The Matrix Revolutions: The IMAX Experience Review

"THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS" reviews

Movie

THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2005-10-25 19:12:18

Provider

MRIB

Review

So after the relative disappoint that was The Matrix Reloaded, can this third and final instalment of the Wachowski brothers sci-fi trilogy restore some pride and, more importantly, make some sense of all that philosophical waffle that left so many of us scratching our heads last May?

The last time we saw Neo (Keanu Reeves) he was deep in a coma, the human enclave of Zion was about to be attacked by the machines and Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) was getting ever more powerful. Well this instalment finally brings things to a head, although not necessarily in a way you'd expect.

There's now doubt that visually The Matrix Revolutions looks stunning. The huge amount of special effects work that has gone into the movie is obvious, especially during the battle for Zion as thousands of the squid-like Sentinels do battle with the humans who are trussed up in giant (and heavily armed) exo-skeletons. The screen is flooded with action as the Zionites fight a guerilla war against their invaders while the action set inside the Matrix is as impressive as ever, from a gravity-defying showdown between Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Seraph (Sing Ngai) and some of Merovingian's men to the final, climatic battle between Neo and Smith.

However, the main problem with the conclusion of this trilogy is the fact that it doesn't actually make much sense. While Revolutions may not be as philosophy-heavy as it's predecessor, it leaves too many questions unanswered and important threads unresolved - it's almost as if the Wachowski's didn't know how to conclude the story. Sure there's odd surprise along the way (especially when it comes to which characters survive and which don't) but, as the credits start to roll, one can't help but feel a bit let down.

The first Matrix movie was truly groundbreaking, a jaw-dropping adventure whose open-ended conclusion left the audience with a sense of hope and eager for more. This finale, and the middle film of the Matrix saga, have unfortunately tarnished the reputation of a film that would have gone down as one of the most innovative ever made.

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