Mindbending - just as it should be.

Rating: Null/10 (5 November 2003)

Back in 1999, when I first went to see "The Matrix", I had no idea what to expect except a sci-fi action flick. "The Matrix" was far from that - way above anything I had ever seen. Technically brilliant, mentally challenging, new, fresh and different. The Brothers broke every rule in the book. They forced us to "free our minds", strangely the tag-line of the second film, not the first.
In May 2003, when "Matrix: Reloaded" came out, expectations were high. What was to happen? How would this story move on? What amazing effects was in store for us? Again, the movie was technically brilliant, full of new challenging questions, provocative, puzzling and profound. But unlike "The Matrix", "Reloaded" was without ending. It was not a complete film, but the "first episode" of a story that would be told as a trilogy. It was nothing remotely close to what I expected, but no less intriguing.
There was "The Animatrix" - nine animated short stories from the matrix universe. At first glance, just a bit of fun. At second glance tons of background information into the world of the matrix, the characters and even the storyline for "Reloaded".
You could "Enter the Matrix" - a quite massive computer game. Kid's stuff to many, but again - that would be a misconception. The game contains about an hour of movie clips, and a full cohesive storyline running in parallel with "Reloaded". Stuff that helps explain the strange happenings in "Reloaded". Information that helps build the characters that was introduced in the second movie.
***WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS***
Along came November, and once again ... expectations were high. No - let me rephrase that - expectations were enormous. Now was the time - this was the day - when questions were to be answered, explanations was to make sense of confusion and "everything that had begun would have to end", right? Wrong!
What a wonderfully naïve thought. The Warchowski brothers was to provide us with all the answers to all our questions. Fair expectations, but then again... when did the matrix trilogy ever meet expectations?
How could we expect, that after 4 years of trying to free our minds - bending the spoons - learning to think for ourselves - daring to analyze, to ponder, to dream and to hope, that we would be given a fact sheet of all the right answers?
Naïve indeed.
"Matrix - Revolutions" give very few answers - or rather - very few answers to the questions we expected to be answered. Instead it brings further challenges to ponder and wonder about.
As it's predecessors, the movie is technically brilliant, even if some scenes tend to drag out a bit. The philosophical and religious elements are still there, some very obvious - others needing time to sink in and make sense. Still lots of "how", "why" and "who" in there - plenty of things to make you go "hmmm.." and enough things to keep the speculation going for a while.
Does that make it a bad movie? Not in a million years! Does it make it a difficult movie, a hard concept to grasp? Absolutely! Worth your time and money? Well ... here's the deal ...
In line with the movies, I would say that you have a "choice". But then, you have already made your choice. Know you need to try to understand why you made it.
The "Matrix Trilogy" is just that - a trilogy (in five parts, really). View it as one story - not as two or three or even five. It is, indeed, the ONE!
If you go ... remember this: Leave your expectations at the door. FREE YOUR MINDS! Then enjoy.