Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Jada Pinkett Smith, Carrie_Anne Moss, Helmut Bakaitis, Hugo Weaving, Mary Alice, Monica Bellucci, Harry J. Lennix, Ian Bliss, Nathaniel Lees
Written and directed by Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski. Distributed by Warner Bros. Rated R.
I expected more in this the closing episode, The Matrix Revolutions. The visual effects were incredible, as they have been in the previous two films. However, good visual effects cannot make up for a mediocre script and plot line. Just ask any first or second generation Star Wars fan who has found themselves disenfranchised from the prequel trilogy; they will tell you a similar story. Focus too much on the visuals by neglecting script and plot and you disrupt the balance of a good film. Where’s that Oracle when you need her?
The script bordered on bearable. For a trilogy that has its own unique philosophical edge, each sequel’s script has progressively seemed dumbed down, which is truly lamentable. Especially in Revolutions, the logic in the lines for the Oracle and the Frenchmen seemed to say everything yet nothing at all. It was as interesting and understandable as Rumsfield attempting to answer a question at a committee hearing on weapons of mass destruction.
It’s not that there aren’t some clever lines and good dialogue, but they are too few and far between. It’s as if the brothers Wachowski scribbled out a script to fill in the void between predetermined battle scenes. Because of this, there seemed to be no vision nor meaning to what was said.
Again, there was an occasional light in the muddled darkness. One of the dialogue sequences I appreciated occurred between Agent Smith and Neo. After an amazing fight sequence between the two, Neo is down. Agent Smith is standing nearby gloating over accomplishment, anticipating the moment he will take over the image of Neo. But Neo comes back and proceeds to stand up to continue fighting. With a massive army of Agent Smiths looking on, the main Agent Smith is puzzled, pretty much like Darth Vader was puzzled when Luke would not give in to the seemingly indomitable power. "How do you do this?" Smith says. "Why do you do this? Are you fighting for more than survival?... Is it love?"
Smith continues with thoughts that only an antagonist could come up with about how survival, love, hope, etc. are all illusions that blind the reality that we are doomed to be controlled, taken over, by some power or another. Finally, Smith, in utter frustration asks: "Why do you persist?"
"Because I choose to," replies Neo.
Decent dialogue such as this was easily overlooked by other scenes in which it just seemed like actors were simply spitting out instructions. For example, in the scenes before and during the moment Neo asks if he can have a ship (except for Niobe’s clever line). Or, in the scene between the young boy (forgot his name) who volunteered for the armory brigade in Zion and his overly-angry sergeant. Or, in the laboriously droll scenes with the captain or captains standing before the judges of Zion.
Transitions between major scenes could have been better written. For example, when Neo breaks into the Machine City, makes a deal for peace with the God of the Machine, and then gets plugged in, Neo is placed right down onto that street of rain to fight Agent Smith. And not just an Agent Smith, because by this time he has replicated himself into an army, but the one and only Agent Smith who leads, controls, and commands all of the other Agent Smiths.
Because Neo is placed on this street, we can assume that the God of the Machine 1) set this fight up, and 2) has control over the Agent Smith virus that is taking over his system. I highly doubt that is what the Wachowski’s had in mind because 1) Neo has just explained to the God of the Machine that the Agent Smith virus is the primary threat. And, 2) As a computer virus, the Agent Smiths aren’t being controlled by the machines (the system).
Thus, the transition from Neo speaking with the God of the Machine to the battle with the main Agent Smith should have been one in which Neo, once he is plugged in, flies around trying to find Agent Smith, runs into a few replicants, kicks their asses around for awhile until the main Agent Smith flies onto the scene to say "Neo is mine." Or something like that.
One thing in the Wachowski’s favor: I thought they delivered a truly sad but admirable savior character in Neo. When the film credits were rolling, I was concerned over the fact that the Machines, having the city of Zion at their absolute mercy, turned away. This only made sense to me when I realized that Neo went to the God of the Machine, not as the Neo in the Matrix, but as Neo as a human. Neo offered himself as a sacrifice on behalf of the humans in Zion if he failed to destroy the Agent Smith virus. "What do you want" inquired the God of the Machine.
"I want peace," replied Neo. Peace for the humans; peace between the machines and the humans.
In the end, Neo chooses an act that will inevitably lead to his death. But his death would also be a sacrifice that would benefit the machines, an act that did not go unrecognized by the God of the Machines. For this reason, I understood, the hordes of sentinels prepared to bore into the last stronghold of Zion to obliterate humanity, were called home, leaving Zion in peace, leaving Zion alone with the knowledge that Neo was the savior many of them believed him to be.
Things I Will Not Easily Forget
- The truly hip fashion of The Matrix. The color of black has never looked so good.
- The beautiful Carrie-Ann Moss as Trinity.
- Keanu Reeves as Neo. His personality, which doesn’t always fit with some films (he was very good in The Gift and Much Ado About Nothing), is a perfect fit for this role. I felt he was born to play this role.
- The classy and sophisticated Laurence Fishburne.
- The way Neo stops bullets and sentinels in mid-flight.
- The excellently choreographed fight sequences.
- The sly humor of Agent Smith (thanks to a gifted Hugo Weaving).
