Fairly satisfying conclusion, but there are disappointments, and it still doesn't make total sense.

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2004)

(No plot spoilers.)
Like most others, I loved the Matrix. And like a lot of others, I was underwhelmed with Reloaded. But for Revolutions, I came out pretty happy. You do see an end, and there are some surprises. But I was still left with important unanswered questions, and that's kind of inexcusable for the finale in a 7 hour trilogy.
What Matrix Revolutions brings to the table is a giant war. The machines have reached Zion, it's the last stand for the humans, and Neo must make a choice that could bring him face-to face with the machine city and a possible end to the war.
After a slow but interesting start, we see the war begin. It's a special effects frenzy, similar to that of Lord of the Rings or the arena battle at the end of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. The war scene makes up the entire middle third of the film, and for what it's supposed to display, it does it well enough. Aside from legions of the "squiddies", or Sentinels, there are a couple new machines that are fascinating to watch: Giant, drilling creatures that instill an appropriate feeling of dread and power. On the human side, there's a small army of walking robots similar to the Power Loader machines in "Aliens", but with extensive firepower. This results in long sequences of shooting, attacking, and screaming, which is going to uninspire fans of the Matrix's deeper plot but which is appropriate for a war setting.
The only problem is that a lot of this is pretty standard stuff. Grizzled military commanders will be hard on young soldiers, who find their courage and prove their true worth. People will be injured and give important information in a speech just before dying. The heroes will be doubted but still do just enough to prove their doubters wrong.
But then one of the bigger overall problems is that the main characters are sort of lost amongst the backdrop of war. Morpheus has maybe 30 lines, becoming a shadow of the informative, enigmatic hero he was in the original. This time, he's reduced mainly to someone who hopes Neo saves the world while himself taking orders as co-captain of Niobe's ship. Trinity has little else to do either besides tag along with Neo or do a couple arbitrary flips and kicks.
And then there's actually a few more specific problems. A very important scene with Neo and Trinity occurs within the movie's last half hour, and although it's dramatic it too is cliche. What's worse, after the scene is over the plot just moves right along as if it didn't matter, without it even being mentioned again. Given the importance of the scene, and the fact that it's occuring between two characters who we've known for years, it feels like it's over way too quickly. That's just a letdown. The same thing occurs with the appearance if the Architect, the builder of the Matrix. He has a brief scene in this film, and has almost nothing important or informative to say whatsoever. Again, it seems like a waste, especially due to the fact that he SHOULD have interesting things to say by the point at which he appears in the film.
Finally there's the film's conclusion, which I won't reveal. I will say that it was one of the less predictable of possible outcomes. But it too is a letdown in a couple ways: First, it leaves quite a few important questions unanswered, and could be construed as leaving the door open for a sequel, but also could be seen as the absolute finish. But that's the problem. If it's the end, I want my questions answered, I want to know the hows and whys. The final minutes left me wanting, left me thinking that there were several possible conclusions to the story that aren't there on film. And in my opinion, that shouldn't happen at the end of something this large and built up to.
But what really matters is whether I enjoyed the film. Although the review doesn't sound like I did, that's actually not the case. I went in planning to know what I wanted to know, and while I didn't learn everything I still did spend a couple fun hours watching an action movie. The acting, score, and effects were pretty much on par with the other films so there's nothing lost there, but it's the details that hurt. Where the original Matrix was a smart script that mostly made sense, this one was more or less action with an incomplete plot wrapup. But it still did have several good scenes, and many of the special effects were great (I loved machine city, with its vast fields and burned skies). I also truly loved the music for the final fight, and during the end credits.
Still, while Reloaded had a standout chase scene as well as some great kung fu like the 100 Smith brawl, this one had neither. There is a climactic and important Neo/Smith battle at the end of Revolutions, but it too is different: In demonstrating the epic and dramatic repercussions of this battle, it consists mostly of giant (albeit very cool) effects, lots of flying, and very little actual close combat. This makes Revolutions unfortunately boil down to a plot far less interesting and focused than the original Matrix, as well as far, far less kung fu. There's also much less complicated story development than in Reloaded, but that's probably a good thing. That doesn't leave Revolutions with much to digest however, aside from a long war scene and a plot wrapup that doesn't explain much more than the most immediate questions. Even the actual "ending" after the big fight is pretty brief, which then is followed by the closing scenes that make things confusing again.
In the end, Revolutions is still fun to watch, and I still like it 2nd of the trilogy. It's just not as tight and fun as the original, and it kind of deflated after the information overload of Reloaded. Not a bad movie at all, it just falls a little short of the great climax worthy of what the Matrix began years ago. Not in style or flash, but in making everything fit. I'd still recommend it to those who saw the first two, just don't expect that big, revelatory plot scene where everything make sense - that's still missing.