A Satisfactory, However Disappointing Ending to the Trilogy

Rating: Null/10 (9 November 2003)

The first time I saw 'The Matrix', it left me with nothing but respect for the Wachowski Brothers for their rather ambitious project that could have gone wrong in so many ways. The 1st film was great, but the 2nd and 3rd films were not so great.
I will say that in Revolutions they seem to have taken a page out of X-Men 2 where they had integrated several simultaneously running plot lines to bounce back and forth between, to maintain audience interest. Furthermore the fact that this film was not so focused on the romance/love between Neo and Trinity was another asset to Revolutions. I will always stand by this opinion and that is there nothing wrong with having a lover/love interest, but Reloaded really did trip because it was so heavily focused on the relationship between Neo and Trinity when, in relation to the rest of the story i.e. Humans vs. the Machines, such an exercise seemed rather pointless.
Reeves and the other actors did exceptionally well given what they had to work with, however, compared to Reloaded, the dialogue is much better in Revolutions. There were quite a few great moments in the film i.e. the Night Club sequence, the Oracle/Agent Smith sequence, the piloting of the Mechanical Line sequence and virtually all of the battle sequences. The final battle sequence between Neo and Agent Smith seemed a little labored at certain points (i.e. when they are locked together beating each other up in mid-air) however I did like how the battle between the two characters was ended, it seemed rather clever (if not being a slight rehash from final battle between Neo and Agent Smith in the 1st installment of the Matrix Series). The first two thirds of the film were quite good it just really trips at the finish line.
Revolutions is far better than Reloaded, however there were quite a few problems that I'll briefly mention, the first and biggest problem was the ending which left room for another installment in the Matrix series. The rather poorly handled ending was exactly that, an open ending, and not much more. I'm not going to mention anything else in relation to problems with the ending, as I'll probably give the ending away, but the way the film ends didn't seem to sit too well in relation to the rest of the story.
A lesser problem was where the Frenchman's character was re-introduced but then disappears as his and Persephone's characters dropped like a hot rock (supposedly this plot line will be taken up again in the next installment in the Matrix Series, although it is extremely doubtful that the studios will agree to make another one), then there was the slightly ridiculous death scene (I won't spoil it for those who haven't watched it) where the dying character seems to talk an awful lot for a person that sustained those injuries.
The special effects however (which, lets face it, is what everyone watches the film for) are top notch and fight scenes in this film (thank god) looked a lot more convincing than the well rehearsed ballet dances that they tried to pass off as fight scenes in Reloaded. Also the casting of Jada Pinkett Smith in this film was a master stroke. She is a definite asset to the series and she is great in all the shot's she's in. Also Morpheus's character was far less preachy, which in itself was a breath of fresh air
Don't get me wrong, it is definitely a film worth watching and is far better than most of the trash that's out there, but don't expect it to surpass the 1st, and in my opinion, the best installment in the Matrix Trilogy. I give this film 6 to 6.5 out of 10.