One of the things that makes movies fun is the feeling of goose bumps, when the emotion and action of a scene is conveyed with such force that the hair stands up on the back of your head. These moments were plentiful in “The Matrix” — like the famous bullet-time fight on the rooftop or Neo’s revival. Times when this should happen during “The Matrix Revolutions,” an empty feeling is left in its place.
“The Matrix” was a visual effects masterpiece complemented by a truly dynamic story line. The visuals of “Revolutions” are still as powerful as the first two films, but the story of this final chapter in the trilogy is unsatisfying at its best.
When the story resumes not long after the cliffhanger ending of “The Matrix Reloaded,” there is awkwardness in the dialogue as Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) talk to the Oracle (Gloria Foster). The audience has waited months to know what happened to Neo, but the Oracle’s explanation and Neo’s rescue are riddled with odd silences and bad lines. Although the action begins to pick up after that, it sets the tone for the rest of the movie.
One of the scenes that Andy and Larry Wachowski, creators and directors of all three films, have hyped for months is the fight to save Zion from the machines. While the battle is visually stunning, it again is prefaced with a goose-bump-free speech by the leader of the army. Instead of feeling the emotion of the poorly filmed speech, I felt anxious to get it over with.
Since the beginning of the trilogy, it has been said that the fate of humanity would rest on Neo’s shoulders and it is satisfying to finally see it come to pass in this film. The final fight between Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) and Neo has one of the best bullet-time scenes in the entire trilogy, even if I felt no emotional connection to the main character after too much awkward interaction between he and Trinity.
In retrospect, it appears the Wachowski brothers wanted to create a “Star Wars”-quality science fiction series for a new generation. All the same elements are there from the innovating special effects to the mythological story line to the superhuman abilities. However, the “Matrix” trilogy is an excellently conceived but poorly executed film series.
Unlike George Lucas with the original “Star Wars” trilogy, the Wachowski brothers decided to turn their film into a trilogy only after the success of the groundbreaking original. This is a visible problem in both “Matrix” sequels because, in the rush to make money with video games and action figures, they were filmed at the same time and the audience is left with an incomplete story.
The original film was an excellent stand-alone, the second was a nonstop action fest, but “The Matrix Revolutions” fails to reach viewers on any emotional level. All three “Matrix” movies are a feast for the eyes, but do not expect to find anything emotionally moving in the final installment.