Seems those Wachowski brothers have done it again. Just like the first two flicks, they have drawn us in with the promise of spectacular special effects and thrilling action sequences and then left us quizzically scratching our heads and asking: what know? What now indeed.
This film doesn?t miss a beat; it picks up where Re-Loaded left off. Neo is in flux, stuck between the matrix and the real world. Smith has put himself in the body of one of Neo?s comrades. When Neo comes around, he and Trinity take one ship to go off to the main machine city to save the world. Smith, of course, sneaks aboard to wreak havoc. Morpheus and the others retreat to Zion to try and save their city.
For some people, the movie may start a bit slow, but this is necessary in order to develop the all-important philosophical themes. Probably the biggest annoyance for movie-goers is that for a very long time, Neo and Trinity completely drop off the radar as the action focuses solely on the struggle to save Zion. It would have tempered the action better, and more effectively built viewer anticipation, had there been more reference to the plight of our hero and heroine during this section.
Like the first two films, this installment is visually stunning. The special effects wizards have managed to create seamless digital environments that are almost as artificial as our own sensual surroundings. A couple of sequences in particular stand out for their remarkable visual treatment. The invasion of the machines into Zion?s docking area is a fantastic display with the ominous and irrepressible stream of sentinels swarming about. The other is during the climactic showdown between our hero Neo and that incorrigible Smith character. There is an extreme slow-motion close-up during which Neo?s divine fist catches Smith squarely upon the cheek. The clarity of the ripples in Smith?s face as the force of the fist impacts, followed by the residual knuckle marks slowly melting away, is an example of just how much the Wachowski brothers have upped the visual ante for filmmakers.
Now, you don?t go to see Keanu Reeves in a movie if you desire to be moved by true thespian genius. His performance here is predictably one-dimensional. But it?s not easy to begrudge him with so much cool stuff going on with the rest of the movie. Carrie-Anne Moss turns in another dichotomous performance as Trinity, alternating between serious ass-kicking heroine, and tender, sensuous, love interest to Neo- but in light of her name, shouldn?t she exhibit a third aspect to her personality? A better performance is that of Lawrence Fishburn. Fishburn?s Morpheus is appropriately less intense, reflecting the recognition and acceptance that his former idealism has been lost. The best acting performance though, is that of Hugo Weaving, who plays Smith. He is by far one of the best villains to come along in a number of years. His sheer intensity and rhythmic phrasing of speech summon shivers. But again, there are much better reasons to see this movie than for its dramatic performances.
I know that most are just interested in the exhilarating action and the stunning visual effects, but the best reason to see this- and the other- Matrix film(s) is for the ideas that are presented. Those Wachowski brothers sure know their philosophy. The trilogy as a whole serves as a veritable history of Western philosophy presented in a manner appealing to even the most distracted pop-culture psyche. While the second installment ended with the death of romanticism, Revolutions picks up with the birth of modernism. Like a chronic injury that has plagued an old man for his entire life, modern philosophy is an annoyance that eventually must be regarded. Revolutions is heavy with that iconoclast Nietzsche. Neo rather obviously characterizes the over-man. Smith and his army of clones represent the herd mentality and its destructive tendencies. The ending even implies the concept of eternal recurrence. There?s lots of existentialism too. Artificiality of existence, freedom, choice, and responsibility are all worked over pretty well. There is so much more, but so little room to elaborate. Besides, it does no good to force it upon you. Take it upon yourself, look into it. But understand; you may be compelled to scratch your head quizzically and attempt philosophy.