'Return of the Jedi' for the Internet Generation.

Rating: 6/10 (6 November 2003)

It has been said by many that the Matrix Trilogy could be like the Star Wars Trilogy for the Internet Generation. By that rationale it would make 'The Matrix: Revolutions' our Return of the Jedi. To many extents this is true. It caps off the Trilogy with a definite ending but still allows some scope for sequels. The focus of the protagonists is to overcome a seemingly impossible enemy at a point where their very survival is on the line. But, unfortunately, like Jedi this is, in my opinion, the worst of the trilogy. Thankfully it is not for the same reasons as 'Return of the Jedi'. By which I mean it's not a cop out that shamelessly cashes in on the heartfelt sentiments of a potential audience. There are no fluffy teddies here to appeal to the younger female audience that would otherwise have gone to see 'Care Bears the Movie'. We were told through the hype that Reloaded and Revolutions were really one movie split down the middle. Experiencing the films in close succession didn't leave me with that impression. 'The Matrix: Revolutions' feels quite different to Reloaded in that the visual focus shifted from action mainly based within the Matrix to that based in the `real world'; the philosophical musings shifted from understanding `why' we make choices to understanding that we can and the main action content shifted from heavily Martial Arts based fight scenes to lead-fuelled fire fights. Even the techno-rock soundtrack has all but been replaced with an original dramatic score. What has been created is a very different kind of movie although saying that there is a transition between the two at the beginning of Revolutions as it once again includes the Merovingian and his entourage.
Again, as with the previous Matrix movies, this film has set the bar for cinematic computer generated graphics. Again, unfortunately, as with Reloaded the CG parts are far too obvious and therefore fail in what they are trying to achieve. They should work by the rule 'if you can't transition flawlessly from human to CG then don't do it'. The CG is very good but it's not to the standard where we can't tell it from real life so they shouldn't rely on it. There were far too many scenes in which the main character was computer generated and it just doesn't look right when inter-cut with real images of them. The attack on Zion is very impressive, dare I say even jaw dropping in places, as thousands of `squidies' pour into the docking area and attack the humans in their gun-toting mechs. Although this assault on the eyes appeared very impressive at first it wasn't long before I could no longer suspend my disbelief enough to except what was happening. This is something I'm sure you will understand as soon as you have experienced it. It's very much a backs to the wall kind of affair for the humans as they attempt to stave of an insurmountable assault of momentous proportions by the invading machine army.
Although, as previously mentioned, the CG was unbelievable in places it was nothing, on a scale of incredulity, when compared to some of the acting and dialogue. I'm sure it was more to do with what they were saying than how they were saying it. Unfortunately a lot of the dialogue, much like in Reloaded, plodded along and was delivered in such a way as to seem even less believable. Morpheus was reduced from the great teacher to an almost redundant peripheral character. Far too much emphasis was placed on the love between Neo and Trinity. Although this was obviously the intention of the Directors it's not what the majority of the viewing public and fans of the previous movies will probably enjoy. I think we all understood from the previous film how intense their love was for each other and I don't feel that they needed to spend so much time reiterating it in this one. I know that love plays a major part in all of Neo's decisions and is ultimately what allows him to make the choices he does but I think we all understood that from the second film.
I enjoyed the film as it was a continuation of the Matrix story and because of expansion of its universe but it's not the conclusion I was hoping for. Watch it if you've seen the others but don't expect to be coming out of the cinema purchasing another ticket to be readmitted. This won't be joining the others in my DVD collection until the price drops to below ten pounds.