‘Matrix Revolutions’ spins in place
GLAD TRILOGY IS FINALLY OVER
Gary Moskowitz is the education reporter for the News-Press, the
Leader’s sister publication.
The tagline for the final movie in “The Matrix” series,
“Everything that has a beginning must have an end,” hits the nail on
the head.
Having now seen all three films in “The Matrix” trilogy, I
couldn’t be happier that the end is here, and the cinematic torture
is now over.
The third installment in the series, “The Matrix Revolutions,”
culminates a biblical tale of “The One” -- Neo, played by Keanu
Reeves -- who must save the people of Zion from a ridiculously large
population of octopus-shaped machines and bring salvation to
humanity.
The film has very little dialogue of real substance, except for a
few scenes in The Oracle’s jazz-filled kitchen and during Zion City
Council meetings, and very little in the film is explained or
discussed in full conversations or dialogue.
Instead, viewers get updates and information through a chain of
overly dramatic one-liners and laughable, prophetic soliloquies that
don’t make much sense. The film is jam-packed with more
computer-generated excitement than I thought was ever possible. And
between the layers of special effects, there are remnants of love,
passion, idealism, evil, hatred, violence and death.
I loved the fact that the supernatural force that Neo faces at the
climax of the film is a huge image of a face that looks like a mix of
the evil force behind Disney’s “Tron” and the face of the dancing
baby in television’s “Ally McBeal.”
The ripple effect of the film on pop culture is more interesting
than the movie itself. An Internet search on the film will produce
sites like “What Matrix personality are you?” “Matrix Hairstyles” and
“What is ‘The Matrix’ telling us about the kingdom of God?”
If I ever do find myself in the Matrix for some reason, I know
where I’m going --straight to the Oracle’s house for some chocolate
chip cookies, jazz music and some conversation about Karma, Zen and
the Christ figure.
Visually more stunning than the first two
Ryan Carter is the business and politics reporter for the
News-Press and the Burbank Leader.
If you can get past its epistemological baggage, a gazillion
sentinels, overwhelming special effects and a clone world of Agent
Smiths, the latest of Larry and Andy Wachowski’s “Matrix”
installments succeeds in fulfilling the promise of its truly
revolutionary original. “The Matrix Revolutions” is not as
consistently satisfying as the first. It is darker than the second.
And it is visually more stunning than both.
In “The Matrix Revolutions,” we find Agent Smith, played
brilliantly by Hugo Weaving -- once again, the villain steals the
show -- able to infiltrate Zion and on the verge of taking over the
Matrix program, which for human beings unwittingly in the program, is
the world. Neo, the story’s once-reluctant hero, has attained almost
Jedi-status. The two meet again in “Revolutions,” only this time, the
real human race is at stake as battle rages on a scorched Earth and
our hero finds himself in a race against time to get to the source of
the Matrix program.
“Revolutions” is a hodgepodge of what made the first movie in the
trilogy great. The first quarter of the movie has the edgy, more
philosophical, minimalist qualities that we saw in the first movie.
Scenes set in the Oracle’s kitchen, in subway stations that were
halfway points between the real world and a computer program, in
rooms that went nowhere and featuring stunning martial arts
choreography made this one look more like the first film. The middle
of the film takes us back to Zion. Here, it gets a little slow as the
movie begins to rely more on huge digital effects and lots of extras.
The film picks up again in an epic battle for the defense of Zion.
Even with its sluggish moments, the movie moves Neo’s journey
along. The plot takes him to a place only he can go in order to save
humanity. A more tentative Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburne,
holds on to strands of faith that Neo truly is “The One.”
And perhaps that is what this trilogy is all about. With a
backdrop of technological turmoil, what resonated in this film was
the idea of faith. In the end, that is what separated humanity from a
computer program. “Revolutions” did not lose sight of that, even
though you had to sift through a lot of bullets and a lot of machines
to get there.
* “The Matrix Revolutions” is rated R for sci-fi violence and
brief sexual content.