“Everything that has a beginning has an end,” is a line spoken more than once during the 129-minute run time of “The Matrix Revolutions,” the final film in the Matrix trilogy.
Starting off where “The Matrix Reloaded” left off this summer, “Revolutions” fulfills the promise of the past two films and shows the epic battle between the machines and the humans living in Zion. There is also one last confrontation between Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), which is only one on one in this film and considerably more entertaining and meaningful than the fight between Neo and many Smiths in “Reloaded.”
Each film in this series, written and directed by the Wachowski brothers, is bound to be a mix of philosophy intertwined in the dialogue and FX laden action sequences. Technology has considerably improved since the first “Matrix” premiered in 1999, and the Wachowski Brothers have done their best again in “Revolutions” to show off this technology in any way possible. Most of the action sequences in “Revolutions” are kept to a decent run time on screen and most serve a purpose to the story as a whole.
One of the few intriguing parts of “Reloaded” involved two new characters, the Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) and his lady friend Persephone (Monica Belluci). Both characters are back in “Revolutions” and once again provide one of the more entertaining and interesting scenes of the whole film. Luckily this time there is no bloated, extremely long car chase as there was in “Reloaded.”
The Oracle (Mary Alice) returns again as a source of information for Neo as well as for Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). Gloria Foster, the actress who portrayed The Oracle in the first two films, died before she could film her part in “Revolutions” and the Wachowski brothers do a good job of explaining this change in to the story.
One new place introduced in “Revolutions” is a limbo type place which exists between the matrix and the real world. Neo meets a family of programs while in this limbo and engages in one of the most interesting conversations in any of the Matrix films. Neo and Trinity also succeed in reaching the Machine City, but the trip includes a tragedy that deeply affects the two lovers.
“The Matrix Revolutions” restores some of the hope many had that this trilogy would inspire and entertain as much as the original “Star Wars” trilogy did more than twenty-five years ago. “Reloaded” disappointed many and “Revolutions” was somewhat better but neither of these films were good enough to make this trilogy comparable to the original “Star Wars” films, the “Indiana Jones” trilogy or even “The Back to the Future” trilogy. “Revolutions” is recommended for those who have seen the previous two films or are just interested in an entertaining action movie. If you have not seen “The Matrix” view that and then decide if you want to see “Reloaded” and “Revolutions.” For those holding out hope that another great trilogy will be made, keep in mind the third and final film in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy opens next month.
“The Matrix” was a groundbreaking film on many levels ,but the Wachowski brothers were unable to maintain that level of excellence in either “The Matrix Revolutions” or “The Matrix Reloaded.”
