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November 5, 2003
By Veronica Mixon
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Early in Matrix Revolution, Neo (Keanu Reeves) wakes
in a pristine subway station and wonders
just where he is. That sentiment is
pretty much what the audience will feel
during most of the third and final segment
of the Matrix trilogy. Clear, Andy and
Larry Wachowski have lost their way
in the wake of the phenomenal success
of the initial 1999 film, “The
Matrix” and the introduction
of video games, the second installment,
“Matrix Reloaded.”
The brothers Wachowski forgot that the
first essential component for any movie
is a good story.
Matrix Revolution
never fully explains Neo’s messiah
purpose in the war between man and the
machines. The mythology is garbled and
empty. While the denizens of Zion prepare
for the conflict with the machines which
are digging their way down to the last
safe place for humans, Morpheus (Laurence
Fishbourne), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss),
Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Serph
(Collin Chou) search for Neo at the
Merovingian’s (Lambert Wilson)
club. The scene is strange and totally
out of place. After an eye-popping fight
scene with the guards who shot while
being suspended from the ceiling, the
quartet enter this sleek, eerie dominatrix
club filled with leather-clad, spiked
enemy. When Trinity started blasting,
I was glad she got her crew and the
audience out of the club. Meanwhile,
Neo is talking to an Indian family who
is sending their daughter into protection.
The adorable child Sati (Tanveer K.
Atwal) reminds us of the children who
visited the Oracle’s (Mary Alice)
apartment in the original film because
she is friendly and wise. The conductor
of the train, called Trainman, is a
grimy, dirty-teeth creature that repels
Neo but seems to have no real purpose.
We’re simply told that Neo is
stuck in a place that is between Zion
and the matrix. Furthermore, this is
the first time we learn that such a
place exists.
The bulk of the film consists of the
battle between aggressive squiggly machines
and the humans in Zion. The only thing
that is mildly interesting is the fact
that Mr. Smith is the real problem for
both the humans and matrix. Maybe if
this aspect had been illuminated, Matrix
Revolution might have
been a more compelling film. The dialog
is stilted and bland, and it doesn’t
compliment the action which is quite
good in the scenes at Zion and outside
the club. Although things are completed
– Neo and Trinity’s destiny
– questions remain about the Architect,
the Oracle, Merovingian’s power,
etc. Ultimately, The Matrix
Revolution is simply puzzling
and rather unsatisfying.
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