It is not the ending that the franchise deserved, it is a film full of ups and downs in almost equal doses, bringing great concepts interspersed with terrible executions

Rating: 8/10 (7 June 2020)

"Matrix Revolutions" is already endowed with the enormous responsibility of knotting all the loose ends left by the previous film (the first is already closed by itself) and these were not few. Reloaded ends with a completely open ending, fulfilling the role of part one within a double narrative. It is an inglorious destination for a film that closes the saga of Neo, Trinity and Morpheus with academic competence. Note that the competency cited here has two meanings. The first is good, since the adventure ties "most" of loose ends, guarantees two hours of entertainment and still leaves ample scope for discussions. The other, bad, is the lack of innovation, which favors conventional solutions, already seen and reviewed in the cinema.
Revolutions expands the emphasis on Reloaded, focusing much of its narrative in the real world, where machines invade Zion in what would be the last battle of this long war. It is in these sequences, outside the Matrix, that the work really sustains itself, counting on an unceasing rhythm of action that suffers from an exaggerated duration, but that, in the last instance, manage to arrest the viewer. Evidently these do not lack their own defects, which, in general, boil down to an artificial drama created by the focus on certain characters (read Zee, his partner and Captain Mifune, the only ones who really do anything in the fight), which only diminishes our perception of the general picture of humanity's survival.
The final fight between Neo and Smith - a street fight between Supermen - is great, the attack of the machines on Zion is exciting and the visit to the city of 01, the capital of the machines, quite satisfactory for those who checked "The second rebirth ", episode of the Animatrix series. Also noteworthy is the writers' treatment of women in the film. Trinity has never been so determined and tough, Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) eclipses Morpheus and even Zee (Nona Gaye) appears to save the day. Matrix women do not take offense at home and never lose their femininity. The long battle in Zion is interspersed, in parallel assembly, with the ship chase between Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and the sentries. This second approach ensures that the rhythm of the work is not broken, while bringing greater tension than the repeated shooting in the human city. What does not go out of our mind as we watch the hordes of sentries invading Zion (emulating a swarm of wasps) is the waste by the creative team in inserting new machines into combat, which could insert a greater touch of dynamism into the fight. Still, some specific plans can be truly frightening, while revealing the fragility of the man around the machines.
On the other side of this devastated world, we have Trinity and Neo traveling the dark surface of the planet to reach the city of machines. Here is the real highlight of the film, which provides us with true delights of science fiction. The human creation fields are again shown and remain as terrifying as their first appearance in the Matrix. In addition, finally, new machine designs are shown, also inspired by insects in order to quickly capture fear in the viewer. Despite Neo's "messianic" vision, the way he sees the world of machines inexplicably comes up with an interesting antithesis with our look at it: the dark is replaced by beams of light that make us forget that they are the "villains". When Neo arrives in the city of machines - a journey that, increasingly, proves itself without turning, it is phenomenal. After being provided with one of the most ecstatic scenes in the trilogy - the bomb barrier and the rise over the clouds - we fell back into the darkness of the real world. The little glimpse we have of the city only leaves us with a taste of "I want more". At the source of the machines, which adopts a human face in order to establish an element of identification with its interlocutor - what follows is a short and surprisingly human dialogue and one of the few cases in the franchise where a scene should have been extended. It is impossible, however, to fail to notice the respect for which the leader of the machines has towards Neo - the death of the protagonist is practically serene in his hands and his body is resting - and not thrown - on the ground, to be, in then taken to the unknown, corroborating the human side of its greatest enemies within this universe. The film should have ended at that point, dispensing with the unnecessary epilogue with Sati, the Oracle and the Architect.
Matrix Revolutions proves the richness of the universe conceived by the two sisters by presenting new layers of virtual reality that serve as a scenario for action: the subway station, for example, reveals itself as a kind of "dump" of that complex operating system; while the elevator of the nightclub visited by Morpheus and Trinity contains a red button that, instead of indicating a floor, only bears the word 'Help'. In addition, the film introduces the curious concept that programs would also be able to love (discovering this, Neo questions: 'But this is a human emotion', and hears the great answer: 'No, it is a word').
