Overall worthwhile, but hard not to feel disappointed

Rating: 9/10 (2 April 2004)

The first Matrix movie is one of the more ground breaking movies in the last decade as evidence by a pretty massive influence on pop culture. I could immerse myself in this review of just how great I think the first movie is, but I digress. The second was received with so much hype that it couldn't possibly live up to in all fairness, but I thought the second movie was wildly entertaining and a bit like the first one in the fact that it made you think quite a bit after the movie was over (The first one "blows your mind" an over-used phrase when it comes to reviewing movies, but it certainly applies in this case). However, I thought the second had too much action, I believe Keanu has close to 5 fight scenes. Morpheus has one, Trinity has 2 I think, all this fighting I think cuts out of the plot which is why the the Matrix is cool to begin with. The action is fun and out of this world at times, but without a good enough plot, a viewer can feel disconnected from the characters in the action. The plot of the second movie I did enjoy, I just thought more time should have gone into it. I thought there were many twists and turns and it ends with a decent "cliffhanger."
My own problem was that unlike most of the critics I went into the third movie with a lot of expectations, but I knew seeing the first Matrix and the previous Wachowski Brothers movie (Bound from 1996) that this trilogy was going to end a bit differently than a conventional sci-fi film...and it did, but more so in a way that I think a real fan of "The Matrix" is still left wanting more, or let me re-phrase, a little more attention to detail. Revolutions does have bright spots, as much as I love a rock-em, sock-em WELL DONE Kung-Fu in any movie, thankfully that part of the Matrix was cut back. How many times do I need to see Keanu just entirely beat the tar out of some random machine that never really dies? I like the fact that Jada-Pinkett Smith was at least put to some more use(although it could have been more) in this last film, she adds spark in basically every scene she's in. The final Neo-Smith fight is awesome. I think the rain alone creates a very cool atmosphere, but a death fight in the rain is certainly something that isn't new to an audience viewing an action movie. It's still the same basic plot, but I think too much of the plot is revolved around the destruction of Zion. I think the battle sequence is something around 25 minutes? That's way too long for a computer generated battle...at least if your movie is barely over 2 hours. For a 4 hour epic like the 3rd Lord of the Rings for example it works because they've taken so long to develop the characters that the action is more thrilling because you feel so attached. The supporting characters are barely developed that are fighting in that sequence, The Kid has a back story in the Ani-matrix, but Capt. Mifune or the vast array of other characters that get blown to bits, I have no clue who they are, so what does all that destruction mean to the viewer? It's a huge display of visual effects that in the end, kind of have a weakened purpose.

With the Matrix I feel more so attached to the ideas presented rather than specific characters. As much as you gotta dig Mr. Whoa(Keanu) and the ever present bad-ass himself Mr. Fishburne(great in Mystic River by the way), and the under-rated Carrie-Anne Moss, I just don't feel as attached to them as I would to say, well Sam-wise(Sean Astin) from Lord of the Rings. I'm not trying to compare, I'm just offering an example. Also, because it is a little over 2 hours there's no time to get into some of the other cool supporting characters. Monica Belluci has one stinking line, I mean she's a very talented actress (See the Passion or foreign flick Malena), but hell at least give her a few more to see her in that dress, WOW! Lastly, the overall flow just seems like the Wachowski's didn't know exactly how to end it, not enough time is really given to any of the main or supporting characters, I seem to keep harping on this, but if you are going to end a trilogy you don't have to come to end-all-be-all on everything, but it would be nice to go into more detail than they do. A scene between Seraph and Neo in the teahouse is so light and generally cool for example, but nothing like this really appears in the third. Like what is this underlying connection between the Frenchman and Seraph for example? What is that about?

All in all, the Matrix was a fun ride, interesting early philosophy (the first movie), unbelievable special effects (all three just incredible), and great Kung-Fu, but it just could have ended differently with more depth. So I tried to write this (while being sick at school), but as un-biased as I could for someone who isn't a fan of the trilogy. Overall rating: 6.5/7.0 out of 10 for the Matrix Revolutions, course if you're a fan, you'll probably dig this way more than that.
P.S. - I seriously hope the Wachowski's don't pull a George Lucas and plan on making a bigillion more of these movies because while I thoroughly enjoyed the Matrix Trilogy, I'm Matrixed Out. No need for Matrix Rebooted, or Regenerated, or Regurgitated, you get the picture.