The Matrix Revolutions
Rated: R
Runtime: 2 hour, 9 minutes
Directed by: Larry and Andy Wachowski
Starring:
Keanu Reeves - Neo
Carrie Anne Moss - Trinity
Laurence Fishburne - Morpheus
Hugo Weaving - Agent Smith
Niobe - Jada Pinkett Smith
Link - Harold Perrineau
Clayton Watson - Kid
Nathaniel Less - Mifune
Four years and six months ago, a sci-fi action film starring Keanu “Can’t Act” Reeves, Larry Fishburne, and some unknown chick in leather became one of the biggest sleeper hits ever. The original Matrix wowed almost everyone and while it had its detractors, many saw something groundbreaking and fascinating. Something that had us coming to the theatre again and again to think about the philosophy presented in the film and marvel at the amazing action scenes. Six months ago, the first of the two back-to-back sequels, The Matrix Reloaded opened to very mixed reactions. Some found the film poorly tied together with boring speeches interlaced with cartoony action sequences. Other found the film a great mind trip and one that asked a lot of interesting questions. I stood by Reloaded as a flawed but great piece of filmmaking that was willing to take the viewer in a completely new direction. I felt that the final chapter The Matrix Revolutions, would turn around the haters and complete one of the greatest sci-fi trilogies ever committed to film.
Man, do I feel silly.
If Reloaded went overboard on long philosophical speeches, then Revolutions feels anemic by comparison. In fact, after the first twenty-five minutes, you can forget about silly little things like dialogue and philosophy. It’s time to blow stuff up! But that’s not before the film wastes an entire hour trying to get to where it needs to be. The film opens on Neo in a train station which exists somewhere between the Real World and the Matrix. And only our good friend the Merovingian (the irritatingly French Lambert Wilson) can set Neo free. But Morpheus and Trinity, both desperately in search of actually being necessary to the story, decide to go and get our good buddy Neo back, but not before doing a poor recreation of the lobby sequence except now they're fighting on the ceiling. And they’re not moving around when they’re firing. And the space is smaller. And the sequence is shorter. That’s The Matrix Revolutions. A dim reminder of what we loved about the first film, condensed to the point where it feels almost soulless and empty.
If I didn’t know that Reloaded and Revolutions were made at the same time, I would say that Revolutions seems like a direct response to Reloaded. It has almost no philosophy discussion, it's action heavy, and takes no time to breathe. As a result, the film which should have provided the answers instead decides to screw the questions. And after spending months mulling over Reloaded, the Enter the Matrix videogame, the animated series of shorts collected into The Animatrix and the implications of Persephone’s Kiss, or the kid who willed himself out the Matrix, or the previous Ones, or the purpose of Seraph, or any of the dozens of questions presented, Revolutions feels like a big middle finger from the Wachowski brothers.
And if not, if this is truly a labor of love, then didn’t anyone tap them on the should and go, “Uh, guys, I know that Gloria Foster is dead but isn’t is stupid to “replace her shell” with another old black woman who’s not even half as talented?” or maybe during lunch go up to them and say “Hey Andy, Larry, Larry’s dominatrix? I was looking over the cuts and I think we really need to cut down on the battle scene. Don’t brandish that whip at me, I’m just saying that it’s about forty minutes long and it barely involves any worthwhile characters”. Even if you can work the convoluted conclusion into something vaguely comprehensible, you can’t excuse the horrid performances of The Kid, Mifune (the real Mifune spins in his grave every time this guy is on screen), or some of the cringe-inducing, stilted dialogue.
There will be those who stand by Revolutions and say that the answers are in plain sight and that the Wachowski’s should be applauded for not spoon-feeding the audience. I don’t need to be spoon-fed; the problem is that there is no…yeah.
Despite a great final battle between Neo and Agent Smith (who, in a just world, would earn a Best Supporting Actor nod for a role played to perfection) and a few touching moments, I can not help but feel disappointed by The Matrix Revolutions. And while I will revisit all three films in the near future, I feel that the rabbit-hole is just a pit, one which the Wachowski’s dug too deep for me to re-emerge with a sense of a satisfaction from this sci-fi epic.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
11.6.03
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