Here in the third film we have the creation of constant parallels in order to demonstrate that we are not far from the machines. The most obvious of these is Commander Lock, who has a more methodical thinking and dispenses with the beliefs of Morpheus, who, in turn, represents the more human side of the equation. It is clear that both sides are fighting for survival and war only exists because of a stone thrown centuries ago. The parallel extends to the Oracle and the Architect, both programs within the Matrix, but which have almost opposite thoughts (something made clear by the dialogue between Neo and the Architect in the previous film).
But not everything is correct. Agent Smith, which was a very well-done concept in the Matrix, has already begun to undergo a dubious treatment in Reloaded, but it is only in Revolutions that the script really completely spoils the main antagonist of the franchise. You see, the premise of a corrupted program taking the place of the Matrix is not only acceptable, but quite interesting - the problem lies in the cartoon execution conceived by the Wachowski. Evil laughter, lightning falling behind the villain, catch phrases and threatening poses are just the beginning of this completely unnecessary outcome.
At the end of the second chapter, for example, the viewer was surprised by a bombastic revelation: Neo had become able to use his powers in the 'real world'. Now, it is to be imagined that an important data like this (so relevant that it served to close the film) would be clarified in the next part, right? For this is not what happens, since the Oracle is limited to establishing the obvious: the power of the Chosen One can manifest itself in several worlds. What's worse, to prevent the public from realizing that no puzzle is being solved, the Wachowski create new mysteries, that is: they propose more questions when they should be concerned with answering those already asked. So, instead of implying an old - and completely expendable - relationship between Seraph and Merovingian, filmmakers should be concerned with clarifying who (or what) the latter is. In fact, they did not even try to maintain consistency between the last two parts of the trilogy: in Reloaded, Captain Lock stated that he would need 'all the ships to survive the attack' of the sentries, criticizing the fact that Nebuchadnezzar was released to leave. The curious thing is that, in the final chapter, no ships are used during the battle against the machines. And, after all, what happened to the Gemini who worked for Merovingian, and who were so prominent in the previous film?
Featuring a grandiosity, almost epic soundtrack, Matrix Revolutions puts its strength in the great visual effects, keeping the viewer's attention with spectacular images of hundreds of thousands of Sentinels invading Zion. And, once again, the Wachowski prove to be masters in directing action sequences - since, in this regard, the film does not disappoint. Unfortunately, they do not show the same sensitivity when it comes to dialogues, which again sound pretentious and, at various times, simply laughable ('Hope is an indulgence for which I don't have time').
As if that were not enough, the sisters are unable to find a plausible justification for the change of the actress who plays the Oracle (the original, Gloria Foster, died after completing the works in Reloaded): after saying that "there is no easy explanation" for the change in his appearance, the character says that "had to pay the price" for a certain choice. Now, if the new look is a kind of 'punishment', a consequence of a certain attitude, why does it remain similar to your old self? Why not radicalize and transform the Oracle into a deformed man or a very old woman (as if his 'effort' had robbed him of life)?
However, the most frustrating aspect of Revolutions is the Wachowski's neglect in handling the plot's outcome - and I don't mean just the lack of answers to important questions (How did Smith get into Bane's body? What does Merovingian want?), But also to the solution to the conflict between Neo and Smith: what, exactly, happened there?
Finally, "Matrix Revolutions" still fails to involve us in the dramas of its characters. And the reason for this coldness in the trilogy is obvious: regrettably, the Wachowski see their characters as the Architect sees humans: as simple pieces of a game, not as individuals. The feeling is that "Matrix Revolutions" has abandoned much of the philosophical issue and has been concerned with delivering a film filled with uninterrupted action. It is definitely not the ending that the franchise deserved, it is a film full of ups and downs in almost equal doses, bringing great concepts interspersed with terrible executions.