The Matrix Revolutions (Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne) 1/2
Given its phenomenal growth over the past century, technology will inevitably continue to evolve at a dizzying pace. Man's place in the world will no doubt come into question as machines grow in their artificial intelligence, and manual labour continues to devolve in importance. The sci-fi stories from decades ago foresaw a culture dominated by all things metallic and robotic, but at least these yarns were usually laid out in narratives meant to entertain and give cause for philosophical reflection. The problem with the Matrix franchise is that, while it may make for entertaining action and adequately provides grim depictions of the future, few -- if anyone -- will be able to describe or explain its basic premise without getting dizzy from the hazy, allegorical embellishments and abstract techno-babble. When it comes to summaring these films, it's almost as if the machines have already taken over. Movies starring Keanu Reeves should not require diagrams.
When last we saw the gang of sub-terrain human freedom fighters in The Matrix Reloaded, Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) had been rescued from certain doom by her main man Neo (Reeves) thanks to some quick thinking and the saving power of love. The Matrix Revolutions opens with unwitting Neo trapped in an electronic limbo between the real world and the Matrix. It is essentially a train station and his best bet for escaping is by the good grace of the gruff Trainman (Bruce Spence). Given we are dealing with different levels of existence and reality, perhaps the Oracle, the Architect and the Trainman should network with the Gatekeeper and the Keymaster from Ghostbusters. Who knows? With bizarre nicknames like these, they might discover some answers to the endless metaphysical riddles along the way.
Anyway, Trinity ends up busting Neo out thanks to a palpable threat she makes to the Frenchman Merovingian (Lambert Wilson). Once out, the two head for the Machine City to confront the evil Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) once and for all, while former lovers Niobe (Jada Pinkett-Smith) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) rush to the underground city of Zion to help try and stop the onslaught of approaching sentinels. The attack on the city itself is probably the best sequence of the trilogy. Swarms of sentinels, which look like octopi with many red eyes, float about like schools of fish as the waves of helpless humans fire at them with machine gun mechanisms that are reminiscent of Sigourney Weaver's cranelift in Aliens. The battle scene is a triumph of special effects and non-stop action for a good 30 or 40 minutes.
By the time Neo arrives at the Machine City, a few hints are dropped that the film might venture into quasi-religious or mythological turf. For example, in one shot, he is depicted walking on an electronic stream of data as if he were walking on water, and, in a curious choice, he loses his sight in a pivotal confrontation with a character who has been possessed by Agent Smith (the Devil?). But the conclusion unravels in a way that is likely to disappoint the die-hard fans of the first two movies and further baffle those who were hoping for some semblance of resolution for enduring all that has come before.
I liked the original Matrix because it was sassy enough to boast an entirely new world and leave enough questions embedded in its screenplay to allow for multiple viewings while still enjoying the fast-paced action sequences and influential special effects. In and of themselves, the questions of logic were innocuous, fun and didn't get in the way. By the time we get to Revolutions, repeat viewings defeat the point, because even the Wachoswki Brothers (Andy and Larry), who wrote and directed the trilogy, don't seem to know what they're trying to say. It's as if they delibarately thought up some answers to their conundrums of coherence and intentionally subtracted them from the script. To make matters worse, they've probably left these answers out in order to set the stage for a fourth Matrix, God forbid.
The Wachowski Brothers never seem to capture the basic aspects of movie dialogue here, particularly in the interminable scenes inside the Matrix. The questions, answers and clichés are back, including "Tonight, the future of both worlds will be in your hands...or in his," and "Everything that has a beginning has an end." When events shift to the battle for Zion, there are some new assembly-line characters that don't fare much better, either. A kid who looks like Justin Timberlake and "hasn't finished his training yet" is, naturally, the last hope for the humans at a pivotal moment. A pair of gung-ho women who seem to really dig each other run around with a dual-shot bazooka to fire at a giant screw; the symbolism isn't too hard to miss. Then there's the city's military head honcho who just can't seem to get the council to agree with him in their darkest hour. And how can we forget the motivational "give 'em hell" Independence Day speech where the crowd cheers afterwards. It's all here, just fill in the blanks.
On a slide scale of enjoyment, the Matrix Revolutions is slightly better than Reloaded because it has less talking and more action. In any other movie, that would probably not be an accurate metric, but if a phenomenon like this series is going to be around no matter where you turn, you might as well get as much bang for your buck as you can. 'Cause there ain't no way the logistics are gonna make much sense to us regular folk.
