A valiant attempt to escape the constraints of the second film.

Rating: Null/10 (30 May 2004)

The Matrix Revolutions is, in many ways, a photographic negative of its younger sibling, The Matrix Reloaded. Where Reloaded was sloth and bogged down with exposition, Revolutions is tightly directed and ever conscious of advancing the plot. Where Reloaded runneth over with hyperbolic effects sequences, Revolutions integrates its effects seamlessly and, in the case of the attack on Zion, even beautifully and elegantly. Where Reloaded's fight choreography was cluncky, Revolutions recaptures much of the grace of the first film's fight scenes. Where Reloaded's "philiosophy," if it could be called that, was intellectual masturbation akin to an excited freshman taking Phil 101, Revolutions is a clever fable focusing on depth in one tradition, namely High Christology, rather than breadth among many, often contradictory schools. Finally, where Reloaded's characters are emotionless and incidental to the storyline (the most important people in the story are, well, not people at all it turns out), the very humanity of Revolutions characters is pivotal to the plot.
So, before I go any further, the Wachowskis deserve a tip of the hat. Revolutions is such a stark improvement over Reloaded that there can be no other explanation but that the directors, for once, listened. They listened to the complaints, gripes, and insults, and actually departed from their grand, pretentious vision, went back to the editing room (less than six months before release, remember), and set out to make an exciting conclusion to the defining science fiction work of the decade.
Yet, despite the valiant effort to overcome the parameters of Reloaded, the filmmakers cannot quite launch Revolutions out of its predecessor's orbit. Revolutions is trapped having to explain or conveniently overlook the myriad of undeveloped ideas, vague concepts, philosophical rambles, and just plain bad storytelling that plagued Reloaded.
For example, Reloaded independently introduced the concepts of "choice" and "purpose," but never got around to resolving the two. Revolutions picks up the conflict, yet also scratches its head in confusion. So in the end, just what kind of argument Revolutions is trying to make about rhyming choice with destiny is a bigger question than Neo's ultimate fate (a question I think you can answer by taking the film's Christian imagery to its philosophical conclusion).
Halfway through, when the Merovingian prepares to deliver another bombastic rant, Trinity mumbles, "I don't have time for this," and draws a gun to his head. If only she had pulled the trigger.