Satisfactory and enjoyable ending though by no means perfect

Rating: 8/10 (8 November 2003)

The wait is finally over, the answers are in and the line is drawn, the big question being, was it worth the wait? The simple answer is that I'm not sure yet. I think I need to see the movie again to be fair, but for me, whilst I enjoyed the 128 minutes of movie and end credits even (well sitting and chatting with my mates while the the Gothicesque piece of music played), I just felt it was somewhat lacking.
The story begins exactly where we left it in Reloaded. Our heroes are aboard the Hammer one of only two human ships left after the failed defence against the sentinels. Neo lies unconcious in the medical unit along with Bane, the character copied over by Agent Smith within the matrix. The first 10 - 20 minutes then sets out to establish what devilry has befallen Neo and how he can be saved.
We end up in a S&M club where everyone is dressed in rubber and which is run by the French information trafficker the Merovingian. In order to save Neo, Morpheus and Trinity have gone there with Seraph the Oracle's guard on her advice. Without giving very much away they are able to save Neo, having first dealt with some of the Merovingian's men and survived a fairly amusing stand off.
I won't give any more of the plot away, suffice to say the heroes split up with Morpheus and the remaining crew of the Hammer, having meeting Niobe and her ship the Logos, heading back to Zion in the Hammer. Meanwhile Neo and Trinity take control of the Logos to help Neo fulfill his destiny. Where we end up is with an epic battle of Zion involving thousands of sentinels and many armoured mechanical walkers, as used by the defenders of Zion. While Neo engages in the mother of all fights with Agent Smith, as many of you may have gathered from the trailer there are a fair few of him, though the fight takes place with just the one.
Is all this enough then? Well I'd say no. The battle of Zion is incredible to watch and Neo/Smith round 3 is sometimes brutal and beautifully photographed. Unfortunately the philosophy of the previous films is more or less dispensed with in favour of a number of blockbuster cliches. We get the plucky kid who wants to do his bit, the heroic captain who 'will give em hell', and a bald headed heroine (don't actually remember what she was called) who turns up in the heat of the battle to...well that would be spoiling, but lets just say you can see it coming. Some of the dialogue could have come straight out of an 80s blockbuster, which considering the high brow appeal of the previous films is unfortunate at the least. I missed the talk and philosophy and felt many questions raised in Reloaded were just ignored.
The action isn't quite on a par with Reloaded's burly brawl, chateau fight and freeway chase, but stands above most blockbusters at any rate. Those scenes gave me an adrenaline rush that I never really felt here and just seemed so different.
Aside from those negative points though, what we have is an incredible looking film, that manages to satifactorily resolve the saga. The finale is epic, and the brothers use of extensive storyboarding is apparent throughout. Added to which Hugo Weaving's performance as Smith again dominates, setting some sort of new standard for bad guy cool. the movie ends in a surprisingly ambiguous manner, which I felt was appropriate and in line with Neo's closing speech to The Matrix. There are also some pleasingly symbolic moments.
Revolutions is a worthy conclusion to the Matrix trilogy, but not quite what I was hoping for. I'd say anyone who liked the other two will like it. Those who disliked Reloaded because of the philosophy may be swayed by the more direct approach. This is mainly one for the fans though, and many of us there are!