Visual masterpiece, the message is secondary.

Rating: Null/10 (22 December 2004)

As I look back on the Matrix Trilogy, and particularly this third one, I think of them more in the genre of comic books brought to the big screen. Except these never were comic books. This third installment, right at 2 hours running time, continues with the concept of 'NEO' as the savior of the real world. The movie begins in the real world, in one of the ships, the now familiar green computer code traveling down in columns on a black background, with some discussion of "the machines" heading towards Zion, due to reach it in just under 20 hours. If the machines are successful, perhaps mankind in the real world will be destroyed. Meanwhile, NEO is somehow trapped between the Matrix and the real world, at a train station, and only the "train man" can get him back home. The Oracle again plays a key role.
While at the train station NEO meets a man, his wife, and their young daughter, who are really computer programs in the Matrix, but speak of "family love." This represents a conceptual evolution within the three Matrix movies, the idea of computer programs attaining emotions.
The movie continues and fierce battles between the men and the machines are shown. It appears as though Zion will be destroyed. But NEO begs the mysterious powers to hook into the Matrix, to go back and fight the program. He is asked, "What if you fail?" He answers simply, "I won't." He encounters multiple Agent Smiths, the visuals are fantastic, with even some Superman like flying scenes high above the city. In the end, after 12 minutes of fight on film, the will of NEO overcomes the computer programs, all the Agent Smiths are destroyed, and at that moment the machines retreat from Zion, "The War Is Over."
I prefer not to try to analyze the film's message too much. One is obvious, the triumph of good over evil. However, to me this last chapter, and in fact all three Matrix movies, are to be enjoyed mostly for the superb visuals that the Wachowski brothers have created. I find it most enjoyable to just sit back, watch and listed, as the stories are told in classic comic book style.