The Matrix mythos

Rating: 6/10 (20 February 2009)

The bigger picture had already started taking shape in "The Matrix Reloaded", but there were still doubts amidst the pile of narratives, and of course in the vortex of the hyper action. But it's obvious in "The Matrix Revolutions". The Matrix trilogy is a sci-fi retelling of the Christianity fable. Slightly heretic perhaps, but it's the Christianity fable all the same.
Think about it. The Architect is God. He created the first perfect matrix which mankind rejected. Ring any bells? Yes, this is the original sin redux. Thereafter mankind lives in a kind of downgraded matrix that suits their needs and nature better. The agents/programs are God's angels so to speak. Neo, aka the saviour, might be another means of control, but he's the saviour nonetheless. Agent Smith is the angel that rebelled and freed himself; he's, ho-hum, an Antichrist of sorts.
The difference in the Matrix's Weltanschauung is that mankind has rebelled against the Architect, aka God. Mankind (or at least a part of it) wants out the matrix, out of the role-model of god's universe altogether. It chooses to. Essentially the Matrix trilogy depicts mankind as some sort of anomaly (to use the film's terms), eternally bound to be in conflict with something without even really knowing why - the establishment, it's own emotions, whatever.
The three films can thus be categorized as such: The first film is the introduction to the general idea and aesthetics. The second film is the culmination of the aesthetics, and the deviation and dilution of the idea into more interesting levels. The third film is the clearing up of the idea (and thus slightly disappointing), the decay of the overindulgent aesthetics, and the pompous pathos of the ultimate battle between Neo and Agent Smith.