The Best Because It's The Simplest

Rating: 6/10 (3 December 2003)

Probably the best of the trilogy for the simple reason that it's the easiest to follow: the Wachowski Brothers finally dispense with the philosophical claptrap that marred the first two pictures and rush-deliver a dumbed-down conclusion (love conquers all, believe it or not) in order to focus on two epic battles: one between humans and machines (a battle for the underground human city of Zion) and one between a human and computer program (Keanu Reeves' Neo and Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith). Or something like that. The two battles comprise essentially that last two-thirds of the movie, which means that it's perfectly all right to sit back and not have to think, and the relief, you realize, allows you to enjoy it as a movie-movie. The special effects, while far from innovative (there seems to be a lot of cribbing from James Cameron's `Aliens' and `Terminator 2: Judgment Day'), are diverting enough and the monumental martial arts fight between Reeves and Weaving is so long that you start to feel kind of giddy midway. These are emotions not often realized in the first two films; though there was plenty of awe at the effects, design and, initially, the concept, there never has been much joy in watching them. Here, while you realize that, overall, you're not watching anything particularly joyous, at least you're reasonably entertained. (Note: like its predecessor, this film was viewed in the IMAX format, which is proving to make a difference in fantasy and animation presentations; the clarity and depth of color is helping make this the preferred choice for these genres. Hopefully, the success of the format will convince studios that there is a market for oversized presentations of technically sophisticated films.)