Simply there were things I liked and things I didn't like- arguably 'Revolutions' is the least in the Matrix films

Rating: 4/10 (10 November 2003)

SPOILER WARNING
Andy and Larry Wachowski still get credit from me for their last installment in their Matrix movies - Revolutions (this following the well-intentioned if imperfect Reloaded and excellent first one) - in terms of storytelling. The one thing that kept me awake through much of this film was that I knew they were taking me to somewhere where I wasn't entirely certain. However, that was the only thing that made this installment worthwhile for my money.

There are two other elements that I wish to address: the visual effects and action sequences, while technically complex and detailed, didn't HOLD me on to my seat, so to speak, like in the last two films. The first Matrix was a breakthrough in its own visual style and technique, and Reloaded admirably tried to push it a little further. However I sensed in Revolutions that there was no where remarkable to go in the area. For example, the climax scenes- the battle for Zion and Neo's "inevitable" fight with Smith- didn't have anything that had me, well, compelled. Much like the characters, the scenes with the CGI effects and digital animation have become less involving as a film and more involving if it was a video game. It's not to undermine the painstaking work it must've been must've been on films like the original Star Wars trilogy where practically everything had to be built from scratch instead of on a hard-drive), but the whole feeling behind it seemed strained.
Now, I understand that the first two installments weren't exactly flowing with eloquent dialog and in-depth characters, but at least in those the writer/directors and actors made an effort to keep it slightly above the satisfactory level for the genre. In Revolutions, the words spoken and acting felt wooden, stale, and perhaps far over-used. For example, there is a character that is introduced into the film midway through who is a sixteen year-old wanting to fight against the machines despite his age being too young. Unless you've never seen a sci-fi action film, or are too dense to know where this character fits in a film like this, it's a given to the audience how important this "minor" character will be in that battle for Zion. And, indeed there were a couple of scenes towards the end where I felt like the filmmakers were treating me like a complete idiot. That the acting is reminiscent of a bad series or movie-of-the-week on the sci-fi channel doesn't help things (even Smith is a little un-Smith like at times). True, fans of these movies and of the genre don't go to these movies for great and original conversing and acting ability, but, come on...
All that being said, when I left Revolutions, I didn't feel as if I had left seeing a failure. There were certain things; scenes that I saw and felt that were OK. As mentioned earlier, the story that unfolded in this one made more sense this time around that in the Reloaded, where some points in the story were kept elusive. Even the character of Bane (Ian Bliss), who is apart of the cliché wheel, was a nice touch to the proceedings. Maybe The Matrix Revolutions is, from my perspective, just another one of the final installments in trilogy history that remain the drop-off from the last two (The Godfather trilogy and the Living-Dead trilogy come to mind). In all, this trilogy is a noteworthy one in film history, certainly in its genre, and I was glad I saw it. Yet, it was a disappointment in more ways than it should've been. Grade: C