem to have come these sources. No, it's not a repeat of `Dune' in a mechanical, apocalyptic setting, but we do see some tremendous similarity in themes and ideas between the two. Of course `Dune' is not the sole source of inspiration here, and in looking for dominating themes and ideas, one would have to come to the conclusion that comic books, anime, Christianity and Buddhism are major contributing factors, probably in that order.
No movie is perfect, and `Matrix Revolution' has a few areas that could have been done better. Yet, it is still so far beyond anything else out there that it's sins can easily be forgiven. The LOTR is a close second, but in terms of overall production, the Matrix is far more interesting and imaginative. One only has to compare the fight scenes between the two movies to see it.
The Matrix Revolutions: 8/10