Maybe you just have to "get it"

Rating: 9/10 (22 November 2003)

There are lots of negative reviews of this movie, yet at the time of this writing, it is running a 6.4/10 in the voting section, so clearly there are those who like it. Count me as one of them, despite going in with full knowledge of the beating this film was taking in the opinion arena.

To preface, let me say that I loved Matrix, and disliked Matrix II. Too much enigma-speak, too many unanswered questions, to much raver partying. To be fair, Matrix II suffers from 'tween syndrome, having to act as a bridge between the first and third movies.
People say that Matrix Revolutions fails to answer the questions and mysteries raised in Reloaded, which is true to a certain extent. But some of these questions are answered and others are revisited but still remain unanswered. That's the way things are sometimes, folks! Sometimes you have to try to formulate your own interpretation of what you see. Some people, when not spoon-fed the "answers", become irate, and claim that the filmmakers were lazy or that the reason they can't figure things out is that there is nothing to understand. Wrong! This movie clearly has as much symbolism and as many references to classical literature and mythology as the first movie. It's up to the viewer to look for it.

Granted, this movie is harder to follow than Matrix I. If your grasp of the storyline jumps the tracks before the end, the whole film may come across as a jumble of unconnected action sequences and empty mysticism. But if you "get" what's happening, you will see how things have consistently developed through the 3 movies and how the ending of Revolutions really could not have happened any other way. It's not about Zion, it's not about the Oracle, it's not about Trinity or Morpheus or any or any of the other humans. It's about Neo and Smith, not representing good and evil, but life and anti-life. In that situation, even the machines choose life.
Is everything perfect? No. I wholeheartedly agree that the suspension of disbelief gets strained at times, particularly in regards to the lack of EMP devices at Zion and the curious behavior of the sentinels during the battle scenes. But compared to the real story of Neo and Smith, the actions scenes were just there to fill in the time.
In summary, I found this installment to be a cohesive, well-crafted conclusion to the trilogy. Go into it expecting to apply a little brain power, because no one is going to hold your hand and explain it all at the end. But there are enough of us who "get it" to assure everyone that there are rational interpretations to what you see. We may not agree on what "it" is, but that sometimes happens with art.