The Matrix Revolutions
Directed
by Los Bros Wachowski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving,
Laurence Fishburne, Monica Bellucci
Review
by Ryan Vu
By now
you've probably heard or read all the abysmal reviews that
this movie has been racking up days before its wide release.
And, if you count yourself among the costume-wearing, Zen-spouting
nerds who call themselves "true fans," you'll like this movie
no matter what anyone says, so by all means, go see it. If
you count yourself among its detractors, then you should probably
have already realized this one won't change your mind.
But if,
like most people, you are on the fence, then allow me to give
it to you straight: The Matrix: Revolutions is an excellent
action movie, and that is more or less it. If you enjoy big,
special-effects-laden action movies, you will most likely
enjoy this one. It has a massive mechanized battle sequence
between the fighters of Zion and the octopus-like machines
that seems to take up about half the film, but unlike Revolutions,
it doesn't drag. The high point for me was the final showdown
between Smith and Neo, one of those big, city-destroying,
superhero style mano e mano duels to the death that, for some
reason, actual superhero movies have been lacking since the
Superman series. How does it take sequences whose concepts
are this derivative and manage to make them exciting? The
same reason we keep going to see action movies in the first
place: the inventiveness of their execution, and the thrill
of seeing our heroes barely make it out alive. That was what
was wrong with the action scenes in the second movie; they
were flashy, even brilliant at times, but there was never
any indication that Neo could lose to anyone he was fighting,
or that much was really at stake; it was like watching your
friend play a video game with god mode on.
Many of
those who have panned this film refer to the original as justification
for their negative take on it. Pop culture has become inundated
with references to The Matrix, even philosophers have written
books on it (though I suspect they did so for financial reasons
rather than any great genuine interest), so it's no wonder
expectations for the sequels have been unrealistically high.
But let's take a good, honest look at the first film. The
Matrix had a fantastic initial idea, the visual style was
still groundbreaking, and it mostly took place in semi-familiar
surroundings that we could easily relate to, even imagine
ourselves in. Then, halfway through, the action took over,
and the series has continued in that mode through both sequels.
And this
has been the biggest flaw of both sequels; with the look no
longer fresh and the normal world deconstructed, the ideas
are all that are left to balance out the action; and those
ideas that once made us say "Whoa" right along with Neo have
become scattered and incoherent amongst all the ass-kicking
and gunplay. In the last film they were reduced to a couple
of two-minute philosophy dumps, where a guy who looked like
Colonel Sanders unloaded on a poor, befuddled Keanu Reeves,
in this case perfectly representing most of the audience.
The rest of the dialogue took a huge nosedive too from the
at least occasionally witty first film (funny how the dialogue
tends to be more believable within the matrix than it does
in the cliché-laden "real" world).
What's
improved about part three is the same thing that made Attack
of the Clones an improvement over Phantom Menace: less talking,
more focus, and more danger. The acting comes off a little
better in this one, with some of the supporting characters
(Jada Pinkett Smith's Niobe, for instance) are given a little
more personality, though the excellent Laurence Fishburne
is still woefully underused. Keanu is still Keanu. Gloria
Foster's replacement for the role of the Oracle, Mary Alice,
isn't bad. And Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith continues to be
one of the coolest movie villains ever. The ideas are still
a mess, but at least the Wachowskis have avoided lecturing.
While some have said that the two sequels are nothing more
than mindless action movies, I can only partially agree. There
are interesting ideas in both Reloaded and Revolutions, you
just have to hunt for them-which means they weren't put to
use as well as they could have been. It's a shame, but there
really are two, or at least one, truly great film(s) hiding
inside the two overblown sequels.
Instead
we're left with two action movies, one irritatingly plotted
and paced, one pretty good, but neither any more than that.
It's the wasted potential that makes these movies frustrating
to a lot of critics and audiences. But if you're ok with that,
then by all means, go see this movie. It's as good a sci-fi\actioner
as we can except for a while. And if you're willing to do
the work it takes to piece together the film's message, you
might even be impressed by what might have been.
This is Ryan Vu's second big review for the site. Let
him know what you think.
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