Not a bad film, but not on par with the first two

Rating: 5/10 (17 December 2008)

The Matrix was a sci-fi masterpiece and a groundbreaking film in its own right. It had a terrific story, a solid script and memorable characters, and it still managed to be thoroughly entertaining. The Matrix Reloaded was a step down from the first film, but was still entertaining and the acting was still very good, especially by Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith.
The Matrix Revolutions continues right after where the Matrix Reloaded left off and follows the characters as they prepare for the final battle for Zion and as Neo prepares for the ultimate showdown with Agent Smith.
The best part of this film is definitely the visuals. Reloaded had the best visuals out of all the films, in my humble opinion, but Revolutions is not too far behind in the looks department. The battle for Zion looks magnificent. The fights in the Matrix, especially the first fight in the Merovingian's club and the final battle against Smith, are all very well choreographed and look and sound great. The soundtrack is also quite good. The film does manage to entertain and you won't find yourself bored very often.
The downsides however, lie with the story and the script, the latter being the worst of the two. The script in this one is filled with cheesy one liners and monologues that will have you rolling your eyes (especially the "War is Over" monologue by the annoying kid. Kill me now, please...). We are introduced to characters that we are supposed to feel sorry for and be attached to when something bad happens, but these characters are given hardly any back story or introduction, so when they're finally killed off, we don't really give a rats ass.
The story is also a mess. In this film the plot spins all over the place and unless you've taken the time to carefully analyze the story, you'll be wondering just what the hell is going on. There are also several scenes that are ultimately pointless and try to be intelligent but just end up being redundant. The train station scene at the beginning is confusing and tries to hard to be smart, but eventually just ends up leaving the viewer scratching his head.
The acting, for the most part, is quite solid. Keanu Reeves delivers the usual wooden performance, but he still manages to be convincing in some scenes, but in others he seems to lack emotion. Laurence Fishburne and Carry Ann Moss deliver solid performances as usual and do a good job in this film. Hugo Weaving is terribly underused and only appears in a few scenes, but he still delivers one of the stronger performances in the film. Sadley, Gloria Stuart, the woman who played the Oracle, passed away before Revolutions was filmed, and instead was replaced by the fairly flat and boring actress, Mary Stuart. Jada Pinkett Smith is OK, and the rest of the supporting cast is a mixed bag. Lambert Wilson (The Merovingian) and Monica Belucci (Persephone), are also terribly underused and only appear in one scene, which destroys any chance of character development these characters could have had. They were interesting and I would have liked to know more about them. Collin Chau as Seraph also gives a good performance.
The film in its own right is not a bad film and is on par with other sci-fi blockbusters with lots of CGI. It's big, loud, epic and gorgeous to look at (especially on Blu-Ray), but lacks the substance and heart the first two films had.