Give me the blue pill, I want to get out of here!

Rating: 6/10 (18 November 2003)

It was inevitable. Another promising trilogy comes to a somewhat mediocre conclusion, though not quite as disappointing as it could have been. In fact, in the end the trilogy delivers exactly what it promised, nothing more, and nothing less.
Well perhaps a little more, but "The Matrix Revolutions" is mostly all build up for little payoff. The movie features some pretty amazing scenes and offers a satisfactory conclusion, but was the ending really what all the fans wanted to see?
The final arc in the story picks up with the Sentinel machines continuing on their journey to destroy Zion, mankind's last stronghold during an apocalyptic war between humans and machines. Neo (Keanu Reeves) is continuing to discover purpose both inside the Matrix and outside and must make some hard decisions during what promises to be the last struggle between man and machine.
Fellow humans Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), Niobe (Jada Pinkett-Smith) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) must also choose between helping Neo or coming to the aid of their city. Their faith in the prophecy of The One shaken, they must decide if their fate is truly being decided by Providence or if their struggle is both aimless and futile.
Meanwhile former Matrix agent turned rogue Smith (Hugo Weaving) is still seeking out his own purpose, threatening both the machines and mankind as he attempts to become the most powerful being in the system.
This all leads to a conclusion that is absolutely stunning to watch but delivers next to nil on the emotional side. "The Matrix Revolutions" is a comic book movie for people who just want to watch action, but even they get cheated on that. The first hour is talk-talk-talk with the people of Zion discussing their futures while the resistance struggles to discover their ultimate purpose.
This might all seem urgent and important if the viewer actually felt something for the human's struggle, but such is not the case. Mankind in this film is seemingly devoid of empathy and the actors all say their lines as though their life has been sucked out of them.
Perhaps it's the fact that all the humans we see are all former hackers and web surfers that they seem so soulless, but must every character deliver their lines in Zen-like monotone?
It was okay in the first movie when it was just Morpheus and Trinity, but now that we've gotten a look at the rest of mankind, it's kind of hard to sympathize with their plight. We root for them because they're the good guys, but the ultimate irony here is that most humans here do in fact act like machines. Whether or not this was a bit of subversive humor on the filmmakers' part is up to the viewer.
As Neo, Reeves delivers his full range of emotions, from stoic to ultra-stoic. Reeves has never given a lazy performance per se, it just seems that way since the extent of his acting abilities has always been to look either cool, sexy, surprised or all of the above. However I believe that only he could have brought Neo to life, and his efforts do not go completely un-rewarded.
Fishburne and Moss are still Reeves' back-up singers as Morpheus and Trinity. They do their job as both fighters and psychobabble merchants, but when it's time for us to feel for them, they can't ante up the same effort. Moss is herself given a soliloquy late in the film that is meant to be heart moving, but ends up taking too long to say what the viewers already know and proves we always liked her best when she was beating people up, not professing her true feelings.
Weaving still makes Smith a likeable villain but even he is giving the shaft in favor of endless exposition. However, when he is finally given his moment to shine during a battle on which the fate of mankind rests, he unfortunately becomes a cackling super villain.
The battle scenes are all spectacular eye candy, particularly an assault on Zion that will delight any action aficionado. A nightclub shootout will satisfy fans as well, though it will not go down in history like the lobby gunfight in the original movie. A lengthy and epic fistfight also pales in comparison to the ones in the previous films.
The ending, though confusing, does offer up some answers to questions that have been present in the series. The semi-religious aspects of Neo's destiny also unfold in a not-so-subtle way. It is interesting to see a mainstream movie end the way this one does, though some may wonder if the series was ultimately worth the hubbub at all.
"The Matrix Revolutions" closes the series on a more human note than the previous film but still lacks the spark of the original. "The Matrix" promised more than it could deliver and the trilogy will ultimately be remembered for the advances it created in special effects, not storytelling. Still, gaining immortality in this age is indeed something to be celebrated, an area in which this trilogy will never be in want.
Six out of ten stars. If Neo had know that the free members of humanity were all mindless ravers and pseudo-Zen speaking philosophers, he would have downed the blue pill with a shot of Tequila.