Matrix Revolutions

Right... let's start off by saying I was no huge fan of the first film.

I enjoyed it, I own it, it doesn't make my greatest films ever list, yet it doesn't make my worst.
In a lot of ways I preferred the second to the first.

And, I enjoyed this film.

It stayed away from all the metaphorical/physical quasi-bollocks that the 2nd was full of, which was a good thing.

Yet it seemed to suffer from 'Star Wars 1-3 syndrome.' IE: you need to have seen the first 2 films to appreciate it, as it really doesn't stand up as a film in it's own right. Much like I could only enjoy Phantom Menace/Attack of the Clones because of the in references to the original trilogy. As individual films they lacked. A lot.
Anyway, back to the film in hand; as the closing part to a trilogy maybe that's the point, I don't know.

I do reckon that the second and third could have been compressed into one film though.
Yet that would have spoilt the homages.

A lot of people expected Reloaded to be just like the first, that was why they disliked it, I always saw it, and this, for what it was supposed to be, with each film homaging different aspects and genres that the Wachowski's love.

The first was a science fiction film and a kung fu film.
The second a cowboy/samurai film and a road movie.
The third an epic war film.

In that respect the films worked for me.

Revolutions was set mainly in the real world, counterbalancing the other two nicely. The first mainly in The Matrix, the second an equal amount in both.

In fact, sitting here typing all this out is making me realise how well they actually work as a trilogy, but again that indicates the need of watching them all together back to back and that as incividual films the second two fail.

The scene with all the exo-suit's lining up for battle.... hell, tell me that wasn't something every film fan's been waiting for since Aliens.

Aside from that, there wasn't an overuse of F/X, something which Reloaded tended to fall on it's face a bit in.

I have to admit that there was a small choke in my throat and a tear in my eye when the runtish kid saved the day.
Oh no, hang about, I didn't....
He was blatantly set up as being a loser in the second one and this one just to not 'spoil' the moment which I couldn't possibly ever predict... honest....

Moving on, Neo being blinded... hmm, one of the worst visual representations since Arbie cutting his own eye out in Terminator, you'd think make up would have improved by now.

And aww, Trinity died... boo fucking hoo, like we didn't see that one coming.
And all of that's without mentioning the little girl and the sunset scene...

But let's sum things up, as ever;
I enjoyed the film.
The war was as epic as it should have been, and visually the film was amazing.
The Oracle's part in the storyline throughout the three is clarified within this, and her reasons for her part given.
And as I've already stated a fine addition to the trilogy.

But as always, with most movies these days, the ending was very lacklustre.
Essentially there wasn't much of an explanation or conclusion for anything.
For Neo.
For Smith.
For a lot of it.

It really is one of those things where you have to have seen the Animatrix, and played the game and read the Comics to understand the whole explanation behind the original war and everyone's part within it.

And to be fair, while I enjoy the mediums involved the milking the cash cow franchisability of it all annoys me.



Or, as my girlfriend Sam put it "Just more bloody Star Trek with a Little House on The Prairie ending"