Excellent special effects, one for the fans, not the critics... expect a movie, not a miracle, and you won't be disappointed.

Rating: 10/10 (8 November 2003)

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW!!!

About Neo, Trinity, and the both of them
Neo. He's The One if I ever saw One. I mean, of all the hero stereotypes, their troubles, their sacrifices, their motivations, their powers... Neo's top-class. He really is just the one, the messiah. Blind, cognitive and somewhat precognitive, like Paul Atreides / Paul Muad'Dib from Dune. Can destroy things by waving his hand, and make really high jumps, like Luke Skywalker. Who couldn't fly like Superman, but there you go, another hero stereotype. And he has all these martial arts moves, and every hero at least knows how to kick bad guy ass. And then there's the whole predestination. A lot of heroes have those. What I like about Neo though, is his human-ness. Despite all that hero stuff, and the strong tendency to sacrifice himself a lot, he's human. With doubts and fears. A lot less than in M1 and M2, but still.
This is where Trinity comes in. People wonder why the heck a movie like the Matrix needs a love interest beside the failsafe-function she has, and this is why. I've thought about it after my friend and I discussed it, and it makes sense to me. Again, it reminds me of the relationship between Paul Muad'Dib and Chani. And maybe, between Kenshin and Tomoe. If you look past the suggestive sheath-of-the-sword analogy, you'll see it makes sense. The hero, the man, the warrior, is the sword - unstoppable, dangerous, powerful. The woman (or man, if you prefer ;)), is the sheath. (Yes, I KNOW. Look beyond the obvious suggestiveness.) Without the sheath, the sword loses control. It has nothing to hold on to, and nothing to hold it back, and nothing that understands it. Chani, Tomoe, Trinity - they give their heroes what the heroes can't give themselves. Something that keeps them human, that keeps them more secure. Something that makes them go that extra mile, but something that holds them back from going too far. They're not just some ditzy women hanging around the main character. And despite that I find Trinity sort of annoying, mainly because there's just no chemistry between the actors themselves, I do realise that she matters in the story.

Yeah... Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves don't really seem to get along. You can just tell when actors get along well together; look at Keanu Reeves and Hugo Weaving (Smith); those two have more tension going on than the real couple. ;) You know what I mean. They act so well together, Neo and Smith. During conversation, during the fighting... whilst, when Neo and Trinity exclaim their love for eachother, I'm not always that convinced... acting is more than just saying lines. And on some level the viewer can also pick up that which isn't said or shown physically. Casting is important, also to see how the actors work together. That's why the Fellowship group from the LotR movies radiates their bond off the screen; those bonds aren't just acted, they're real. And the viewer sees that. And that's why Neo and Trinity probably don't make a great couple on screen. Story-wise, they're pretty amazing... but it doesn't seem to work out.
About Smithy
What can I say? Best 'Bent On World Destruction'-badguy since Sephiroth. Best maniacal laugh since I don't know who. Best glasses. Best smug arrogant sonuva-Artificially-Intelligent-Machine. Great acting. How can you not love Smith? I mean, besides wanting to destroy the whole world and all that. Like he said.. " I'm not such a bad guy, once you get to know me." Smith rocks. Period.
About the special effects ... Just be quiet, and hand me some sunglasses. Or pills to stop my brain from bouncing and something against these goosebumps. The special effects are awesome. The detail.. just.. wow. Unlike the somewhat wonky rendering of the Burly Brawl fight in M2, the special effects in M3 are near perfect. There's only a few bits that show the effects more obvious (odd anatomy, just a bit *too* slick)... but hello, an animation of Smith flying and fighting all dynamically in the air whilst it's raining and thunder strikes.. No, the effects are amazing. At one point you see a detail of a machine claw or leg.. which looks so good, all shiny and oily, it looks very realistic. I doubt it is a set prop, it might be, but if it's rendering.. then it's DAMN GOOD rendering. And unlike the newer Star Wars eps, for some reason, the special effects in M3 never become too much. But that's just me, of course. I can never get enough special effects and CGI animation.

About the Matrix and anime
I recognise many many anime-ish things in it. The fighting, of course. The effects. The camera perspectives. The story itself. And I like it. They took a whole lot of things that are good about anime and stuck it into a huge and awesome movie. Thank you Wachowski Bros. :)
About the ending of the Matrix: Revolutions
The ending was... open. Sort of. It's not clear whether Neo is dead or not, and where his body is going. Whether he returns. How the machines and humans will live together. Etc. It's stuff fans will have to fill in on their own. I damn well hope so, because if there's going to be a fourth movie, I'm either going to explode with enthusiasm or kill the Wachowskis for milking the Matrix like a money cow. I've learnt something in the past though, and that's that writing endings to something is extremely difficult. The only ending to a story I ever finished is written horribly. Disregarding the Evangelion movies, the original last episode sucks too (Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations!) Some endings are good (Titanic), others are less good. But in general, endings are difficult. How do you finalize a story? How do you wrap up everything, yet leave enough to still keep people interested? On one hand, I would've liked to see more about what happened to Neo.. but on the other hand, maybe I'm better off guessing. Maybe I'm better off thinking he's in a happier place, having done his job and fulfilled his destiny. It's time to give him a break. But even then, I'm always interested in how society will fare after the ending. But I guess that is left up to the fans, the fanfic writers, and the Matrix RP-ers. Either way... I just wish the Oracle could've been a *little* more final and a *little* less vague at the end. 'Who knows' doesn't cut it, and neither does 'Maybe'. So the end wasn't that satisfying.. and leaves me thinking.
About all the movies together
I think they would work out best if you'd watch them all consecutively; or at least watch M2 and M3 consecutively. There's a noticeable gap between the first and the last two movies. Reloaded is the least good of the bunch. I reckon this is because it's the middle movie. The beginning is the beginning, and the ending is the ending, but the middle is just sort of hanging in between, you know? Plus there was a lot of philosophical stuff by the Architect, and the sex/rave scene of which I'm now willing to admit it might've been a tad too long. But not too long for the background music of that scene though!
If you don't like science-fiction, and you don't enjoy watching movies, then don't watch it, and let the fans enjoy it instead. ;P