Where do I even begin? Oh, I know… how about… at the beginning? Ahem. In the beginning, there was “The Matrix.” People saw it and said, “It was good.” This was followed by “The Matrix Reloaded.” People saw it and said, “It was okay, but we’ll forgive it because it’s just a lead-in for the big finale.” A few months later saw the release of “The Matrix Revolutions.” People saw it and said, “Huh?” I’m not really sure what the Wachowski Brothers had in mind when they decided to take the storyline of “The Matrix” and expand it to fill two more movies, several animated shorts, a video game and a cereal box. I think it might have been the call of the almighty dollar and the knowledge that everyone on the planet would buy into the product whether it was good or not. That’s what really rubbed me the wrong way about the sequels. I considered the first film to be a work of genius.

It was one of the most stylish and technically complicated films I had ever seen and it made the fact that Keanu Reeves cannot act a moot point. But more importantly, even though it had an extremely intricate plot that demanded your full attention, it was well-written enough to actually make sense at the end of the day.

I’ve watched “The Matrix” many times simply because it’s so darn cool. It’s one of those movies that I can walk in on halfway through, and insist on watching ‘til the end. Only a handful of movies have that effect on me. The first movie came out in 1999, and for three years all we heard about was how the Wachowski Brothers were going to create two sequels, back to back, and take the myths created in the first film to new heights. Oh, and they would also be the most complex films ever produced.

For three years audiences waited. The anticipation grew. Then the first teaser trailer for “The Matrix Reloaded” was released and it blew people away (including me). I couldn’t wait to see the next chapter of the saga (in spite of Reeves…). Then of course, the film opened. There was no question that the film was incredibly complex technically, but for all its hoopla, it just kind of fizzled. (Check here for mine and Joe’s original comments on “The Matrix Reloaded”)

When I walked out of “The Matrix Reloaded”, I was tired and confused. But I thought to myself, “Okay. Well since the next movie is only a few months away, I won’t try to figure things out. I’ll wait until it’s all explained in the final chapter.” Skip to a few months later. I slipped into a screening of “The Matrix Revolutions” and prepared myself to be entertained and to have all the mysteries of the universe revealed to me. The new trailer hadn’t looked as good as the one for “Reloaded”, so with my expectations a little lower, it was a win-win situation.

Once again I walked out of the theatre tired and even more confused than before. None of the questions of the universe had been answered. Actually, nothing at all was answered. For the entire movie, we just moved from action sequence to action sequence, with a lot of expositional scenes of the characters waxing rhapsodic about nothing. Almost every line was written in such a way as to make you go, “Oooh, how meaningful, “ when in reality it amounts to nothing more than empty posturing.

Now I realize I’m probably going to get flamed by tons of pseudo-intellectuals who will tell me I ‘just didn’t get it.’ I will only defend myself by saying that I may not the smartest guy on the planet, but I am smart enough to know when I’m being hosed, and all the dialogue in “The Matrix Revolutions” is nothing more than a hose job meant to make it sound like its pointing to some grand design. In retrospect, perhaps it does… if that grand design is for the producers to make a lot of money.

Beyond that, there were some major character flaws throughout the film. The most memorable (and you have to be familiar with the films to understand this) is when Neo is confronted by the character who is taken over by ‘Mr. Smith’ in the ‘real world.’ Just how many times does he have to refer to Neo as “Mr. Anderson” with that tell-tale little slur before he gets it that this guy is ‘Smith’? The audience (at least I hope most of the audience) caught on within seconds.

I think my main complaint about the sequels is that they almost don’t seem like they are part of the same trilogy that “The Matrix” is apart of. The first film, fantastic as it may have been plot-wise, still seemed grounded in reality. Whenever the characters were in the ‘Matrix’, the world around them looked like our world. With the exception of the Highway Chase scene in “The Matrix Reloaded”, all of the sets looked like… well…sets. Any sense that the world of the Matrix was our world was gone. It became too glossy, too clean.

I’m sure that most of you reading this are now pretty much convinced that I didn’t like either of the Matrix sequels, however that isn’t entirely true. Yes, I’m disappointed in the overall plotting and supposed ‘resolution’, but I was still very impressed by the technical aspects of the film. The special effects sequences are certainly without peer. The extended battle sequences are gloriously over-the-top, and the editing almost flawless.

I guess the overall point I’m trying to make is that if you’re looking for a thinking man’s film, full of profound wisdom and deep existential nuggets of truth, you will find neither here. If however you’re on the prowl for some eye-popping special effects and wild visuals, then look no further. A great majority of this film is like watching a video game, only without the controllers.

The other saving grace of the film falls into the lap of actor Hugo Weaving. As Agent Smith, he completely steals every scene he’s in. And not just when there’s 375,567,322 of him in the scene. I first saw Weaving as one of the cross-dressing Abba-loving entertainers in “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”, and he has gone on to play some of the coolest roles in recent years, including the elf Elrond in “The Lord of the Rings” series. He plays Smith with relish, and is undeniable the most interesting character in the entire trilogy. I’m hard-pressed to call him evil, considering I agree with his assessment in the first film about the human race being a virus.

“The Matrix Revolutions” is now on its way to DVD, and this is where some of the film’s strong suits really shine. The sound and picture nearly as perfect as you can get on DVD. And like the releases of the previous films, the extra features are plentiful. Warner Brothers made sure to include more than enough to whet the appetite of fans and non-fans alike.

Set up mostly on the second disc, the longest is a documentary about the making of the film, which comes in just under 30 minutes. It’s pretty good and offers several interviews snippets, most of which seem a bit self-congratulatory. The rest of the extras focus on various aspects of the process of making the film, most notably the extended CGI effects. One thing I missed is a director’s commentary from the Wachowski’s. I would give anything to listen to these two try to ‘explain’ the philosophies and mythologies behind their vision just to see if they could.

Regardless of some of the weaknesses of the second two films, I am still somewhat of a fan of the trilogy. I just wish that the Wachowski’s could have found a way to tie up the entire series in a way that was more fulfilling to audiences. The first film had an ending that was completely satisfying, even though it was a bit open-ended. The sequels simply ended.

Directed by: The Wachowski Brothers
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett-Smith
Extras: “Revolutions Recalibrated” – Behind the Scenes Overview
CG Revolution
Super Burly Brawl – A Look at the Final Showdown
Follow the White Rabbit - Neo-Realism: The Evolution of Bullet Time, Super Big Mini Models, Double Agent Smith, Mind Over Matter: The Physicality of the Matrix
Future Gamer The Matrix Online – An Introduction to the Massive Multi-player Game, The Matrix Online
3-D Evolutions – Concept Art, Previsualizations and Realizations
Before the Revolution - Timeline on the Concurrent Story Development Occurring between the Matrix Trilogy, The Animatrix and Enter the Matrix
Theatrical Trailer
Specifications: Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 4/6/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R (For Sci-fi Violence and Brief Sexual Content)
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We'll give Matrix Revolutions a C.