The Matrix Revolutions

So I've let some time pass so that the initial hype of Revolutions is quieting down, and now I feel as though it is appropriate to share my feelings on this movie.

But before I do that, I'd like to remind everyone in America:

THE MATRIX WAS NOT A PERFECT MOVIE.

Not even close. As a matter of fact, I hated it the second time I saw it when I got it on DVD. Loved it in theaters, but I remembered a movie much better than the one that I actually saw. Viewing it a second time was a letdown.

But, over time, I've learned to appreciate the movie. Sure, it rips off a lot of classic science fiction and anime and such, but who cares?

Apparently I'm in the minority that enjoyed Reloaded, and that's good. People complained that there was "too much talking and not enough action" in Reloaded. The first movie was almost all talking, in case you forgot.

I liked the ideas presented in Reloaded. The five previous ones, the "control," programs working for and against humans, programs with agendas, etc. It made the Matrix universe a hell of a lot more interesting.

So I'll get this out of the way: I really liked Revolutions. Most people seemed to be expecting a mind-fuck, some crazy twist where it ended up a matrix-within-a-matrix or humans are really a virus in a computer or something stupid.

That's cheap, stupid, and it would void the first two movies entirely. Why care about the characters if you find out in the third movie that its all fake? Stupid.

Thankfully, the Wachowskis are better than that. They're not one trick ponies (I'm looking at you, M. Night Shyamalan) and they don't rely on what sold the first movie, and it's smart.

There were a lot of questions to be answered in Revolutions, and they didn't bother answering most of them, which is good. It makes it YOUR movie from which you can take YOUR OWN ideas and draw YOUR OWN conclusions.

But, at the same time, the movie offers a relatively good conclusion to the series and solves the issues at hand. I guess most people wanted the Matrix to be destroyed or something, but that would have been a disappointing ending to me.

But just like the first movie (and the second) in the series, Revolutions isn't perfect. The same problems are still here - over-serious and cheesy dialogue, along with bizzare over-the-top action that comes dangerously close to becoming a parody of itself.

But I still liked it. The siege on Zion was most definitely the best science fiction battle sequence I've seen since Hoth in Empire. The final duel between Smith and Neo can only be defined as epic, and its really well done.

I realize most people probably won't like this movie - people expect a nice, tightly-wrapped ending that draws the conclusions for you. In the realm of big, over the top Hollywood cinema, Revolutions and the Matrix series itself is, oddly enough, a refreshing change of pace.