In the final chapter of The Matrix trilogy, the human city of Zion defends itself against the massive invasion of the machines as Neo fights to end the war at another front whilest opposing the rogue Agent Smith.
I'm assuming that anyone reading this has at least seen the first 2 matrix films and knows roughly what's going on (if that's possible). And I've tried to avoid anything that could spoil the film for those who haven't seen it yet.
First off just let me get a couple of things straight. Now I was a big fan on the first Matrix film. It was new, original and the special effects added to the story instead of overshadowing it like many films seem to, but it was never in need of a sequel, let alone 2 of them! So it was with a sense of dread that I sat through the first sequel (Reloaded).
It threw a lot of information at the viewer in a short space of time (namely via the Architect speech towards the end of the film), but balanced this out with some good quality action sequences (Trinity's bike race obviously). It also introduced some new characters such as the Merovingian and Persephone. Overall it left me looking forward to finally getting the answers we'd been waiting for all along in the conclusion (Revolutions).
And that's my biggest problem with the latest instalment - they don't give you the answers we've been waiting for!! Instead they leave you with so many unanswered questions that the film turns out to be an anti-climax (at least for me) for the trilogy. If it was the intention of the Wachowski Brothers to leave the audience thinking, and for them to make up their own theories about the Matrix and what the film means, then why didn't they just leave it as a stand alone film? Obviously someone waved a cheque book in front of their faces until they agreed to make the sequels.
Revolutions seems to massively under use the characters previously introduced. The Merovingian and Persephone, given such good lines in Reloaded, are used as merely a "get out of jail free card" for Neo at the start of the film and serve no other purpose. Morpheus, the mentor in Matrix, the General in Reloaded, is relegated to co-pilot and button pusher in this one!! And as for Trinity, she has a very good start to the film, lots of sequences that hark back to the original film, and then she seems to be mostly ignored for the rest of the film.
By the end of the film nothing is resolved in satisfactory way, for me at least.
If you're looking for a good action film with lots of explosions, go and watch this, but if you're looking for the final answers that the Wachowski Brothers have been promising all along, you'll be massively disappointed.
The only good thing is they didn't put Ewoks in it!!
Review by Paul
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