Matrix Revolutions
Viewers hoping that the final DVD in the Matrix trilogy will clear up the confusion of the second DVD, Matrix Reloaded, will probably be disappointed. After ten minutes of watching Matrix Revolutions I decided to stop thinking too much and just accept that despite all the confusing allusions to various religions and philosophies – the train-driver is clearly meant to be Charon....
Viewers hoping that the final DVD in the Matrix trilogy will clear up the confusion of the second DVD, Matrix Reloaded, will probably be disappointed. After ten minutes of watching Matrix Revolutions I decided to stop thinking too much and just accept that despite all the confusing allusions to various religions and philosophies – the train-driver is clearly meant to be Charon, who takes the dead across the river Styx, and they actually tell you that, just in case you don’t get it - the child Satai is supposed to be an Eastern goddess – it all comes down to one thing. The fight between good (Neo) and evil (Agent Smith). If you can grasp that, just switch the brain off, and this movie will be much more enjoyable.
Part of the problem with Matrix Revolutions is that the Wachowski brothers still insisted on keeping in a load of characters that Matrix fans just don’t care about. We are expected to root for heroes that we barely know and hiss for barely realised cartoon villains. Why have Monical Belucci (Persephone) in a film and then just have her sitting in silence? Okay, so she was dressed in red rubber and showing rather a lot of cleavage, which I’m sure most men will think reason enough. But to me that negates the whole feminist angle of a series of films that has the ass-kicking Trinity as one of the strongest movie women ever (yes, I’ve noticed she wears a lot of rubber too…).
Agent Smith, who is played by one of my favourite actors, Hugo Weaving, had the potential to be a legendary screen villain. In the first movie, Smith had depth, as shown in the stunning scene where he is torturing Morpheus, and he reveals the extent of his misanthropy. It’s certainly what made Smith the star of more fanfiction than any other Matrix character. I know because I am that fanfiction writer. In the second and third Matrix films, Smith is reduced to cartoon villain proportions, wisecracking in between karate kicks. Luckily, Hugo Weaving is so talented that he is able to transcend that and impart a little more depth, but I was still left with a feeling of disappointment that the psychological aspect of Smith was not explored more thoroughly.
Morpheus, played by Lawrence Fishburne has lost much of his regal bearing in this film, turning into nothing more than a soldier, and actually plays second fiddle to Jada Pinkett as Niobe, who we barely care about, in a battle scene.
The only character who doesn’t change is Neo. Keanu Reeves plays him with the same deadpan face as he’s always had, so you can’t help thinking that maybe Keanu Reeves has just been playing Keanu Reeves all along.
It seemed to me that the Wachowski brothers cut rather a lot from this film, perhaps because of the adverse reaction to Matrix Reloaded, and the first casualty was characterisation. We are given mere snapshots of people, then during a major battle we’re supposed to care whether they live or die. My personal view is that they should have kept the core characters; Neo, Morpheus, Trinity, the Oracle and Agent Smith, and jettisoned the rest. Even when one major character whom we do care about dies, the death scene was drawn out that I was actually shouting at the screen ‘Get on with it, there’s a computerised world to save you know!’
It is fair to say that the Wachawski brothers had problems during filming. The actress who first played The Oracle and had to be replaced. There follows a rather confusing explanation about her changing shape to avoid capture, but, oddly enough, not apartments, so that Smith knows exactly where to find her.
Of course the real ‘star’ of The Matrix films are the special FX, and they are all present and correct. From the breach of Zion, to Neo entering Machine City, to the final showdown, the special FX are as breathtaking as we’ve come to know, as are the fight scenes. The final showdown alone is worth sitting through the movie for. There is also a hint that there may be more to come.
One problem with the DVD was that the sound was poor when the characters were speaking. We ended up putting the subtitles on, though it didn’t really clear up what was going on!
The DVD contains dozens of extras (though navigating them is rather confusing), including short documentaries on how the stunts and special FX were put together, with all the cast members being interviewed, plus pictures screensavers for your desktop. The most interesting documentary, for me, was how they created hundreds of Agent Smiths. In many ways, the extras are more interesting than the film itself, which is a shame really.
However, none of these negatives will prevent die hard Matrix fans from buying this DVD anymore than it stopped me when I’d heard negative reports. Fans will want the whole trilogy, despite the obvious imperfections. And how knows? Maybe on the tenth viewing it might all start to make sense…
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